Ride Earth

We’ve just come back from One Life Live, having spread the word about our project, introduced people to the idea of cycle touring, and met up with mountain-biking legend Hans Rey. Andy and I are going to be the first Wheels4Life ambassadors, locally buying and donating bikes while we’re on the road to those who would benefit from them. (more…)

Google Earth allows you to explore Planet Earth as represented in 3D. It’s made up of topographical data for accurately displaying altitude, and satellite photograph data for texturing to make it all look real. But it’s not just flying around that Google Earth is good for. Clever users can display a variety of data. This could be GPS route data that someone has collected on a hike (or bike ride… see where this is going?), or a route that’s been plotted on a piece of software such as Memory Map, or even Google Maps. All you do is click on the link to a Google Earth file and the program will display the route data and fly directly to that place in the world - it’s incredibly easy to view.

I’ve been experimenting with the KML code language to see how it could be used within the Ride Earth project. I have massive hopes for using it to bring our remoter adventures closer to those watching our progress. The results of my first experimentations are now available to download and view in Google Earth. I have recreated the route that Andy, Mark and I took through the Scottish Highlands on our mountain-bikes, broken down day-by-day, and added a number of photo-captions at various points on the route.

Download the KMZ file for our Scotland expedition, and get Google Earth if you haven’t already.