Scattered throughout our cyclesydney.wiki website are links to Google Maps. They generally appear at the top of a trail page. These provide riders with a map of the trails and also provide directions to or from the trail and help you to ride the trails. Using maps successfully is important to cyclists as on-track signage can be less than adequate. Here is a sample of a map link
Map of ride to see the Opera House (Sydney Map) >>
Jump to using a map whist riding
How to use maps on mobile
If you want a general view of where the trails that we have mapped are, go to the big map to get an overall view. For example, let’s use the large Australia bike trail map as show in Figure 1. While this map doesn’t show the directions of all of the trails, it does give a general idea of the good trails are and also can provide a link to a detailed sub-map.
Here is the link to all the trails on the Google Maps (Australian Trails Map) >>

Note: it is highly recommended to have Google Maps installed on your device .
Now you’re viewing the big Google maps, zoom into the place you want to go. Let’s use Sydney as an example. Pick a trail in a location you are interested in riding in marked using the purple bike (figure 2) , or alternatively use the green marker to find more detailed sub-maps of that section of Sydney with more trails and path detail (figure 3).
Once you’ve picked a trail, you’ll most likely want to know how to get there. Google Maps has inbuilt directions, GPS and voice navigation features which are useful for planning and using your commute. You can access these directions by long tapping the place where (or near) where you want to start the trail, this should place a pin on that location. Once you’ve placed that pin, you can press the navigation/directions button. If you want voice navigation and live GPS, there is a start button at the bottom right of your screen to activate it (figure 4).



Most trails are fairly straightforward to follow but you can get extra assistance in navigating a trail after you have arrived at your starting point (figure 5). The process is the same, place a pin on the end of the trail (or wherever you want to stop or turn around), choose directions and Google will assist you to find your way there. Use Bike maps rather than car or public transport for this. More fun is knowing where North is and keeping an eye on the blue dot as it shows you where you are.

Using Maps Whilst Riding on a Bicycle
Watch a food delivery person riding whilst reading a phone. Does that look safe to you ? Anyway you can mount the phone on your bike and you can run Google MyMaps (the Sydney Map) on your phone whilst you ride. First up Google MyMaps doesnt give you voice instructions, this means you need to glance at your phone which should ideally be done whilst stopping in a safe place. It also means that you need to touch the phone which the road rules are not at all keen on.
Tips: If you dont want to get a Wahoo or a Garmin, think about deploying an old phone with a cheap plan with yearly data. Maps don’t use that much internet data (I believe). Video uses a lot. Connect it to your handlebar with a Quad Lock or similar.
Android Tips. Search Settings for Display. Modify screen timeout time. Turn Screen Attention on. In Andriod, you may want to Autorotate in Settings to use Landscape. In Maps you can click your profile picture, then go to Settings > Navigation settings > Keep map north up (Google Maps is a lot better on Android. thats life)
Google Maps on PC
As a general rule, it’s better to plan a ride on a bigger screen, particularly a Windows PC. If you have a Google account and an android phone, the experience is the best as you can view a map on the PC and then use the Google Maps app on the android phone. When you do this, the last trails you looked should be provided as a background layer to the mapping app.
Notes: You can look at recent maps using “Your Places” in Google Maps as in figure 6. You then find the Maps at the right hand side. On a phone this generally is not obvious but it is there. Then choose the map you want as in figure 7. Otherwise, you can return to a map using www.cyclesydney.wiki


Retrieving a Google MyMaps on Android
If you can’t see the map as a background in standard google maps on a phone, choose
- Your Profile (as per pic 1 below).
- Now choose Saved
- Now choose Explore Maps
- Choose your map Sydney or Australian Cycling Trails
- This should make the map visible. But if you touch the screen and it returns to the list of maps, press Explore (as per last picture)
Quirk: If you use the You button – Then Maps and select a map, sometimes all you have to do is touch the map and it goes back to the You section. If this happens, Close the Google Maps app. Then open it again and the map should be in the background.
Google Maps Gestures
Here are some tips for manipulating the map with gestures. You better be off the road before you start doing some of this stuff. Its an illegal activity in a car and a bike on the road is treated like a car for road rules in NSW
Add a Bike Route to the map
One way to help you navigate is to choose your destination on the map and then ask for Bike directions. Do not press Start and the directions will stay on the screen as will the background map. Now you can choose either the Google Directions or the suggested paths on CycleSydney map. The Google suggestions will likely be the quickest way rather than the back streets and bike paths and sometimes they are the same. You can also use this technique with Walking instructions which puts dots on the map making the underlying paths easier to see. If you drift off the path a bit, reverse the direction of the Google route and then reverse it back to the current direction and this will give you a path from your current location to the end point
Just be sure to not use your phone while riding – pull off the trail and take your time “
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