How to use AI to plot out your ideal bike path

Bicycling is one of the most popular forms of exercise, and it’s a great way to get outdoors and improve your cardiovascular health. The key to getting the most out of your bike ride is finding the ideal bike path: one that’s safe, smooth, and relatively protected from traffic and urban obstacles. If you’re looking for a safe path close to home, or looking for a scenic experience while on vacation, you can use AI to plan ahead so you can ride like a local when you reach your destination.

Two cyclists riding their bikes on the side of a road

What makes for a good bike path?

With the popularity of cycling as a hobby, many bike paths have been integrated into the urban landscape as an easy, efficient, and environmentally friendly way to get around cities. In suburban and less-developed areas, many former railroads have been transformed into rail trails that are made for casual riders and those training for races alike. In between these places are bike paths around parks, which offer a natural oasis in large cities like New York and Chicago.

“If you’re looking for a safe path close to home, or looking for a scenic experience while on vacation, you can use AI to plan ahead so you can ride like a local when you reach your destination.”

Depending on where you’re riding, you may not always have access to the following elements. However, prioritizing them is key to an enjoyable ride:

Good visibility. Being able to see any obstacles in your way is paramount to staying safe and alert while cycling.
Sufficient lighting. If you’re riding in the evening, there should be streetlights and reflective elements so you can see where the path goes.
Distance from cars. A protected bike lane will have sufficient distance from the travel of cars and trucks, so you can feel safe.
Minimal traffic and pedestrians. Whether in a car or a crowded city block, nobody wants to be stuck behind traffic.

Additionally, depending on the physical challenge that you’re looking for, a scenic bike path may have gentle elevation changes, sweeping views of nature, city skylines, or stretches where you can ride fast.

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Use AI to plan a bike path map

You may already be familiar with asking AI how to plan a trip—and its ability to compile information from thousands of websites. Here are ways you can use AI to plan your next bike ride:

Ask AI for recommended bike paths. Draw from the knowledge of local cyclists when you’re traveling for an overview of their expertise. An AI bot will crawl sources such as forums or cycling-specific websites to see what’s already out there and what can meet your fitness goals or skill sets.
Find a bicycle rental location. You can use a prompt such as “Where are the highest-rated/cheapest/most scenic places to rent a bicycle?” and AI will search your destination for places that are highly ranked by these factors.
Plan a route by distance, elevation, or scenery. With AI’s eventual integration into mapping software, it can be used to analyze local streets and cycling lanes against factors such as elevation changes and local speed limits. Many geographical software can already map out different types of bike lanes (whether they’re standalone, protected, or shared), and AI can prioritize these routes so you can avoid traffic.
Optimize your daily route. If you have an existing route, upload a map of your route and ask AI to analyze terrain, traffic heaviness, and weather patterns in your time of year to suggest places to avoid or alternate paths that you may not have previously explored. You can even ask AI to generate a random route so you can mix up your routine.

AI has the ability to transform our relationship to fitness, such as using AI to plan realistic goals. Similarly, AI can be handy in helping us generate a bicycle path with an emphasis on safety, visibility, and above all, fun. Learn more about the helpfulness of generative AI here.