whoops, my bad (poor directions)

[Sandra6]

I thought I should make a public apology to the two cyclists who I gave directions to this morning, as I've just realised I sent them the wrong way.
They may well be on here somewhere, or still cycling in circles!
I met them on the caldew cycle path looking for the reivers route. They'd followed it as far as Carlisle then lost the way somewhat. All they knew was they should be heading for Rickerby, then Brampton.
So I directed them back the way they'd come, and up the road passed Rickerby park and on to Brampton rd. To be fair I did tell them at the time that I didn't know if it followed the official route, but that the road would definitely get them there.
I've just had a look at the route map on line and it goes a very long way round -almost via Gretna - to get to Brampton. If they followed my directions they'll have cut a good 20 miles off their cycle - they might be happy about that, they might not.
We've attempted to follow the cycle routes before and the route markers just disappear or double back on themselves and make very little sense -has anyone else found this, or am I just a typical woman about directions?!
I'd like to tackle the c2c next year, but I fear for where I may end up!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

It took me months of research before setting out to a target just 10 miles up the road, for fear of ending up on a roundabout into the motorway
It turned out that the locals were very helpful (of course I got lost!) one even showed me a way to avoid a roundabout that google and cyclestreets were adamant one must go through.
I'm just rubbish at reading maps.

 

[perplexed]

I thought I should make a public apology to the two cyclists who I gave directions to this morning, as I've just realised I sent them the wrong way.
They may well be on here somewhere, or still cycling in circles!
I met them on the caldew cycle path looking for the reivers route. They'd followed it as far as Carlisle then lost the way somewhat. All they knew was they should be heading for Rickerby, then Brampton.
So I directed them back the way they'd come, and up the road passed Rickerby park and on to Brampton rd. To be fair I did tell them at the time that I didn't know if it followed the official route, but that the road would definitely get them there.
I've just had a look at the route map on line and it goes a very long way round -almost via Gretna - to get to Brampton. If they followed my directions they'll have cut a good 20 miles off their cycle - they might be happy about that, they might not.
We've attempted to follow the cycle routes before and the route markers just disappear or double back on themselves and make very little sense -has anyone else found this, or am I just a typical woman about directions?!
I'd like to tackle the c2c next year, but I fear for where I may end up!

At least you tried to help!

The c2c signs aren't actually too bad, as long as you keep an eye out. There are only a couple of places on the whole route where it's a bit dodgy, one of them being just as you get to Newcastle by the river. (If you go that way to the north bank as opposed to the alternative route...) It's worth getting the proper c2c map though just in case!

 

[ohnovino]

A couple of times I've given directions to lost motorists, only to realise later I sent them through a short-cut that only cyclists can use