Solo Gravel Safety

[cougie uk]

This just goes back to what I said pages ago. A map and compass are only useful if you know how to use them.

Is there a gravel bike riding boy scout badge ?

 

[classic33]

This just goes back to what I said pages ago. A map and compass are only useful if you know how to use them.

Is there a gravel bike riding boy scout badge ?

Almost
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/boy-scouts/meritbadges/cycling.asp

 

[Blue Hills]

Well you take back bearings on the way out and pace it. Marking your passage with a machete if necessary. Basic nav.

you take a machete on your bike rides?
now I'm really scared.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

you take a machete on your bike rides?
now I'm really scared.

How else do you cut through the pedestrians and dog leads on the footpath?

 

[MichaelW2]

If you do get really lost in featureless terrain, the first thing you do after making a cup of tea is to make a feature to mark your position. A small pile of stones or arrow shape usually works. I have laid stick arrows in mountain tracks where every junction looks the same.

 

[ColinJ]

you take a machete on your bike rides?
now I'm really scared.

I could have done with one in these woods...

That clearing looks ok but we had dragged and carried our bikes along narrow tracks between thick bramble bushes to get there! I had the map on my phone but didn't bother to look at it...

The simple mistake of taking a left fork instead of a right took us deep into the woods rather than round the fringes of them. The second mistake was not backtracking to where that mistake was made. We thought it would be simple to find a way out but it took us an hour to go less than 1 km.

 

[neil_merseyside]

I could have done with one in these woods...

That clearing looks ok but we had dragged and carried our bikes along narrow tracks between thick bramble bushes to get there! I had the map on my phone but didn't bother to look at it...
The simple mistake of taking a left fork instead of a right took us deep into the woods rather than round the fringes of them. The second mistake was not backtracking to where that mistake was made. We thought it would be simple to find a way out but it took us an hour to go less than 1 km.

Are we doing any woods riding to Hull from York?
And 'we' is just you isn't it
Man after my own heart

 

[FishFright]

But what about fog ??? Some prudent advice follows..

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_a1wxqloEs&ab_channel=crealnej

 

[ColinJ]

Are we doing any woods riding to Hull from York?

Not unless my GPS (and brain) REALLY play up!

And 'we' is just you isn't it
Man after my own heart

Yes, it was my memory playing tricks on me! I'd looked at the map before setting off and thought that the bridleway we were on would be very obvious. When it suddenly split into 2 equally valid-looking options I should have double-checked...

 

[Joffey]

The real issue is not how much kit/tech you take but having the knowledge to use it, the sense to plan a route and inform the relevant people that need to know and to have the gumption to not ride beyond your limits

You may never need the contents of your new frame bag, but in a difficult situation, you’d rather be looking at it than for it

Best of luck to the OP, hopefully we will get to see some pictures of their routes as I don’t get to ride the Yorkshire dales so it would be good to see what I am missing

Here are a few from the trip that inspired this thread

 

[cougie uk]

Ok. That's proper gravel. A nice adventure.

 

[matticus]

Gillstay said:
I think your missing the point. We don't have deserts or dense forests !

We do however still have featureless terrain. That boulder you passed by at the roadside wasn't there a similar one further back?

We also have a lot of fog and low cloud. Several times on flattish UK mountain-tops I've had to pick a path down with a bit of blind faith. I learned from the first time I got it wrong ...

 

[Joffey]

Ok. That's proper gravel. A nice adventure.

It was a lovely mix - tarmac, hard packed gravel, loose gravel, grassy / mossy bridleways, craggy tracks, big rocky gravel, the odd ford and single track.

It was an eye opener for my first trip and has made me stick to my chunky gravel tyres rather than go for some slicker ones.

 

[Blue Hills]

Here are a few from the trip that inspired this thread

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I'm notoriously far from a minimalist but you don't seem to have much stuff with you.
How long was the ride?
How much food and snacks with you?
I wouldn't want to be losing energy - to pedal/walk and keep me thinking straight.

 

[Joffey]

I'm notoriously far from a minimalist but you don't seem to have much stuff with you.
How long was the ride?
How much food and snacks with you?
I wouldn't want to be losing energy - to pedal/walk and keep me thinking straight.

It was only a 20 mile loop - I took a couple of bottles, a gel, a few spares and had a gilet in my jersey pocket. Then, round about the time I took the pics with the 'shaft' sign in (which was the summit of Great Pinseat) I realised that if anything went wrong I was a little under-prepared... hence this thread