Navigating your rides

[sandyrs]

Originally Posted by Ti Designs

Sense of direction is a standard distribution, there's a bell curve. Most people find themselves somewhere near the center, with an average sense of direction or close to it. Some people find themselves far to the right of the bell curve, they remember just about every road they've been on and have an easy time getting around. I'm on the far left. When it comes to remembering sequences, my brain is in permanent overwrite mode, which is to say that it replaces any past turn with the one I just made. Back tracking for me is impossible, I make a wrong turn, turn around, and I'm lost. This also means I can't use a smart phone or any OS that assumes you know how you got to that point, so GPS is pretty useless to me. The saving grace is there are people at the other end of the bell curve. I ride with LeftyFreak a lot, he's way better than any GPS, and if his battery starts running low we just stop for baked goods.

Some modern GPS units have a feature that gets you back on course if you deviate.

[OtayBW]

I used to make soil maps for a living. I'm good to go...

[SpeedyChix]

For biking, the paid version of RideWithGPS is worth it.

For hiking I have been using Gaia GPS on the iPhone. You can download the tiles you want before heading out. Only requires GPS to show where you are.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by trener1

…In fact Nahsbar has a Garmin touring for $187 today.

25% off on everything today and tomorrow at Nashbar. ☘️

[sg8357]

I use JPS, the smart version of GPS.

I ride with Jim, he knows every goat path in the Tristate.
No GPS can dynamically update the route to arrive back
at the start on time, accounting for flats, traffic etc.

[stephenmarklay]

Originally Posted by Ti Designs

Sense of direction is a standard distribution, there's a bell curve. Most people find themselves somewhere near the center, with an average sense of direction or close to it. Some people find themselves far to the right of the bell curve, they remember just about every road they've been on and have an easy time getting around. I'm on the far left. When it comes to remembering sequences, my brain is in permanent overwrite mode, which is to say that it replaces any past turn with the one I just made. Back tracking for me is impossible, I make a wrong turn, turn around, and I'm lost. This also means I can't use a smart phone or any OS that assumes you know how you got to that point, so GPS is pretty useless to me. The saving grace is there are people at the other end of the bell curve. I ride with LeftyFreak a lot, he's way better than any GPS, and if his battery starts running low we just stop for baked goods.

That’s funny. I sell real estate and I always use my GPS. I would need to find a new job without it

[trener1]

Originally Posted by Tony T

25% off on everything today and tomorrow at Nashbar. ☘️

Yeah the $187 is factoring in the discount.
But that's a great deal.

[stephenmarklay]

I will check out some of these options. I will check out rideGPS for sure.

Google was not bad today. I downloaded areas (towns I would aim for) and then used it offline. My battery, with listening to downloaded audio was 57% after almost 6 hours.

The bad with Google was that it really wanted me to get on highways even though I had set it to avoid them. It worked better than expected all in all.

[shovelhd]

My club has a paid version of RidewithGPS that the ride leaders share. This is for organized group rides. Myself, I use a PC8 which does not have navigation, so if I'm out pirating around I use my phone and Google Maps.

[Tandem Rider]

Whatever happened to living with a little adventure? Just go. Get on some new roads, get lost, find your way back, get caught out by weather. It's not necessary to know every bump in the road in advance to have a great ride. Trust yourself.

[Ken Robb]

How about a printed map and a small compass? Heck, if you use Google Maps you can even see businesses, schools, etc. on the maps which should help directionally challenged folks pinpoint their location. You know: take the second left after the McDonald's on your right.

You can print them at home in whatever scale you like. This would be almost free and the battery never dies.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by trener1

Yeah the $187 is factoring in the discount.
But that's a great deal.

Yeah, I know, but maybe there's something else someone needs, and the 25% off is on all items until —> ☘️

[Ken Robb]

I just remembered why I got a simple wired computer for my off-road bikes. When I tried following route sheets (not maps) on trails with no signs I needed to be more accurate estimating how far I had traveled after the last checkpoint so the odometer worked great. I suppose it's an indicator of my fitness that without an odometer I ALWAYS overestimated how far I had ridden---------especially uphill.

[Tony T]

Originally Posted by Tandem Rider

Whatever happened to living with a little adventure? Just go. Get on some new roads, get lost, find your way back, get caught out by weather. It's not necessary to know every bump in the road in advance to have a great ride. Trust yourself.

ok, then just turn the GPS off

[stephenmarklay]

Originally Posted by Tandem Rider

Whatever happened to living with a little adventure? Just go. Get on some new roads, get lost, find your way back, get caught out by weather. It's not necessary to know every bump in the road in advance to have a great ride. Trust yourself.

That is great sometimes but when I have an appointment set for the second half of the day or I have to pick up my kids or whatever that does not work.