I was reading some of my past entries, and I realized that I never properly explained what Routebuilder is and how it works.
Above: a map one of my friends drew using Routebuilder
Routebuilder is an online tool that uses the Google Maps API to allow users to map routes for cycling, hiking, and driving and calculate distances. One of my friends showed me this site when he was planning a ride, and I thought that it was really neat. You can use the pointer on the map to set your start location, and then click to create a line from the previous point to the current point. This creates many line segments which are stored as an overlay on the map, which can be viewed in three modes: map, satellite, and hybrid. Routebuilder then goes back and calculates the distance of the route.
It worked very well when I used it, but the only thing that we were unable to determine ahead of time was the traffic conditions. I guess we would have had to drive the route ahead of time. If you didn’t get a chance to see my previous maps, here are the links: the map from the ride through RTP and the map of the ride to Duke Forest.