Adequate road shoulder width is an important part of enjoying a bike tour. The video was taken while traveling East on a road between St. Paul and Afton State Park on a road with a fair number of cars. Yet pedaling felt relaxing because of the wide shoulders.
I'm leaving Tuesday morning for another three day tour around Itasca State Park and Lake Bemidji State Park taking advantage of the Heartland and Paul Bunyan Trails. I will, however, also be traveling on some roads. A few years back I picked up Minnesota Department of Transportation maps giving traffic levels and notice of shoulders >6'. These maps are fairly out of date, so I decided to try using Google Maps to look at the roads I'd travel. What a pleasant surprise; Street View has images of the minor, rural roads I will use on my tour. I can actually see shoulder widths and plan accordingly. I sometimes curse Google for being everywhere, yet still find what they do amazing.
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