Cycling map

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In a cycling map (also cycling map , bicycle route map , cycling map or bike path map , Switzerland Velokarte ) is a thematic map that are specific to the needs of cyclists on cycling is made.

Structure and types

An official topographic map on a scale of approx. 1: 15,000 to 1: 25,000 (for the inner-city area) or 1: 50,000 to 1: 100,000 (for the overland area) is often used as the basis for cycling maps . On this basis, additional information about cycle paths and cycle routes as well as tourist information that is of interest to cyclists (road surface and traffic volume, inclines, workshops , possibilities for ship and rail transport, catering and accommodation options, etc.) is printed.

Maps specially designed as cycling guides can also contain textual directions. These are often in a format that allows them to be placed in a bicycle handlebar bag.

The purpose of a cycling map is to find paths that are approved and suitable for cyclists. They are also used to plan longer tours. There are corresponding variants of cycle touring maps for different needs:

Today, cycling maps are often one of the many topics of online tourism portals. The desired section with profiles can be printed out and the estimated travel time calculated.

history

The first cycling maps were created at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. In Switzerland, it was the Zurich men's cycling club that published the special map of Switzerland in 9 sheets (1: 200,000) from 1890 to approx. 1904 . This small scale by today's standards was undercut in Germany by the Mittelbach publishing house , which published the German road profile map for cyclists (1: 300,000) from 1890 to 1897 . Between 1899 and 1908 Liebenow- Ravenstein's Special Cyclist Map of Central Europe was published on the same scale. Other important publishers of the pioneering days were Ravenstein's Geographische Verlagsanstalt , the Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrrad-Club and Kümmerly + Frey .

With the advent of the automobile , cycle touring maps disappeared from the publisher's offer in favor of road maps from around 1920 . They remained a niche product; only in the last quarter of the 20th century did they experience a renaissance with the advent of ecotourism .

literature

  • Lierz, Wolfgang: From the bike card to the car card. In: Cartographica Helvetica Heft 1 (1990) pp. 32–36 full text

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