Riding with or without technology

[Spoked Wheels]

If I'm riding around the town that I live then I use my sense of direction. If I'm riding somewhere unknown to me then I plan the route on garmin maps and download it to my gps garmin device.
The phone is there for backup too.

My GPS, Garmin 800 isn't brilliant unless you download the route first. Having said that, once it saved me big time..... I went on a club ride on a unknown route and after 20 odd miles I had to come back to the car on my own. I thought I'd struggle to remember all the turns but I asked the GPS to guide me back to the start and it was 100% accurate.

 

[raleighnut]

O/S maps and signposts for me but nowadays a lot of councils are producing maps specifically for cyclists. The set of 6 that cover Leicestershire are excellent (and free likewise the Derby ones) which is great cos Leicester is right where 4 O/S maps intersect so you can often use a couple and they're a bit big whereas the cycling maps fold up pretty small and fit in a ziplock bag.

Leicester Map linky
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...trails&usg=AFQjCNHFYC-9fO1OmaVH634s4rTrFixwZw

 

[Gravity Aided]

I still use paper, and a sense of direction, but if I have to follow a route on a ride, I'll often resort to smartphone as it is more exact. I have a lensatic compass and a still working milometer, so I may as well use them. I do have a smartphone as back-up. I also carry folding binoculars, as most US towns have a water tower, marked with city name and population. If not so marked, they give a good bearing point anyway. There are also paper labels on every railroad crossing telling which railroad it belongs to, etc.

 

[John the Monkey]

These days, mostly GPS (Garmin 800), but I did tour Belgium using lovely maps that had cafés clearly marked, very useful.

 

[MontyVeda]

When i'm actually in the saddle, it's sense of direction... but before hand i might plot a route and try to memorise it, or if i can be bothered, print off a screen shot of the route plotted on google maps and stick that in my pocket... but mostly i just head off in a direction as these days i generally know where I'm am on most roads within a 15 mile radius.

 

[Neilsmith]

Sense of direction is good, but away from home it can get you into some interesting places, earlier this year in Snowdonia I ended up cycling up a 25% slope that went from a country road to a road surface that resembled a rocky canyon, to a muddy lane and I had to walk the road bike through several gates and fields, eventually wading ankle deep through slurry and the farmhouse courtyard back onto the road the other side.

 

[MichaelW2]

Paper maps and compass on a cloudy day + roadsigns,
OS maps are exceptionally good. In many countries, mapping is much rougher quality, or deliberately downgraded or distorted from military maps.
I find that forestry tracks are the most difficult to navigate, followed by exiting large cities.
In Spain I took a digital photo of a map on a noticeboard and managed to navigate through fog over a mountain trail.

 

[snorri]

It's a pity that "asking people" is not an option in the poll. Asking for directions is always a good question for breaking the ice with strangers and can lead on to interesting conversations.

 

[Brains]

Paper maps to see where I'm going, GPS to see where I am

In the UK I tend to use 1:50 O/S maps, usually with the route drawn in highlighter pen
(I have one draw of 1:50's and another draw of 1;25's covering large sections of the UK)
For the rest of Europe I love the 1:70 BikeLine map books, I now have a library of about 30 of them. I just wish they would start to do the 'classic' UK cycle routes such as LEJoG and C2C etc.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I'll have a recce on a map - paper or internet not that fussed - and then follow my nose when I get roughly there

I'm more one for improvising as I go than a strict route march by bike. If I see something that looks interesting then off I go.

and where is the option if properly lost to stop and talk to someone? is the random roadside conversation really a dying art?

 

[flake99please]

O/S maps and signposts for me but nowadays a lot of councils are producing maps specifically for cyclists. The set of 6 that cover Leicestershire are excellent (and free likewise the Derby ones) which is great cos Leicester is right where 4 O/S maps intersect so you can often use a couple and they're a bit big whereas the cycling maps fold up pretty small and fit in a ziplock bag.

Leicester Map linky
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAAahUKEwi0g7GajYjJAhUB2hQKHRx5D-g&url=http://www.leics.gov.uk/cycle_trails&usg=AFQjCNHFYC-9fO1OmaVH634s4rTrFixwZw

I lived for many of my 42 years in Market Harborough. You certainly needed a couple of OS maps to cover the surrounding area there.

 

[contadino]

Smartphone all the way for me, although I had a proper techno-meltdown this summer when my phone fizzled out 30km into a 5000km drive. No music, no directions, no way of calling anyone. I'd got it sorted before my ride, but it's made me think about having a backup in future (and that would obvs be paper).

 

[Old jon]

I find his difficult to type but 'Thank you Oliver Cromwell.' I was once told at school that his insistence on accurate Ordnance ( = cannon ) Survey maps.
Due mostly to age but also the fact that I have travelled over a lot of this island, I happily navigate to where I want to be with minimum fuss. Except in Shropshire, strangely.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I find his difficult to type but 'Thank you Oliver Cromwell.' I was once told at school that his insistence on accurate Ordnance ( = cannon ) Survey maps.

I think Ordnance Survey came in a bit later than Cromwell, from memory it was after the 1745 rebellion there was a decision to map the Highlands in case those pesky Scots rose up again. Presumably it was later extended to cover the whole country as it was such a success.
I use paper maps when touring, although I have a GPS as well.

 

[PaulSB]

I've voted GPS because it's the method I use most often leading club runs etc. I would study the route as well to be ready to navigate by sense of direction - mostly within 40 miles of home and we all have a rough idea of where we are anyway.

However I find the Garmin 810 somewhat unreliable with a tendency to freeze especially when recalculating to get back on route.

For this reason I use paper maps on tours, note the key points in a small notebook and keep this in my jersey pocket. Writing the notes helps memorise them and whipping out the notebook is easy while moving.

I do plot the route as well but normally only use the Garmin for recording the ride while touring.

When abroad I use a cycle computer calibrated in kilometres to help gauge distance to next key point but record on the Garmin in miles as that means more to me.