by Chris Guld, GeeksOnTour.com
We have these special new bikes – they’re foldable so they fit in the van, or on the special racks that Jim made. And, they’re electric so we don’t have to worry about getting tired.
We want to ride them!
How to turn on the Map View for Bicycle Trails
We’re in the Tampa area and have 2 free days to play, so I used Google Maps to find some bicycle trails. You may know about the Google Map feature that will create a route for bicycles instead of cars by tapping the little bicycle icon instead of the car when you’re getting directions, but did you know that you can turn on a “layer” that shows you all the bicycle trails in an area?
On a phone, you’ll find the “layer” icon in the upper right of Google Maps. It looks like this: 
Once you tap it, you’ll see options appear at the bottom of your screen, including a button for “Biking.” When it’s on, you’ll see green lines on your map representing bike paths.
On a computer, you’ll find this option under the 3-line menu, then click Bicycling.
How to see Street View of the Trails
I saw green lines at Fort De Soto park. The green lines are great, but I wanted to see Street View.
On phone: Drop a pin by long-pressing somewhere on the trail. Once the pin is selected, you should see a picture with circular arrows in the lower left corner – tap on that to see Street View.
On computer: Drag the “peg man” from its place in the lower right corner to a spot on a road and drop him off; that will take you to Street View.
Using Street view, I could see that the bike trail was separate from the road – wonderful! Let’s Go.
##RVT832
Great article. Thank you Chris! This is so easy and I had NO idea about it!
When in the Tampa area in January we ride our Curie Tech ebikes on the Pinelas Trail near the Gulf Coast and stay at the Dunedin RV Resort. One of our favorite ride destinations is Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks with lots of good eating.
Love the ebikes! No more worrying about getting too tired to make it back up that last hill. Or not doing a ride because of too many hills.
Thank you for adding another tool to my ride planning.
I like using the Komoot web site to plan a ride then send the plan to the Komoot app on my Android phone to use while riding. The audio guidance during the ride is helpful, as well as being able to change the route as I explore.