The Tour de France on Google Maps

The Tour de France starts next Saturday and Cycling the Alps has put together maps for each of the 20 stages of the race.

The route for each stage can be viewed on a Google Map. Once you select a route you can also choose to view the route's elevation profile and a 3d tour of the route using the Google Earth plugin. The 3d tour allows you to get a first person view of each stage, which is particularly impressive in those precipitous mountain stages of the race.

The Transat Québec Saint-Malo Tracking Map

The Transat Québec Saint-Malo is an international high-level sailing transoceanic race taking place every four years, from Quebec city, Canada, to Saint-Malo, France.

This year you can watch the race live on Google Maps. The live race map will track each of the multihull and monohull entrants for the duration of the race, which begins on July 22nd. Until the race begins next month the map allows you to replay the 2008 race.

As well as the real-time tracking map of the race there is also an official mobile application. The mobile app will include the live tracking map and also give users access to information layers to better follow and understand the skippers’ moves during the race.

Not only will the mapping application allow users to follow the race, but it will give access to information on all the activities held in Québec City and Saint-Malo before and after the race. It will show where and when program events are taking place and show the locations of the nearest restaurants, bars, hotels, parking lots and ATMs.

Google Maps Sets the Pace

Taz Running can help you create a pace chart for marathon courses throughout the United States.

The application uses the Google Maps API to show the route of each course, mile markers and an elevation chart of the course. A pace chart for the course is shown alongside each map. The suggested pace is based on elevation changes on each course.

Initially the pace chart is populated with default settings like goal time and altitude adjustments but all the settings can be adjusted to your own running goals.

An Improved Running GPS Tracker

WalkJogRun was probably the first application that allowed joggers and hikers to plan, save and share routes with Google Maps.

The WalkJogRun iPhone app has just undergone a major facelift. The new app includes a GPS tracker that is accurate to within 3/100ths of a mile. This major improvement in accuracy means that recorded tracks should be perfectly mapped and the app will return much better statistics, such as distance and speeds covered on a run.

Users of the app can find and create routes, work through one of 23 training plans and track and record runs. 

WalkJogRun also have plans to release an Android version of the application very soon.

Surfing the World with Google Maps

Surfed.at is a growing directory of thousands of surf spots around the world.

The Surfed.at Google Map lets you discover new places to surf around the world. If you select a surfing location from the map you can view the location's average rating and also get information on the remoteness of the location and how crowded it normally is.

If you connect with a Facebook account you can also add and rate your own favourite surfing locations.

Surfed.at also allows users to create their own Google Map and record all the places that they have surfed. The My Spot feature allows you to easily add locations that you have surfed, view them on a map and keep a record of the number of spots, countries and continents you have visited as a surfer.

To help you find the best surfing locations whilst you are on the move use the surfed.at/m mobile site.

2012 London Olympics Torch Relay Maps

The Olympic flame is today being handed to the organisers of the London Games at a ceremony in Athens. The flame will arrive in the UK on Friday before it starts on an 8,000 mile journey, in a 70-day relay, to arrive at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London in time for the start of the 2012 London Olympics.

Follow the Flame with Figures is a Google Map and calendar of the Olympic torch's route around the UK, created by the UK's Office for National Statistics. The map shows the route that the torch relay will take and includes a calendar function to see where the torch will be on a particular date. The map includes a postcode search function to find out where and when the relay will pass a particular location.

The map also includes data from the Office for National Statistics. Users can click on every stop on the map and find out some key statistics for that area, such as unemployment, population etc.


The Official 2012 London Olympics website has a Bing Map of the Olympic Torch Relay Route.

The official map allows users to zoom in to see the detail of the route street-by-street. It includes a postcode search function to find out where and when the Flame will be near a location. You can also use the map to find the locations of evening celebrations, which take place at the end of almost every day of the relay.


Tripline has about three pages of animated localised maps that its users have created of the torch relay route through their neighbourhoods and towns. 

There are too many maps to list them all. If you want to know if someone has created a map for a particular area just click on the Tripline link above, which will take you to the search results page for 'Olympic Torch Relay'.

Bahrain Grand Prix Live on Google Maps

This weekend's scheduled Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain has been in some doubt but at the moment it looks like the race will go ahead as planned.

Lusob.com has created a Google Map that will hopefully track the race in real-time on Google Maps. The F1 Live Timing Map is currently showing a demo race using imagined data. The map shows the cars moving around the Bahrain Formula 1 track on Google Maps satellite view.

Lusob say that when the race starts the map will connect to the Formula 1 official timings to show the map in real-time. In the demo version you can click on any of the drivers in the map sidebar and the map will zoom to that driver's car marker on the map.

45,000 Trails on Google Maps

AllTrails currently has over 200,000 members who have mapped over 45,000 trails. The trails includes routes and information on many different activities including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, and snowboarding.

It is possible to search for trails by location and the results are displayed on a Google Map. It is then possible to refine the trails shown by the driving distance from your location, the length of the trail and / or its duration.

When you select a trail you can view its route on a Google Map and view details about its length and duration. It is also possible to download the route as a GPX file or download it to a smartphone.

Strange Strolling with Google Maps

The Strange Stollers is a team of hikers, currently in training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker 2012 challenge. Oxfam Trailtrekker is a 100km trek for teams of four, over 30 hours across the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and takes place 26th-27th May 2012.

The Strange Strollers Training Map is a Google Map being used to record and document the walks that the group are undertaking in their training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker.

Using the GPS tracks, captured with a Garmin Forerunner, the map shows the routes of the group's walks. Each walk contains map markers that reveal photographs taken on the walk, which have been imported with the Instagram API or Tweets that have been imported onto the map using the Twitter API.

View Your Ski Runs on Google Maps

Phresheez is a smartphone application that allows users to track their ski-runs (or bike rides, hikes or running routes) and then view an animation of the run on Google Maps.

The Google Map playback feature shows the track of the recorded run. It is possible to view the animation of the actual run using the play, pause and fast-forward buttons beneath the map.

Whilst the run is animated on the map a number of controls above the map show the current altitude and speed at each stage of the track.

A Video Map of the London Olympics Park

The Guardian's Alternative Olympics Park Tour is an interesting mapped video guide to the 2012 London Olympics Park and the surrounding area in east London.

The tour starts in north Hackney and winds along the Lea River into the Olympics Park. The route is displayed on a Google Map and points of interest along the way are indicated with numbered map markers. If you click on a map marker you can view a video introduction given by Simon Cole, of Hackney Tours.

The map does work well as an introduction to the 2012 Olympics Park but I can't understand why The Guardian removed the navigation controls from the map. If you are going to include a map in your tour why then make the map difficult to navigate?

Record Your Ski Runs with Google Maps

Recon Instruments make micro optics display systems with GPS tracking technology for outdoor sports - in effect a heads up display for your ski goggles.

The HUD lets you view maps and statistics, such as your current speed and altitude. The devices can also record your ski runs, which you can replay later on a Google Map. The Google Map animated replays of your ski runs show your route, your current speed and altitude and some impressive statistics such as your average and maximum speed and altitude during your run.

The home page of the Recon Instruments website shows recent recorded ski runs by users, so even if you haven't bought a HUD you can view the ski runs added by those who have. The home page also features a Google Map of added runs so you can search for recorded ski runs on your favourite pistes throughout the world.

Watch 3D Previews of Hiking Routes

If you want to encourage your friends to join you on a hike then you could do worse than show them a 3d tour of the route using the Google Earth plugin.

MapMyHike is a website and mobile application for mapping and finding great hikes. You can search for a hiking route by location or by zooming in on a Google Map and searching for all the hikes in the current map view.

Each of the hikes come with extensive details about length and elevation, and a dedicated Google Map of the route.It is also possible to view a tour of the selected hike with the help of the Google Earth browser plugin. The tour really gives a great idea of the terrain, difficulty and scenery that you are likely to experience on the hike.

If you like the features provided by MapMyHike then you will probably also enjoy MapMyRun and MapMyRide from the same stable.

Fore - Lookout It's the Ultimate Golf Guide

The Golf Guide is a Google Map showing the location of thousands of golf courses throughout the world.

Many of the golf courses displayed on the map include Google Earth tours. The green map markers show which courses have the Google Earth tours available. When you click on a green marker an information window will open displaying the course with the Google Earth browser plugin.

The Google Earth tours take you on a 3d flyover of the course. You can interrupt the tour at any time and use the links to fly to a particular hole. The tour also informs the user of the par and length of each hole.

Tour the Tour Down Under

Cycling the Alps has created video tours of each of the stages in the upcoming Tour Down Under cycling race. The Tour Down Under is a UCI WorldTour cycling race, held in Adelaide, Australia, which starts next week.

Cycling the Alps has created Google Earth fly-through tours for each stage of the tour. You can view videos of each of the tours or view them with the Google Earth browser plug-in on the Cycling the Alps website.

Cycling the Alps has also created Street View tours for each stage of the race. The Street View tours animate through each stage using Google Maps Street View.

Not content with creating Google Earth and Street View tours you can also play a Google Earth based game for each stage. The game shows you the route of each stage on Google Earth and requires the user to guide a cyclist from the start to the finish of the stage.

If any of the tours or games grab your fancy you can even grab the embed code and add them to your own website or blog.

The Tour Down Under on Google Maps

The Santos Tour Down Under is a UCI WorldTour cycling race, held in Adelaide, South Australia. The 2012 race starts on the 15th January, 2012.

Velowire.com has created Google Maps showing the routes for each stage of this year's race. In a detailed article Velowire.com examines each stage with accompanying pop-up Google Maps and elevation charts of each stage route.

A KML file has also been created for those who wish to view the stage routes in Google Earth.

Ski Resort Webcams on Google Maps

If you want to check out the skiing conditions at your favourite resort you could do worse than check out the Sion Valais Webcam Navigator.

The Webcam Navigator is a Google Map showing European ski resort webcams. Thumbnail images of the latest shots from each webcam are shown on the map. You can click any of the thumbnail images to view the full-size image on the Sion Valais website or you can choose to view local points of interest at each ski resort.

Extreme Google Maps Sports

YouSpots is a Google Maps based app for finding and sharing new and exciting places to surf, skateboard, snowboard or participate in other extreme sports.

You can search YouSpots by location and sport. The results of your search are then displayed on a Google Map. You can refine the results by track length and by the steepness of the slope.

YouSpots also allows you to search by category, for example Water Sports includes the sub-categories of surfing, windsurfing, water kiting, wakeboarding, snorkelling, water skiing, scuba diving and cliff diving.

Route Planning with Google Maps

Komoot is a German language route planning application with a number of really useful features.

The site uses OpenStreetMap, Google Satellite and Google Terrain map layers to help users plan their route. When planning a hiking or cycling route users can view points of interest along the route and adjust the trip to take in any that take their fancy.

Finished routes come with lots of information, such as the length of the route, its difficulty and an altitude chart. The app is available for the desktop and for iPhone and Android smart phones.

Paragliding Planning with Google Maps

XC Planner is a Google Maps based planning tool for paragliders.

I know nothing about paragliding so I don't feel entirely qualified to comment on this map but it looks very impressive. Using the map you can select the type of paragliding flight you wish to undertake and then drag and drop the turning points. Coloured polygons on the map (I presume) show thermals (although I may be completely wrong).

Version 2 of XC Planner is currently in development. You can get a sneak peak of the new app here.