BOSTON -- As the gas prices soar, more people are choosing to peddle their bicycles, instead of driving their cars.

Knowing how to ride a bicycle, however, is not enough to take the bike out in the road. It’s also important to bike safely and use safe bike trails, a new bike trail Web site advises.

The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has launched a new site called TrailLink.com , that shows maps of many bike route and off-road bike trails nationwide.

RTC is a nonprofit organization working to preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into bike trails.

“We’re excited about the success of our mapping initiative to date,” said Frederick Schaedtler, RTC director of information technology. “We now have GIS coverage in all 50 states, including most high-density urban areas.”

Cyclists can enter their zip code or state on the Web site to search for trails. Users can also check out a national rail-trail map that zooms down to show either an individual trail or entire regional trail network.

Some cyclists said the Web site really helps them find safe and easily accessible ways to get around.

“I recently took up bicycle as a way to get out door and to get to work,” said Misha Heller, RTC member and a cyclist. “I love using TrailLink.com to find new trails in the (Washington D.C.) metro area to explore and to help me put more miles on my bike. It’s easy to use and such a great service for a new cyclist.”

TrailLink has mapped nearly half of more than 1,500 rail-trails nationwide. The Web site is still adding more maps every day.

“Our mapping efforts are now focused on the remaining open trails to ensure that TrailLink.com will continue to provide the highest quality trail information for all recreational and commuting trail users,” said Schaedtler.

TrailLink also invites all cyclists who love to use trails and are interested in GPS mapping to became rail-trail mapping volunteers.

The Web site plan is to have almost 14,000 miles of rail-trails mapped over the course of 2008.

Click here to learn more about RTC .