gmap-pedometer & fantasy roads

[palincss]

Over the past few months I've been using the gmap pedometer to lay out bicycle rides. Since gmap pedometer had to switch from Navteq data to TeleAtlas for reasons related to licensing, there have been reports that TeleAtlas data is less accurate.

I've discovered that in some places, it's far worse than "less accurate": TeleAtlas has a fine selection of fantasy roads, roads that do not actually exist. When you view the same area at the same scale on maps.google.com or local.live.com, the discrepancies are obvious.

In the areas I've been noticing this, gmap pedometer doesn't have good satellite imagery at the scale required to really identify these very minor roads. Local.live.com generally has better satellite imagery.

So: if you, like me, are interested in finding novel back country routes through familiar areas in search of fresh rides, gmap pedometer can be a marvelous asset, especially now that driving to one of these areas and scouting the route by car could end up costing twenty bucks or more. But, beware: not all that's shown is real. I recomment you consult an alternate source and try to make sure it's really there before you put it on a cue sheet.

[Smiley]

U da Man Steve , I want to go on that ride with U :)

Get blown around today by any chance :banana:

[palincss]

U da Man Steve , I want to go on that ride with U :)


Get blown around today by any chance :banana:

OK, it's going to be July 2, from White Marsh Elementary School near Mechanicsville MD.

We're going down to Colton Point (Avenue MD) via Chaptico, stopping for lunch at the Morris Point Restaurant, returning with a dip into the Amish area along Ryceville and North Ryceville. I learned about the Morris Point Restaurant from Christa Borras a couple of years ago. I've been riding down to Colton Point for a long, long time now, and never knew about the place. You ride a couple of miles up a road to nowhere before you see a sign - about the size of a "Beware Dog" sign - for the restaurant. You make the turn and go all the way to the end, and you can't see the restaurant until you are there. Maybe it's more visible from the water - I think more people get there in boats than by road.

I got so excited when I found Bushwood City Road with a connection to Hillsville Lane and Mattingly Latham Rd, connecting Maddox Rd with Hurry Rd. You can imagine my state of mind when, during a call to the St. Marys County Highway Dept, checking on whether the roads were paved or not, I learned that they simply do not exist at all. "Maybe a pig track," she said, "but definitely not a road. Not even a dirt road."

"Blown around" - you bet. The wind was awful. In fact, today was the most miserable ride I've been on in 2006, and that includes all the rides in January and February.

The best part for me was the final shortcut, on Black Hill Rd. The Spectrum isn't really the right bike for dirt roads - I much prefer 38x650B to 25x700C on gravel - but that little dirt road was the best road I was on all day; and how could I resist a road that says it doesn't go anywhere, no connection to the park, do not enter, local traffic only, <<GRAVEL>> when I knew it really was a secret, scenic back way into the park...?