andygates

I've been playing with Google Earth and the routes produced by Gmaps Pedometer to produce godlike fly-bys. If you like to do a bit of route previsualisation (or just want to say "ooh! hilly!" in remote sympathy), then this is for you.

First use Gmaps Pedometer to make a route. You can save it for later but you don't have to for this. (I've used a quick sketch of

skean's Rapperswill bike route)

Now go to the export as GPX link, and follow the instructions. You'll end up with a bookmark for the GPX-maker which produces a text file. GPX is the GPS markup language, and it's what GPS devices use to store stuff.

Copy and paste that text into a file, say, rapperswill_bike.gpx.

Now fire up Google Earth (get it here if you don't have it already). Open the GPX file and ignore any warnings. Now go to Tools > Play Tour and watch the show: you'll get a godlike view flying over the route. Enjoy!

For the UK, I find it best to maximise the vertical exaggeration (Tools > Options > View); in the Driving Tour section of Tools > Options > Control you'll find the camera angle (90 is horizontal) and altitude. Here's a snapshot from the Rapperswill fly-by I've been chuckling over ever since I realised what poor old

skean is in for!