This is such a cool idea. I see more uses for it though. I live in a large city that is, unfortunately, fairly unfriendly toward commuter cyclists and cyclists in general. There are almost no bike lanes at all, and the ones that exist are small and dangerous . The drivers on main roads drive recklessly around cyclists, leaving as little room as possible. Despite the fact that it's illegal to cycle on the sidewalks, many drivers with no sense of how to share the road aggressively and maliciously cry out indignantly to demand that even the most careful and law-abiding cyclists "ride on the fucking sidewalk." Because of this, I often have to go to great lengths to plan my routes downtown and to popular areas carefully to avoid both busy roads and bad neighborhoods. Google maps never actually offers useful suggestions, but suggests routes that take me to the least bike-friendly roads.

The software in this article sounds ideal. It would map out directions through less crowded and probably less car-centric areas. The potential here to make bike commuting in large, metropolitan, non-bike-friendly areas more pleasant is huge!