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Because, to pick a random bit of North Carolina: http://opencyclemap.org/?zoom=16&lat=35.80116&lon=-78.64709&layers=B000 the route a cyclist follows is often more complicated than that for a car driver.

To drive (or take the bus) to work, I would make three turns. I could cycle the same route (it's not forbidden), but there is a more direct route which avoids the unpleasant, busy roads. That involves 13 turns. I have another route, which is a little further but nicer (along the river for half the distance) and that's 10 turns. When I first moved here, I studied a map and set off early to give myself time to find the route, checking on my phone where necessary.

If I regularly wanted to cycle in unfamiliar places, but didn't want to follow the easy routes -- the big roads full of cars -- I'd be interested in a better GPS.

While Google do now have many cycle routes marked, I still prefer CycleStreets (which uses the same data as OpenCycleMap, i.e. OpenStreetMap). That gives a choice of three routes (fast, balanced, quiet), and has more cycling-related data on the map. Sometimes the routes can be a bit wiggly, but I think they're working on this.

However, it's great to see the cycle routes on Google, which will make them visible to lots of people -- hopefully those that don't realise their trip to the shops or work is faster by bicycle.

Both have problems OpenCycleMap gives me a track which is through deep mud on the way to work, but then correctly gives me a cycle track at the end. Google maps keeps me on less muddy routes but sends me down a dangerous dual carriageway when there is a cycle track as an alternative.

While Google do now have many cycle routes marked, I still prefer CycleStreets (which uses the same data as OpenCycleMap, i.e. OpenStreetMap). That gives a choice of three routes (fast, balanced, quiet), and has more cycling-related data on the map. Sometimes the routes can be a bit wiggly, but I think they're working on this.

However, it's great to see the cycle routes on Google, which will make them visible to lots of people -- hopefully those that don't realise their trip to the shops or work is faster by bicycle.

There are lots of map designs based on OSM -- take a look at http://tiles.mapbox.com/ for a few, and a tool which makes it (technically) very easy to make your own (e.g. for when you need a map, but don't want to ask Google for a license).

Or zoom into http://maps.cloudmade.com/# and click "Change Style".

Different views are useful for different purposes, and Google doesn't yet provide anything like this. For example, I often use OpenCycleMap, since the irrelevant roads (motorways etc) are shown in pastel colours, but the useful routes (cyclepaths) are highlighted. On that map, click the layer switcher (top-right corner) and choose "public transport" to see bus, tram and train routes marked -- that's not a proper planner, but it's useful to show the existence of a route. (I don't know how complete the bus route data is, try somewhere like London if your city has no buses.)

There are lots of map designs based on OSM -- take a look at http://tiles.mapbox.com/ for a few, and a tool which makes it (technically) very easy to make your own (e.g. for when you need a map, but don't want to ask Google for a license).

Or zoom into http://maps.cloudmade.com/# and click "Change Style".

Different views are useful for different purposes, and Google doesn't yet provide anything like this. For example, I often use OpenCycleMap, since the irrelevant roads (motorways etc) are shown in pastel colours, but the useful routes (cyclepaths) are highlighted. On that map, click the layer switcher (top-right corner) and choose "public transport" to see bus, tram and train routes marked -- that's not a proper planner, but it's useful to show the existence of a route. (I don't know how complete the bus route data is, try somewhere like London if your city has no buses.)

Do you live in Amsterdam? I'd like to visit sometime to experience the bike culture there!

No, London, which is better than most of Britain for cycling but worse than most of the rest of Europe. Infrastructure is very variable -- there's almost always somewhere to lock a bike, but any journey is likely to include going past some cycling "facility" that's more dangerous than just using the road, another genuinely well-thought-out one, some 70cm-wide "lane" painted on the road, then an empty 3m wide bus lane. Plus a lot of nothing.

With a little planning I do most journeys on mostly quiet streets (many residential streets are blocked to cars at one end, so they're useless to cars as a through route) but the city is so much of a maze that it's impossible to do this without a map. Some routes like this are signed (the blue and red lines). If someone asks me about cycling the thing that most encourages them to try it is suggesting a route (before this they are usually imagining following the bus route along the main road, since it's the only one they know).

Unfortunately, although there is political will to do something for cycling it seems impossible to take any space away from cars. Hence we recently gained "Cycling Superhighways", which are nothing more than narrow strips of blue paint on main roads, and a cycle hire scheme which seems genuinely useful.

It would be easy to close some narrow roads -- pretty much useless to cars anyway -- and make decent long-distance routes for cycling. Sending an annotated map the appropriate politician is on my to-do list.

In Boulder the prevailing phrase is "my bike costs more than my car" (if they even have a car)

Apparently buying a £5000 racing bike is the latest antidote to a British mid-life crisis, although I haven't seen any evidence of this. Probably because I'm still asleep when they're out cycling on Saturday and Sunday morning.

There's also www.opencyclemap.org. Yes, open mapping is cool, no, this is not news.

OpenCycleMap tiles are used as part of this app; the news isn't maps for cyclists, it's a satnav app for cyclists that's interesting.

Congrats on Slashvertising your app. In Holland we've had www.openfietskaart.nl for a while already. There's also www.opencyclemap.org. Yes, open mapping is cool, no, this is not news.

http://www.opencyclemap.org/ is a combination of open street map and that height data set.