The intersection of a growing sense of environmental responsibility, rising gas prices, and declining incomes have led to a surge in the popularity in bicycling over the past few years. For anyone who's tried taking up the pastime, you may have noticed that, despite this growing popularity, bike riding can be a harrowing ordeal between dealing with aggressive drivers and navigating bike-unfriendly terrain. Google is coming to the rescue for you bikers, as new Google Maps options deliver optimized directions for bicycles.

Looking for an ideal bicycle route changes the way Google Maps weighs the pros and cons of various street options. First, it allows the software to consider bicycle-only paths where cars normally couldn't go. If there's no isolated bicycle route, the software gives preference to roads with demarcated bike lanes. Only the most dedicated cyclist enjoys pedaling up steep hills, so Google also chooses flatter paths over mountainous ones.

Browsing Google Maps in bicycle mode also lets you discover new bike paths, highlighting the trails in, appropriately enough, green. The service seems to work great from a web browser for those planning a route in advance. Now what we'd really like to see is a way to get this data out onto our bikes where it could be accessed mid-trip. Where's an Android-based bicycle GPS when you need one?

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