pedal power

I love my bike. It's comfy, pink, and lovely. But I feel I've been neglecting my pedal-powered friend. One reason: I take the subway to work and walk everywhere in my neighborhood, so there's really no need to ride it except for exercise. Maybe I'm a bit timid when it comes to traversing thoroughfares like Flatbush Ave, or a bit skittish around those double-parked Fresh Direct delivery trucks that like to take up a whole lane on a narrow street. When I'm planning my route, I also like to know there's a bike lane and that I'm riding with traffic to avoid a head-on collision with a bike messenger.

My bike, the Electra Townie

Well, I've just been tipped off (thanks, Ideal Bite!) about a site that takes all the guesswork out of planning your bike route: Ride the City. Like any other map site, enter your starting point and destination -- then Ride the City plans your route based on your specifications. You can choose between safest route (like me), safe route, or most direct route.

I think this beta site may still have some glitches, because when I tried to find the safest route from my apartment in Brooklyn to the office in Manhattan, it did not compute. Kinks aside, like HopStop, I'm sure Ride the City will be another indispensable tool for navigating the urban jungle.