I've come up with a new side project in addition to HDDefinition (which is long overdue for an update!). I was able to get a co-worker of mine on-board with the project, and the two of us will be building a website where users can upload their favorite motorcycle riding/driving routes through a variety of user-friendly methods. With all of this data (and we're hoping it catches on and there becomes TONS of data!), users can then view the submitted routes on an interactive map to assist in planning their next motorcycle trip.
Of course we have some tricks up our sleeves to keep an edge up on the competition, but for now, this is just a really cool project and a good exercise in web programming for me. It's also a good introduction to the Google Earth and Google Maps APIs as we're going to be tightly integrating the site with both of those products.
I am a little surprised by the existing attempts at this sort of site. I started a thread on the ADVrider motorcycle forum in an effort to do some market research about existing sites and what features users would like to see on our site. So far, a couple of good examples of possible competition have been presented by the ADVrider folks, but I believe our site will be much more user-friendly than those presented. Usability will be the tipping point for this sort of site to take off.
Oh yeah, and I bought the domain last week: www.moto-routes.com. There is some content already up (despite what that link shows), but we aren't ready for the grand unveiling yet. Stay tuned.
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