I came across bikely.com the other day, a website that aims to shares bike routes mapped by other people.

As yet, it’s untried in as much that we haven’t actually given it a go but it does seem to be quite promising, the routes being shown as an overlay on Google Maps and allowing you to download them to your GPS in .GPX format.

I’m in two minds about it actually. While it’s nice to share routes and there’s certainly an appetite for information out there as this search of rides around Leith Hill shows, giving away all our secrets to whoever is looking seems a bit, well, cheap.

Not that we have anything against helping out where we can but sometimes local knowledge is hard earned – we certainly don’t know everything there is to know round here that’s for sure. In some ways I think it’s nice just to meet up with local riders who show you what they know. Sometimes you can add something of your own, but at the very least you get to meet different people and see a new perspective.

Even so, I guess we’ll try some of these rides out, maybe contact the ‘authors’ for help. Some of those monster loops of the Surrey Hills look pretty daunting though…!