Struggling to just go where the bike takes me

[Banjo]

I quite often chuck the bike in the car and drive an hour or so to a different start point for a ride. Constantly riding the same area can get a bit monotonous after a while.

 

[Kies]

I stick the bike on the roof and we go somewhere as a family, they drive back, i cycle back. Works for me, and means i cycle new routes.

 

[andym]

I guess I worry that if I just ride off, I'll end up too far from home, too far from somehere to eat, go the wrong way and double back on myself etc etc.

Yeah, but still falls into the category of plannig the route - I wish to be free-er!

You need to make up your mind what you want. If you want to go where your bike takes you, you need to accept the risk of getting lost.

There's nothing to stop you exploring roads and routes you've never been down before while still having an idea where they go and how you will get home. Nothing to stop you improvising or taking spontaneous detours - just carry and use a map so you know where they go.

If you want some more interesting routes then plan some more interesting routes.

 

[ColinJ]

Yeah, but still falls into the category of plannig the route - I wish to be free-er!

Buy a GPS, switch it on, ride where you want for half the distance that you want to do, then stop. Select the 'trackback' option and follow the track home.

The first half of your ride is totally spontaneous, and then the GPS guides you home without fear of getting lost - the best of both worlds!

NB If you go down lots of one-way streets, that method could be problematic.

 

[coffeejo]

I like planning my routes in advance - for me it's half the fun. Forget Google maps etc, use OS. Look for something interesting, be it a view point, monument, village with an odd name, a hill that looks like it'll kill you on the way up but have you grinning from ear to ear on the way down - whatever rocks your boat. Take it from there in as much detail as you please. Go. Enjoy.

Oh, and most decent sized villages will have a shop or pub where you can grab something to eat, though it's worth taking along your own supplies, whether emergency rations or a full on picnic.

 

[coffeejo]

Get out a train map. Travel to somewhere you are comfortable to ride back from. You will get a whole new set of roads. When you finally get to the last familiar few miles, you will be feeling quite pleased with yourself.

I keep meaning to do this.

 

[ColinJ]

I like planning my routes in advance - for me it's half the fun. Forget Google maps etc, use OS. Look for something interesting, be it a view point, monument, village with an odd name, a hill that looks like it'll kill you on the way up but have you grinning from ear to ear on the way down - whatever rocks your boat. Take it from there in as much detail as you please. Go. Enjoy.

Me too.

I am not good at 'spontaneous' though I had to improvise once when I encountered a total closure of Snake Pass. (The improvised route was quite fun but I was already on a very long, hard, hilly ride (227 km, 4,000 m of climbing) so having to make it up midway (without a map ) was stressful!)

Get out a train map. Travel to somewhere you are comfortable to ride back from. You will get a whole new set of roads. When you finally get to the last familiar few miles, you will be feeling quite pleased with yourself.

If it is windy, catch the train into the wind, and ride back with a tailwind!

Another variation - take your bike on a train to somewhere completely new, do a ride there, and then get the train home. I did that last year when I fancied a flat ride for a change. I caught the train to Garforth and did 100 km in the flatlands out there.

On another occasion I cycled to Keighley, caught the train to Settle, met up with some ex C+ riders, did a fun forum ride, then caught the train back to Keighley and rode back from there.

 

[colly]

When I took to a bike, probably 20 years ago, I discovered at least two thing about myself.
A. I thought I was reasonably fit.
B. I thought I knew the area around here.

Oh how wrong can you be.

Once I was hooked on cycling I would scour OS maps and plan my next expedition. Usually to a road with chevrons on to see if I could manage the climb. I never took the map with me but just relied on memory and a general knowledge of surrounding places to get me where I wanted to go and back home again. It worked fine for the most part and I found all sorts of places near and far that I had no idea existed.
It caught me out once when I made for a tasty looking hill that ran up past the 'White Horse' near Sutton Bank. I got there with no problem, about 40 miles, and managed the climb, although it was a slow old grind. I stopped for my sarnies and set off back via a different route and after some time, well over an hour, and failing to see any familiar sounding towns or villages. I started seeing signs for Darlington. It took me bloody ages to get back home and every unfamiliar turn and junction was an agonising choice in case I was going wrong again. It was completely knackering not just because I had ridden further than ever before but because I simply didn't know how much further I had to go.

Oddly, it didn't put me off for life.