How do you navigate when you are riding a bicycle?

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LeetleGreyCells

Un rouleur infatigable
I plan out my route on a laptop with Google My Maps, export the KML file which I email to myself then import attachment in my iPhone into Cyclemeter this adds a empty ride into the history but most importantly puts a dotted line onto the map of the route. Then using the odd phone check and my memory I follow the route. Then once completed I can delete the original empty ride from Cyclemeter history. The route will still be there for next time due to the actual ride I did.
 

Colin_P

Guru
Some people waste time sitting on the toilet playing candy crush, I don't.

I always read a map whilst on the pot and I always know where I'm going, usually to the map shop to buy more maps.
 
I use Google maps on my phone fastened to handle bars with a waterproof cheap holder I got from decathlon.

I get 2gb on my pay as you go when when I top-up with a 10er and I save offline maps for the areas I got to the most in case the signal drops.

Works pretty well, would quite like to get a bike specific satnav at some point but funds too tight at the moment.
As the OP is in California, this might was well be in German.

(OK, just kidding but for @lifeonbike, Decathlon is a chain of warehouse sized sports stores, pay as you go is a prepaid SIM, and a 10er is £10 - approximately $10 within a couple of months :sad: )
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
I use 1:50,000 paper maps and also printouts of tricky bits from OpenStreetMap on A4 sheets at a much larger scale . If there's a really difficult-looking bit, I have a look at it on Google Streetview before I set out. I once wandered down the entire 60 miles from the Hook to Amsterdam on Streetview. It didn't take long because the route was pretty easy . I also use road signs. I don't mind getting lost anyway.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
I think you may be suffering from lack of confidence, but this will come good with experience. Just get out and about on your bike as often as you can and your local knowledge of road and path networks will improve.
I don't think you need to purchase any expensive navigating devices at this stage as you will have to go through a learning experience in order to be able to use these effectively. Better to buy a paper map of the local area, and a cheap pocket compass. There may also be cycle specific maps available in your area which show cycle friendly routes.
Working with maps will build up your map reading skills and boost confidence for the future and also make it easier to understand the operation of the various electronic navigation aids should you choose to buy them for when you venture far from home.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
Oooh did you take the Dunes Way? :laugh:
I've been up through the dunes a few times but last time I went inland at Katwijk and picked up the canal at Buitenkaag. Then you just go along the dykes, (Huigsloterdijk, Leimunderdijk and Aalsmeerderdijk) before ending up at the south side of Amsterdam.
 

John the Monkey

Frivolous Cyclist
Location
Crewe
Locally, the Cheshire Cycleway is signed well enough to follow using the roadside signage alone. In Belgium, they have the fantastic Knoppunt system, so although I had a paper map at the time, we mostly just used a list of numbers to get where we were going. Any place I don't know well, or route I particularly want to do, I will load the directions onto my Garmin 800 and use that. The Garmin is also pretty good for ad hoc directions, ime.
 

Donger

Convoi Exceptionnel
Location
Quedgeley, Glos.
I am quite happy to be a subject of mirth and merriment for using my trusty old "flatnav" (Klickfix mounted map holder) on longer club rides and audaxes. Then there always seems to come a moment when everyone else gathers round my bike to find out where we actually are! I love proper maps, and I don't think I'll ever bother to pay 100s of quid for a device that only shows me the next junction and takes all the orienteering out of cycling.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Some people waste time sitting on the toilet playing candy crush, I don't.

I always read a map whilst on the pot and I always know where I'm going, usually to the map shop to buy more maps.

Spot on! Toilet time is map-reading time, time to look, dream and plan the next escapade. All my best mountain bike routes came from sitting down time, looking for bridleways and unclassified roads and joining them up.
 

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
I used a combination of google maps, memory and instinct! (That last one isn't completely foolproof, but when you go wrong it adds to your knowledge of an area.

A group of my friends met last weekend in Bristol and because I cycle around that area, I was able to direct my husband to a good road nearby to park on. The others apparently went around in circles until they found somewhere to park further away.
 
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