Do You Plan Your Rides, or Follow Your Nose?

[cosmicbike]

I must confess to being very much a nose follower. Very rarely do I plan my routes, I tend to hop on the bike and head off in a direction, then vary as I go. This does tend to lead to me following the same old routes.
In an effort to explore more, I signed up to Veloviewer and discovered the joys of square hunting, which has worked quite well.
As we approach 2018 I find myself contemplating the Imperial Century a Month Challenge, and really need to organise myself into route planning.

 

[Salty seadog]

Like you have a general direction to head with an end point so often end up on the same routes too. Do consciously head down new roads to vary it.

 

[tallliman]

Depends on the length of the ride, if it's a longer one then it's often following a planned route. Anything closer to home is normally more freestyle.

 

[PeteXXX]

A bit of both, really.
Sometimes I have a specific ride in mind, and plan it out. Like Lake Vrynwy ride, to name but one.
Often though, I just go out with a general direction in mind, oft dictated by the wind direction!

 

[hoopdriver]

I rode from my home in Sussex to Istanbul once, making up my route entirely as I went, not just day by day, but hour by hour. Sometimes I had local maps, which I purchased along the way, sometimes I didn’t and just followed my nose, heading south by southeast. It was certainly an interesting way to travel.

 

[tallliman]

I rode from my home in Sussex to Istanbul once, making up my route entirely as I went, not just day by day, but hour by hour. Sometimes I had local maps, which I purchased along the way, sometimes I didn’t and just followed my nose, heading south by southeast. It was certainly an interesting way to travel.

Did you have a compass?

 

[colly]

When I picked up with cycling again in my 40's I would very much plan my rides. Ordinance Survey maps out the night before, taking in the terrain, approximate distances etc. It was part of the enjoyment.
I had a daft compulsion to seek out the small roads with as many chevrons on as I could see and I would make a point of cycling all the way there just to see if I could make it up the climb. Once done........................I would simply ride back home. I once rode out to The White Horse Bank on the edge of the North York Moors to see if I could make the climb. 48 miles out, a couple of miles up, eat my sarnies sitting under the White Horse, 48 miles back. I set off in the small hours in summer and was back home by 11.30. Completely pointless of course. Loved it.
No one knew if I succeded getting up the climbs without stopping or not, but that didn't matter. I did it for me and me alone. I might mention it to the kids or Mrs Colly but I didn't want to bore them rigid with tales of my exploits so I rarely talked about my rides except in general terms.

I tend to follow my nose now because I know pretty much all the local roads and terrain for 30 miles around.

 

[hoopdriver]

Did you have a compass?

No, but I had the sun and a general sense of direction. Sometimes I was well out, but travelling that way at least you can never be “lost”!

 

[gbb]

A bit of both for me. At the end of the day there' only so many routes out of town leading anywherei interesting, north toward Stamford, south toward Alconbury, east to Whittlesea, west toward Northants...and beyond on any route of course, then minor variations on any route.
When I was seriously riding I'd tend to do a specific route, particually to achieve specific mileage but nowadays I tend to just go wherever is comfortable.

The wind will always dictate which outward direction I take.

 

[Ian H]

I have follow my nose days and predetermined route days.
Also days like today, sat at home full of snot.

 

[BudgieBike]

Bit of both. Know general direction and if like today the legs said they not playing, have many ‘short cuts’ to change route. Wanted to do 80km today ended up 60 and annoyingly 98 for weekend

 

[Mrs M]

My wee Saturday ride is always the same route.
Rest of the time it’s see what happens

 

[Slick]

I'm a serial planner, despite my best efforts. There's a number of routes I'm keen to see where they go but haven't quite mastered the follow the nose thing. Might be a good new years resolution.

 

[mustang1]

For the odd times that I manage to get out, it's freestyle.

 

[Katherine]

I used to have a rough idea of where I wanted to go and then when I'd had enough, I'd set Google maps on my phone to take me home, using the voice cues.
Now I'm more familiar with local roads and routes.
I also have to plan rides for my club now. I plot them on ride with gps. I use Google maps and other people's rides on Strava for suggestions.