Since some of you might not have been riding your bikes over the holidays, you may have missed a new feature that allows you to customize your routes. Now you can rate any street segment along your route so that it incorporates your local knowledge that is sometimes better and than any official map.

Here's how it works. First, log in to Ride the City and generate a route. (If you don't have a user profile yet, just click the register/login button on the top right of the screen and follow the steps.) Next, click on any street segment along the colored route and rate it from 1 (always avoid) to 7 (always very safe). Click save and you're done.

Here are a few reasons you may want to customize streets:

• There's a construction project on a street with a bike lane, and the work's gonna have the street in mess for a long while (Rate it: 2 - Usually avoid)
• You know of a few streets that have precious views and are usually car free, although they don't have bike lanes (Rate it: 6 - Usually very safe)
• You've had wild dogs chase you on a particular street on more than one occasion (Rate it: 1 - Always avoid)
• Your route takes you by your ex-boyfriend's place and you don't want to run into him (Rate it: 1 - Always avoid)

Here's how the steps appear on your screen:

The more streets you rate, the more Ride the City will reflect your own preferences.

To read about other features, check out our FAQs.