Take a Bike Ride Through NYC Without Leaving Your Couch

Vignesh Ramachandran2013-04-05 21:21:17 UTC

If seasonal allergies have you avoiding the great outdoors this spring, you can actually enjoy a bike ride through New York City without stepping outside.

Dutch startup Cyclodeo mashes together biking and video to create a digital resource for cycling enthusiasts and casual travelers alike. The startup has captured video of actual bike rides and synchronized it with GPS data for close to 150 kilometers (or about 93 miles) through New York City. On Cyclodeo's site, you can take a "ride" through Central Park or along the Hudson River Greenway.

While you could visit Cyclodeo solely for a virtual bike ride, it's certainly a nifty resource if you're planning a real bike ride through any of the covered cities. In addition to New York, the site currently covers Copenhagen and parts of the southern Netherlands. The videos are all plotted out on Google Maps, meaning you can pinpoint an exact location to see what it might be like to bike there (think Street View, but from a cyclist's perspective).

French founder Samir Bendida told Mashable that he's been developing this platform for the last three years or so. He says the startup grew out of his passion for traveling: "I wanted to find a way to share my traveling experiences."

SEE ALSO: iPhone Powered Bike Trainer Lets You Ride Virtual Roads

Moving forward, Bendida envisions Cyclodeo becoming a community-based platform: "Cyclists would put their own videos, which share their own cycling rides from all over the world." He wants to engage the cycling community and hopes to raise awareness by participating in a cycling visionary competition.

Because Cyclodeo is still young, there are some limitations: Contributors currently can only submit videos by invite, and the site only works fully through desktop browsers (so no full functionality on smartphones or tablets right now).

If you're a biker, would you find a video resource like this useful in your city? Let us know in the comments.

Screenshot image courtesy of Cyclodeo; Thumbnail image via iStockphoto, joebrandt

Topics: Alt Image Lead, bicycle, biking, cycling, exercise, geotagging, Lifestyle, Startups, travel, Travel & Leisure if(window.pageChanged) window.omni({"channel":"lifestyle","content_type":"article","top_channel":"lifestyle","content_source_type":"Internal","content_source_name":"Internal","author_name":"Vignesh Ramachandran","age":"0","pub_day":5,"pub_month":4,"pub_year":2013,"pub_date":"04/05/2013","isPostView":true,"post_lead_type":"Alt Image Lead"}); metaData = {"link":[["canonical","http://mashable.com/2013/04/05/nyc-virtual-bike-ride-cyclodeo/"],["image_src","http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzA1LzE2L0Jpa2luZ05ZQ2lTLjEzZGE0LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/09748ce2/e0d/Biking-NYC-iStock.jpg"]],"meta_property":[["og:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/05/nyc-virtual-bike-ride-cyclodeo/"],["og:title","Take a Bike Ride Through NYC Without Leaving Your Couch"],["og:type","article"],["og:site_name","Mashable"],["og:image","http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzA1LzE2L0Jpa2luZ05ZQ2lTLjEzZGE0LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTcyMHg3MjAjCmUJanBn/09748ce2/e0d/Biking-NYC-iStock.jpg"],["og:article:published_time","2013-04-05T21:21:17Z"],["og:article:modified_time","2013-04-05T21:28:52Z"]],"meta_name":[["description","A Dutch startup has developed a site that lets cycling enthusiasts and casual travelers take a virtual bike ride through New York City and Copenhagen."],["keywords",["travel","bicycle","geotagging","cycling","biking","exercise","uncategorized","startups","lifestyle","travel-leisure"]],["twitter:title","Take a Bike Ride Through NYC Without Leaving Your Couch"],["twitter:description","If seasonal allergies have you avoiding the great outdoors this spring, you can actually enjoy a bike ride through New York City without stepping outside. Dutch startup Cyclodeo mashes together biking..."],["twitter:image","http://rack.1.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA0LzA1LzE2L0Jpa2luZ05ZQ2lTLjEzZGE0LmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTU2MHg3NTAKZQlqcGc/aa3fbaa9/e0d/Biking-NYC-iStock.jpg"],["twitter:site","@mashable"],["twitter:url","http://mashable.com/2013/04/05/nyc-virtual-bike-ride-cyclodeo/"],["twitter:creator","@mashable"],["twitter:card","photo"],["twitter:image:width","560"],["twitter:image:height","750"]],"short_url":[["short_url","http://on.mash.to/ZcXsdX"]]};

View the original article here