Two weeks ago, I used USAPhotoMaps to map a 23.5-mile bike ride through Central New Jersey that I rode to test my new Garmin Forerunner 201. The idea for this ride came from the example set by Phillip Torreone in his howto article on Engadget.

Since I did this I've received emails from Operation Gadget readers asking if there is a platform-independent way to accomplish the same thing? I did some research and it looks like GPS Visualizer may be the answer. GPS Visualizer is "an on-line tool that creates SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) maps and profiles from GPS waypoints and tracks." It has dozens of options in terms of GPS units it supports, background maps, and other parameters. GPS Visualizer also lets you map routes outside the United States, where USAPhotoMaps is limited to routes in this country.

The biggest complicating factor is that you need to have the Adobe SVG browser plugin installed on your machine. This looks easy if you are running Windows or MacOS X, but I'm running Linux (Fedora Core 1) on my laptop, so the installation process is likely to be a bit more complicated for me.

When I get a chance to install the SVG plugin and generate the same ride map with GPS Visualizer that I did with USAPhotoMaps, I'll post the results and write about the experience.