Road Bike Plan Your Ride MapQuest MapMyRide Google

Road Bike Plan Your Ride MapQuest MapMyRide Google

One of the first things we learn as road bikers is to plan where to ride before throwing a leg over our bike.  And in a digital world we rely on the internet, a smart phone app or a GPS device to view, plot and track routes we want to ride. 

I recently wanted to expand a route I sometimes take and decided to check with MapQuest to review a possible additional loop of about a mile and a half to include in my ride.  I had a general sense of the area and wondered if there were roads that I could ride and sure enough MapQuest showed exactly what I hoped to find.  So, I headed off to explore this newly discovered loop only to find that I either missed a fork in the road or a turn I should have taken and ended up on a dead end and on a private road.

I didn't have my phone with me at the time as I was absolutely certain that I knew where I was going and as soon as I got home I pulled up the MapQuest map only to be even more confused.  I thought to check Google Maps and discovered MapQuest was completely wrong.  MapQuest was showing a road that did not exists!

So, the next time you plan a ride and blindly rely on the information provided to you by your choice of technologies I suggest that you might want to check with one other source before taking off. 

 #roadbike #cycling