Kai Hansen, Product Manager at Google, did mention that the routes provided by the service be ensure that those on bicycles will be, to the best of their ability, remain away from four wheeled (or more) vehicles on approved routes. This is a good thing really, since it ensures that cyclists themselves would remain safe and sound from other road hazards, and Google achieved this effort by working alongside a fair number of cycling organizations in Europe while taking advantage of the data that it mined itself. Folks in the US and Canada would most probably yawn at this since bicycle directions on Google Maps have been introduced way back in 2010.