Longer routes

guillaume

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but -

I enjoy 50-60 mile circular rides on minor roads in my area (west kent) but I find that I have to retrace familiar routes to avoid getting lost. I don't like stopping and having to consult maps in order to find my way, and I'm not a club member because sunday mornings are no good for me (i'm assuming sunday mornings are the times for the club rides).
So, I'm wondering how to explore new terrain, without company and without stopping and without getting lost. A garmin looks like the solution, but i'm a bit loathe to shell out about £300 when my bike only cost £500 (a few yrs ago admittedly)
Is there a cheaper solution that I'm missing?

dmch2

Print out a playing card sized bit of map from google maps, laminate it (laminators are pretty cheap from WHSmith or Argos) and tape to the stem.

Or if you have a smart phone download a mapping app (google maps is free) and buy a phone holder.

Philip Whiteman

Cost Benefit Analysis persuaded me against using a GPS. Instead I bought a discrete handlebar mounted map holder and then cut up old road maps as inserts. Considerably cheaper! http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mini-map-1-m ... t-prod652/

sherer

either get a GPS \ sat Nav and then download routes from gpseries.com or other sites you can enter postcodes etc.

See if there are any sportives in your ares and check their routes is another good idea.

Other than that just ride about or go for a drive and scout something out.

jibberjim

Guillaume wrote:

and I'm not a club member because sunday mornings are no good for me (i'm assuming sunday mornings are the times for the club rides).

Lots of clubs have their main group rides not on a sunday. And most clubs once you're in them regularly have other rides throughout the week, our club has had at least one ride every single day for the last fortnight.

sherer

clubs can be difficult as they always start too early for me. One day I will form a afternoon cycling club then I can get a lie in on a Saturday and Sunday

You can try talking to local clubs via e-mail they ay be able to put you in contact with someone who is free for rides at the same time as you

Moaner

buy a second-hand garmin 305 for c. £100 - you follow a breadcrumb trail rather than have a map on display, but its perfectly adequate

guillaume

..thanks for suggestions, i seem to have to print out maps at least a4 size in order to be able to make sense of them (twisty country lanes etc). i dont have a smartphone, so maybe the cheap garmin & breadcrumb route is the best option. or the club.... i ithnk southborough wheelers are local, but i never seem to hear or see much about them.

sherer

where in West Kent are you ? Plenty of Kent people on here so sure you can get a few suggestions.

i go over Westerham way a lot and down to Hever Castle and back

guillaume

i'm tunbridge wells - so tend to head towards north downs, as far west as titsey; or i go south to ashdown forest / ardingley. Theyre great rides but its all getting a bit repetitive. i'd like to have a look at leith hill, for example, but without going on the a25 the route looks too fiddly for me ever to be able to navigate (without garmin)

Buckled_Rims

Might be worth upgrading your mobile phone. Seems like a lot of people are starting to use the Android apps for navigating.

sherer

Guillaume wrote:

i'm tunbridge wells - so tend to head towards north downs, as far west as titsey; or i go south to ashdown forest / ardingley. Theyre great rides but its all getting a bit repetitive. i'd like to have a look at leith hill, for example, but without going on the a25 the route looks too fiddly for me ever to be able to navigate (without garmin)

Have you done Cobb Lane at Ardingly ? 20% of pure hell ?

You could try some of the Burgess Hill rumble route, they also do a lot of training out in the area. Did their event twice but don't have map with me or GPS \ GPX route for it i'm afraid.

You a bit out of my area of Kent for me to suggest anything

thebongolian

Before I got a Garmin I took a slightly old-fashioned appraoch of writng a route card. Mostly it was a list of villages so when you got to a turning you knew which way to go. With google maps it's fairly easy to zoom and find street names etc too so you can write those down.

You can then put in a pocket and read it as you go along fairly easily. Possibly with a back-up map in case it goes wrong. Used this method around the Surrey Hills until I learned my way about and was fine. Breaks down a bit in built up areas where there are just too many turnings.

Only downside is the investment needed to write one before a ride

ugo.santalucia

I think you should use a map. You'll only need it for the first few outings, until you get familiar with a larger area.
The problem with GPS in general is that you rely on them and hardly learn any road at all...you'll find yourself being unable to retrace roads you've done before

gsk82

get on google maps and find a new route, i usually use streetview to have a loo at the junction so it at least looks familiar when i get there, note down some place names as well incase you do get lost. something like bike hike will help you measure the routes length

failing that just ride around, you'll always end up on a main road eventually and can use that to direct you home

guillaume

hmm - from tunbridge wells to leith hill & back on quiet roads - thats a lot of junctions to try & visualise / remember. would probaby require a hefty stack of route cards too. i'm beginning to think some kind of garmin might be the only answer

yes sherer - cobb lane is one of the 'attractions' of ardingley. compared to kidds hill, i always think it would make a much better 'The Wall'. when you drop right down to the bottom, you look up & cant really see any sky.

fenski

I also get bored of riding the same routes repetitively so I've used a Garmin 205 for the last few years and it has served me very well.

Last year I set myself the challenge of riding every non-urban public road within the Perth & Kinross area apart from the Trunk roads and Motorways - a bit sad I know:) I use MapMyRide to plot routes, which I transfer to the Garmin, which I use as a route reminder when I'm out. Once back home, I download the ride to Sport Tracks and Google Earth. There is now only a few short stretches of road within the area which I have yet to ride.

Using the Garmin has helped my find a lot of roads I would never have thought about if I'd relied solely on my (already good) knowledge of the Perthshire area.

vorsprung

If you are only talking about 50 miles what is the problem?

Look at the map before you go, memorise the route
Take the map with you to help decide which way is which if it isn't clear on the road
If you get a bit lost just use the map to aim towards somewhere you know

To paraphrase the above poster "Getting lost has helped me find a lot of roads I would never have thought about if I'd relied solely on my (already good) knowledge of the Devon/Somerset border area."

A fun / useful way to get an entirely different route to the one you first thought of is to use
www.viamichelin.com with "options" cycle selected

andrew@snowrace

Hi I recently rode down to spain from wales we used maps blown up to A4 about 30 miles to a sheet also we had a list of towns /villages we where passing through or close to so as we arrived at a junction 9 times out of ten we knew which way were heading and therefore didnt have to stop and check the maps, hope this helps.
Andy