Old school maps question - what scale do you use?
KnightOfTheLongTights
Posts: 1,415
OK, I've not got a garmin and probably don't want one. I've managed OK with a decent sense of direction and OS maps so far planning my training rides - but it strikes me that I've never quite found the best scale for cycling.
The OS Explorer series at 1:50,000 obviously offers plenty of detail but if you are planning a long ride then that's a lot of map to take, even if you photocopy the relevant bits (yes I know...). This has been my default option thus far.
At the other end, the most detailed road atlas I can find is 2.3 miles to the inch, which is about 1:145,000 - not detailed enough and misses off a lot of minor roads.
Is there something I am missing - regional maps perhaps - that has a scale somewhere in between, say 1:90,000, which I think would be ideal?
Also can I ask how people cater for long-distance multi-day A-B-C-D rides when you'd have to carry, say, eight or ten OS Explorer maps to cover the whole ride?
Or even one-day A-to-B rides: For instance I was trying to plan a one-day ride from London to Shepton Mallet in Somerset recently, with as much as possible on smaller road - how would you map that out in a way that'd fit easily in your jersey pocket?
The OS Explorer series at 1:50,000 obviously offers plenty of detail but if you are planning a long ride then that's a lot of map to take, even if you photocopy the relevant bits (yes I know...). This has been my default option thus far.
At the other end, the most detailed road atlas I can find is 2.3 miles to the inch, which is about 1:145,000 - not detailed enough and misses off a lot of minor roads.
Is there something I am missing - regional maps perhaps - that has a scale somewhere in between, say 1:90,000, which I think would be ideal?
Also can I ask how people cater for long-distance multi-day A-B-C-D rides when you'd have to carry, say, eight or ten OS Explorer maps to cover the whole ride?
Or even one-day A-to-B rides: For instance I was trying to plan a one-day ride from London to Shepton Mallet in Somerset recently, with as much as possible on smaller road - how would you map that out in a way that'd fit easily in your jersey pocket?
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