Urban Velo reports that Google has now added “Bicycling” to their maps. Now you have an option to help you choose a bike route to your destinations.

On closer inspection of “bicycling” filter of my local area, it looks to only show some bike trails. However, the coolest feature is when I map a route – it actually finds a safe option that mixes bike trails with low-traffic roads. What’s even cooler is they give you an option to give them feedback.

From Google:
Bicycling directions are in beta. Use caution and please report unmapped bike routes, streets that aren’t suited for cycling, and other problems.

Overall, they’ve succeeded in recognizing that there are alternate modes of transportation and routes that accommodate them. This type of innovation and progress is why I love Google Maps over the others.

If you haven’t seen the works of Robertus van der Wege, then you’ve been missing out on some of the coolest sculptures on the planet. Don’t worry, they’ll be on display at the Ft. Worth Community Arts Center this month.

The show will run from March 5 through 28. Robertus will also be giving a gallery talk on Saturday, March 13 at 3:00 pm and the official opening for the show will be on Saturday, March 27 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm, which is the date for Ft. Worth’s Spring Gallery Night.

Please RSVP on their Facebook page.

photo taken several months back

I love riding in my town, Richardson. Being one of Dallas’ older and more settled-in suburban towns, it has a real unique quality of feeling less suburban. There are very few undeveloped, open areas and almost anything new is the result of a renovation or re-use of an existing space. Most of the neighborhoods show their years, but with huge trees and quiet streets, there is something comfortable and welcoming about them.

The community is a great combination of folks that have lived here for years, some who have returned and new families like ours. We’ve only lived here seven years, but in that time, I’ve only just started to see some of the real greatness of this town. Getting on my bike to discover Richardson has been the best way to do that.

What is even cooler, is riding around town with a local. I took a spin with Bob Saturday morning, and got a new perspective of where I live. Bob moved to Richardson when he was 5 years old. After leaving for college and moving around for a few years, he and his wife eventually moved back here. While riding, he showed me a few routes that I had never been on before. I got to see several of his old hangouts and hear stories of how Richardson looked when he was growing up. Somehow, experiencing this on a bike brought me back to some of my own childhood memories.

I just picked this up from the BikeTexas site. Looks like it will be interesting information, once I get a moment to sit down and read it. Click here to download the report from the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

We get many great submissions to the group, and I’ve been featuring some of the contributors from time-to-time. My wife has an amazing eye for awesomeness and occasionally posts some of her work to the group. Now, she’s joined the world of blogging by changing her site over to WordPress. To help kick off her new site, this week’s hump day featured contributor is: “tripledub images“. I hope to see more of Wendy’s great bike shots in the Flickr group and I’ll definitely keep any eye on her new blog at tripledubimages.com.

Wendy is one of the most talented people I know. Not only does she have an incredible sense of light and balance, she has an eye for stunning composition that takes her photography into the world of nothing less than brilliant.

Wendy is a true gifted artist because she believes that there is more than just making great photos. Her remarkable images go beyond ’standard’ cropping and angles and bring a fresh perspective to image composition. This is the mark of a true talent who isn’t afraid to look beyond the viewfinder.

I hope you enjoy this set and check back each week to see what shots get picked. Be sure to check out the Flickr page to see all the awesome bike shots shared by our extremely talented contributors.

"crystal fenders" by tripledub images

"Fleetwood's Kit Kat" by tripledub images

"mine!!!" by tripledub images

by tripledub images

Bikes are as beautiful parked as they are on the road, so today’s theme will be: “BIKE PARKING”. We had a bunch of great options to choose from, and these are a few of my favorites.

I hope you enjoy this set and check back each week to see what shots get picked. Be sure to check out the Flickr page to see all the awesome bike shots shared by our extremely talented contributors.

"no parking" by Brenton Salo

"Bike Oasis" by gregraisman

"I Like Bikes" by ravenswift

"2010 Japan - Day 11 (Hakone)" by OPIA

The next ride that I’m looking forward to is the first group ride for Bike Friendly Knox-Henderson. Go here for details.

Here are some pics.

You can also see more on Ron Marusak’s flickr pool.

Sorry I’m a day late again, but work is still crazy busy and this week I’ve been locking down the details for the BFR Raffle Ramble. There’s no theme this week – just some cool shots. We had a bunch of great options to choose from, so I just picked a few of my favorites to share over here.

I hope you enjoy this set and check back each week to see what shots get picked. Be sure to check out the Flickr page to see all the awesome bike shots shared by our extremely talented contributors.

"my old Motobecane" by antli

by tripledub images

"3 Speed love" by james jay