memorising maps/routes

[Illaveago]

Pigeons have a good sense of direction, so much so, that if you were to remove a tree that they spent time trying to build a nest in the previous year and then remove it. They don't half look confused. My neighbour did that. The pigeons returned the following year to the exact spot, wandering round occasionally looking up thinking, where's that tree?

 

[Velominati]

I think that there is also an art in giving directions, I have loss count of the times when I have asked a passer by for directions and I end up listening to their entire life story.

Me...Excuse me please, could you tell me how to get to the nearest café.
Them....are you from around here
Me...No
Them...Okay, go back the way you came and you will come to a little white house that's owned by my friend Doris, then take a left and keep going until you come to a set of lights, be careful at those lights because they change quick and there have been a number of accidents there, my son had a nasty crash there, he called me one night and said, mum, you'll never guess what happened to me, oh my, I thought he's only gone and had another crash, mind you I blame his wife, she is always on at him, I said that they shouldn't of got married but would he listen..........yap yap yap, drone drone, drone.....white noise.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I have a Fat Nav...its usually spot on..

 

[Velominati]

Pigeons have a good sense of direction, so much so, that if you were to remove a tree that they spent time trying to build a nest in the previous year and then remove it. They don't half look confused. My neighbour did that. The pigeons returned the following year to the exact spot, wandering round occasionally looking up thinking, where's that tree?

I was like that when they closed my local pub.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I tend to know the names of the next towns/villages so I can refer to signposts. I have a GPS on my handlebars, as I'm a gadget fan, but it's never telling me where to go, just reminding me where I am, and showing the route that I spent ages carefully planning (but which may get ignored if I feel that way inclined).

 

[psmiffy]

I tend to know the names of the next towns/villages so I can refer to signposts. I have a GPS on my handlebars, as I'm a gadget fan, but it's never telling me where to go, just reminding me where I am, and showing the route that I spent ages carefully planning (but which may get ignored if I feel that way inclined).

ditto - apart from the carefully planned route - My route is generally a series of waypoints - say Helsinki, Tallin, Riga, Berlin et.al. - that I can visualise in my head - a map provides the the day to day detail if im somewhere that I have not been before - to my mind the drawback to using a GPS is that it only gives a sense of where you are very locally without much context of the overall journey

Many people state they have a poor sense of direction - no such thing - we are not pigeons - Directional skills are learnt by continually adding to the spatial map that is kept within our memory - Navigation is a skill - something that is learnt by doing it over and over again - reliance on a GPS for routing is to my mind the first step to a spatial lobotomy

 

[summerdays]

ditto - apart from the carefully planned route - My route is generally a series of waypoints - say Helsinki, Tallin, Riga, Berlin et.al. - that I can visualise in my head - a map provides the the day to day detail if im somewhere that I have not been before - to my mind the drawback to using a GPS is that it only gives a sense of where you are very locally without much context of the overall journey

Many people state they have a poor sense of direction - no such thing - we are not pigeons - Directional skills are learnt by continually adding to the spatial map that is kept within our memory - Navigation is a skill - something that is learnt by doing it over and over again - reliance on a GPS for routing is to my mind the first step to a spatial lobotomy

It depends how you use the GPS... It means you can be head up looking around.... (Getting to know where you are passing through), I don't use it on the bike for navigation, but in a car it can be useful, and the most important bit is the knowledge that you don't have to blindly follow its directions.

 

[Dogtrousers]

- reliance on a GPS v routing is to my mind the first step to a spatial lobotomy

I agree ... But in some cases that's not a bad thing. For a lot of driving I rely entirely on turn by turn satnav advice - I have no desire to build a mental map of infrequently visited towns and motorways, and modern satnavs do such a good job, that I'm happy to be lobotomized.

On the bike is a different matter, as it's all about the journey.

 

[psmiffy]

It depends how you use the GPS... It means you can be head up looking around.... (Getting to know where you are passing through), I don't use it on the bike for navigation, but in a car it can be useful, and the most important bit is the knowledge that you don't have to blindly follow its directions.

I agree ... But in some cases that's not a bad thing. For a lot of driving I rely entirely on turn by turn satnav advice - I have no desire to build a mental map of infrequently visited towns and motorways, and modern satnavs do such a good job, that I'm happy to be lobotomized.

When im travelling in England by car - I have neither GPS or maps - I find if I have checked my destination on Google maps beforehand so that I know the last couple of km Im good to go

 

[Dogtrousers]

I think that there is also an art in giving directions,....

 

[Venod]

[QUOTE 4216053, member: 76"]It's all on here. http://www.bmbo.org.uk/ I went to one just outside Chepstow on Sunday, run by BMO. The list on the page shows all the events. I wouldn't worry about being fast on the bike, as with all orienteering, accurate navigation is your friend here. There was a massive range of competitors, so honestly it will feel really welcoming. Give it a go, it's only over the bridge and up the valley road to Abergavenny in a couple of weeks, or a bit further down to Dartmoor.[/QUOTE]

If you ever find yourself up North I can recommend the NYMBO series of events.

https://nymbo.org.uk/

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I don't go on a group ride in an unfamiliar location without a GPX file for the Garmin: if I get dropped I would never find my way home!

 

[biking_fox]

Many people state they have a poor sense of direction - no such thing - we are not pigeons - Directional skills are learnt by continually adding to the spatial map that is kept within our memory - Navigation is a skill - something that is learnt by doing it over and over again - reliance on a GPS for routing is to my mind the first step to a spatial lobotomy

Yet strangely we do have the same basic biology as pigeons and all other eukaryotes, which even if it isn't as highly developed as in migratory animals is present, and owing to natural variation is present at varying degree,s between any two individuals. (as best science knows anyway. Quite how animals do sense migratory routes is still debatabl. SO abolsutely humans do have a native sense of direction, and some people are inherently better at it than others. Which isn't to say it can't be learnt. But there's a vast difference between learning how to navigate, and that sense that some people have (and others don't) of knowing where you are relative to another location.

I can navigate extremely well. I read and understand maps and can relate them to the countryside/landmarks around me. But I have no innate sense of direction. If I haven't studied and kept concentrating on the map I have literally no clue even in what direction home might lie. I can work it out, usually. But other people will just 'know'. GPS is godsend, as it means I don't have to concentrate all the time, but can enjoy and admire the ride.

some time ago I cycled across Salisbury Plain, GPS would have been absolutely useless up there

Eh? that's one of the prime cases where GPS is wonderful. You don't need landmarks for it. Map and compass without anything to sight on is very hard work.

 

[psmiffy]

Yet strangely we do have the same basic biology as pigeons and all other eukaryotes

I think researchers some years ago established that pigeons can detect changes in magnetic field although the exact mechanism is not fully understood - possibly turtles as well as a few others - but it is not been shown in humans - personally I think that humans can sense direction (different from a sense of direction) but it is more environmental and learnt - I pretty much know immediately if I have missed a turn by a change in the wind direction or the position of the sun.

 

[ColinJ]

I think researchers some years ago established that pigeons can detect changes in magnetic field although the exact mechanism is not fully understood - possibly turtles as well as a few others - but it is not been shown in humans - personally I think that humans can sense direction (different from a sense of direction) but it is more environmental and learnt - I pretty much know immediately if I have missed a turn by a change in the wind direction or the position of the sun.

Try riding round here in typical Yorkshire/Lancashire weather ... I have done circular routes with a headwind all the way round and not only been unable to locate the sun, but also to even see the hillside opposite!

I don't like the idea of a bike 'sat nav' which devises routes for me, but having used my OS maps to plot my routes, I am happy to let my simple old Garmin Etrex keep me on the chosen roads. It has not let me down in tens of thousands of kms of riding.