Cycle route journey planner
Today I intended to go running, I really did, but when lunchtime came I was just too busy (and it looked miserable outside) while at the end of the day I neglected my window of opportunity. That's the problem with running by yourself you see - no one cares if you don't turn up and, equally, no one knows when you miss a session. Most of the time I'm lucky enough to be quite self-motivated and just get on with it but when I'm not in the mood....
That said it wasn't just laziness. I also had a new toy to play with: . This is great because it's a journey planner but for bikes; so rather than coming up with routes that take in all the main roads it tries a bit harder and looks for some quiet backways that suit two-wheels. Actually it's even better than that as you get a choice of three tracks: fast, slow and something inbetween. Inevitably I spent some time fiddling with it to see what it would offer to get me home and, quite impressively, it matched the itinerary that I've finessed over a number of years in many places:
So very well done to the team who put such a great tool together. It is, however, still a beta project and what this meant became clear when I followed the directions home. In one place I had to turn right onto the Camden Road despite it being a left-turn only junction and in about three places the backstreets turned out to be cobbled mews. Great if you're doing Paris-Roubaix but less enjoyable when it's dark and all you want to do is get home. Overall though I quite enjoyed trying something different on a commute that I've followed almost every day for more years than I care to count.