For all of you cyclists out there planning your route to work on your Android mobile phone probably hasn’t been too simple so far, and no doubt you haven’t appreciated taking busy roads full of lorries and taxi drivers, but fear not because now Google Maps have become bike friendly!

Yes folks, if you’re running Android 1.6 or above then you should head to the Market and update your Google Maps as you will find that they are now much more bike friendly and there are a few other nifty features too.

As all you cyclists will know, not all roads are particularly friendly for bikes and if you’re tired of almost being flattened by lorries then try the new bicycle directions feature which will highlight any road with bike lanes in green as well as show you bike-only routes in a darker green colour.

As well as finding you a less stressful route to work Google Maps will also let you share your location by sending your location to any others via email, text or via third-party apps. Rather handy if you’ve gotten lost on a walk in the country and need to be rescued by your friends isn’t it?

There’s also the Google Navigation Shortcut feature which has now been moved from the depths of the menu onto an optional homescreen shortcut which will take you directly to the Navigation feature and now has one-click access to directions either by speaking or typing in your contact name, destination or recent destinations.