Getting Lost

[thePig]

I figure you're never lost.... it's just a matter of precision.

You might not know the street you're in, but you know the town... you might not know the town you're in, but you know the region... etc etc etc

That's what I tell myself anyway ... as I'm rather partial to going down roads I've not cycled before... just to see where they go.

thats is a great way of looking at it. I guess to be truly lost would require you to be stuck out overnight or something.

 

[mr_hippo]

If you have an analog watch - you have a rudimentary compasshttp://tougeking.blogspot.com/2006/11/telling-directions-from-your-analog.html
Satellite dishes in the UK generally point south.
Churches are nearly always oriented the same way.

 

[asterix]

Although you could argue that you're a teensy-weensy bit lost when you're not sure which country you're in...

It has happened to me. I wasn't sure if and when I'd crossed between France and Belgium.

Yes, that happened to me between France and Spain. In Spain you have to wear a cycle helmet or they confiscate your front wheel. (..or so rumour has it).

 

[ronstrutt]

I never get lost - it's the roads that are going in the wrong direction! :-)

 

[wallabyhunter]

2 realy good lines about getting lost... ...

Originally Posted by yello
I figure you're never lost.... it's just a matter of precision.

You might not know the street you're in, but you know the town... you might not know the town you're in, but you know the region... etc etc etc

That's what I tell myself anyway ... as I'm rather partial to going down roads I've not cycled before... just to see where they go.

ronstrutt

I never get lost - it's the roads that are going in the wrong direction!

Good lines gentlemen, d'yu mind if I use them some time?

gb

 

[ColinJ]

One way of not getting lost...

If you like to go out on your bike and just explore, without having to look at a map all the time, consider getting yourself a cheap GPS system. I have a Garmin Etrex which doesn't have mapping built in, but it stores a tracklog which can be used as an electronic 'breadcrumb trail' for you to follow to get back to your starting point. Go wherever you want and don't worry about trying to remember which route you took. Just make sure that you have freshly-charged batteries! I can get 26 hours out of a pair of high-capacity NiMH cells which is more than enough for any ride that I'm ever going to do (no 600+s for me!).

Just remember - if you bomb down any steep hills, you have to go back up them on the way home! One-way streets are one-way so you can't just go back the way you came along them, but I'm talking about exploring the countryside, not towns and cities and there aren't many one-way streets in the countryside. If you want to be out for (say) 4 hours, you need to turn round after 2 hours or less, unless you are riding into a headwind on the way out.

Retracing your route isn't quite as boring as it sounds because the scenery often looks quite different coming from a different direction. I was amazed at how unfamiliar some of my classic local loops looked when I tried doing them the other way round.

 

[Bigtallfatbloke]

I noticed old ladies with full shopping bags were going one way and young people dressed up for a night out were going the other, so I followed them into the centre of town.

Ha!..I'll have to remember that one when I get caught following the babes into town!