But, this could be very useful for highlighting navigational tricky spots on singletrack.

Would be great to link a view to your trails here at Singletracks saying “go left here” etc.

Speaking of Street View snapping pictures of bystanders, on Google Bike Path View you’ll see several bystanders giving Street View strange looks. (And you’ve heard of Street with a View, where a bunch of art students decided to have people stand in costume along the street as the Google Street View car came through in Pittsburgh, right?)

I can see this being very useful locally. When I’m having people meet me at certain venues that are on the bike path (like Wave Street Studios), it can be hard to explain exactly where they are. Now, I can hotlink to Google Bike Path View, or take screen shots!

They’re saying they plan to shoot hiking trails as well. I think it’s likely that the reason they chose this location is that it’s very close to San Jose, has great views, has a low barrier to entry (it’s wide and paved, rather than a serious offroad trail - a good way to start) and is far enough away from the road that you can’t cover it with regular Google Street View (as you could, say, the bike path that runs through the San Fernando Valley and Burbank in LA).