Following a route

feemackenzie
feemackenzie Posts: 130
edited March 2013 in Road beginners
I'm planning to cycle Glasgow to Edinburgh in the next few weeks. Any advice how I plan and follow a route - i have an Android phone only but am concerned the battery life won't last the 4+ hours I'll need. Should I write it out? Any thoughts welcomed!

PS: my support crew will bring me home hopefully (kids , car and wife)
Felt z95 - loving my first road bike

Comments

  • mbthegreat
    mbthegreat Posts: 179
    Don't know about your route but if there's a lot of villages etc I like to print off a list of places I'll go through, and stick it in a jersey pocket, easily consulted when coming up to signs.
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    spare battery of ebay should give you the time you need.
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • Inutero
    Inutero Posts: 111
    feemackenzie wrote:
    I'm planning to cycle Glasgow to Edinburgh in the next few weeks. Any advice how I plan and follow a route - i have an Android phone only but am concerned the battery life won't last the 4+ hours I'll need. Should I write it out? Any thoughts welcomed!

    PS: my support crew will bring me home hopefully (kids , car and wife)

    http://www.pedalforscotland.org/

    Couple of routes planned out on that site :)
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    Just use your compass app and keep heading east :-)
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • supermurph09
    supermurph09 Posts: 2,471
    I can basically get lost in my own front room so I used the courses feature on my Garmin Edge 500 at the weekend for the first time. As soon as I deviated from the route "OFF COURSE" flashes up, spin back round and get back on course "COURSE FOUND". Works brilliantly for me, maybe an option for you.
    Trainer Road Blog: https://hitthesweetspot.home.blog/

    Cycling blog: https://harderfasterlonger.wordpress.com/

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  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    First time I did my long ride from the East Mids across The Pennines to the in-laws a few years ago (108 miles) I printed a simple table in Word of major towns to aim for, road numbers, where to turn off, and distances to each, laminated it and fixed it to the bars with a couple of plastic ties. Waterproof, free, no batteries to die, always visible, weightless, each landmark point mentally ticked off as it cropped up... Sometimes technology isn't the best solution.
  • backo
    backo Posts: 167
    try plotting the map on something like mapmyride. I try and memorise the route and for points on the route where I have to make a turn, I go on to googlemaps and the use the "littlle gold man" thingy to view the junction/road and see if there are any landmarks i.e bus stop, bench, post box, etc......always helps this feature on googlemaps so you can see bits of the route before you head out on your bike.
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    Yepp, what Backo says. RidewithGPS is also good. When you have a route, make up a routecard like this one:

    http://www.ukcyclist.org.uk/calroutes/VofRcal.pdf

    You can then print it (I also laminate mine) and clip it to your bars using a Polaris Maptrap, but stick a map in your pocket in case you miss a turn, etc.. Pretty much the standard way for most of us audaxers to get about.
  • pride4ever
    pride4ever Posts: 510
    I always write down a few postcodes on my 100 plus rides in case something happens to the bike or god forbid I bonk (hasnt happened yet) so the Mrs can come and get me, takes the unknown factor out of the equation. She hasnt had to come fetch me yet but you never know one day.......
    the deeper the section the deeper the pleasure.
  • dhobiwallah
    dhobiwallah Posts: 272
    Is the battery on your phone shot or is it a model with a poor battery to start with? I get just over 4 hours with gps/display/mp3 when running with my iPhone (notoriously poor batteries compared to some). If I switch the screen off and only use it when I actually need to check position I get 8 hours of GPS/MP3.

    Why not use the GPS around town/on a normal day and see what the battery does?

    (And have a paper backup - printout from an online routefinder should get you there)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Just use water soluble pen on the back of your hand

    R (right) L (left) SO (straight on). Just don't wipe your forehead.
  • Crankbrother
    Crankbrother Posts: 1,695
    Go to a bargain book shop and buy an AA road map book for £1/2 ... tear out the page(s) that relate go your ride and stick them in a freezer bag and stick it in your jersey pocket ...

    It's called road cycling, roads all have signs (and if not country lanes always have identifiable junctions etc) ...

    Cycled all over britain using this method ... only time we got lost was 25 miles from home and we 'looped' by accident and only noticed due to a broken hoover part at the side of the road ...

    If you plan to go 'off piste' take a £2 compass as well ... and remember where the sun should be at the given time of day ...

    Ps. i'm in edinburgh so wave hello when you get here ...
  • feemackenzie
    feemackenzie Posts: 130
    @crankbrother: great idea. Planning Glasgow to Troon on Saturday (if not blowing a hooley) - will test your idea.
    Felt z95 - loving my first road bike

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