Plan your routes or go Ad Hoc ??

[ianrauk]

I have got an edge 500 and I have tried to follow a course I loaded into it, but the directions it gives I don't think are that great, its not like following a car sat nav, so for those routes I did plan and intend to follow I always end up off course. Does anyone else have difficulty following the course direcitons on an edge 500 or is it just me ?

You using the breadcrumb trails right (black line), you follow the black line, it's as simple as that.

 

[MattE72]

I do a bit of both. I quite like planning a route using Ride With GPS and then use it as a general route guide. Quite often I'll see a lane/road I've not been on before and turn off and see where I end up. Occasionally I'll upload it to my Garmin especially if I'm testing 'foreign' waters (ie Cheshire/Wirral). I quite like to mooch around though and see where I end up.

 

[Archie_tect]

Working on the notion that you can't get lost... I like to find lanes I've not used before... it's great when you get that, "ah, so this is where it goes!' moment when you find a new diversion. It helps to have a vague idea mind!

 

[MontyVeda]

Bit of both here too... I have various 'loops' i know quite well but to keep it interesting I'll have a bit of an explore off the pre-determined course... Sunday's ride took me down to Galgate, where i normally head out towards Fleetwood to take advantage of the prevailing wind to push me back to Lancaster on the final leg... but this time i went up into the hills around Calder Valle and Bleasedale which gave me a good long downhill stretch all the way back home... loved it.

 

[compo]

I go up my road off the estate and come to a T junction. Here I either turn right or left depending which way the wind is blowing and that really determines where I go for my ride.

 

[Archie_tect]

I go up my road off the estate and come to a T junction. Here I either turn right or left depending which way the wind is blowing and that really determines where I go for my ride.

I do this too, and always turn into the wind so that I [usually!] have an easier ride home.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

My routes are usually planned in advance using OS maps. Sometimes I'll change my mind partway through a route and try something new but probably not as often as I should. I've got fairly adept at judging distances on the roads locally, so if aiming for a specific mileage (say a metric century) I know in good time whether I need to add extra or not.

Navigation errors are usually limited to turning off too soon and I generally don't go too far before being able to correct it.

I did recently try plotting a route using Google maps for convenience and for the fact it works the mileage out for you, but I don't think I shall be doing that again as its idea of a suitable cycle route is not the same as mine.

 

[Bodhbh]

Most of my riding atm is the commute, which always involves the same route in. Going home tends to be one of 4-5 stock routes, one of which is direct - they others of varying length depending how much i can be bothered and whether I'm on something that can handle a bit of off-road.

At the weekend I'll pick something(s) I want to visit and plan a route around that. Just making circular routes without any highlight, goal, or specific finishing point doesn't get me motivated at all. Nor does just following my nose, although if I'm honest, I generally find I've not regretted it afterwards.

 

[Cush]

I enjoy messing around with maps and planning rides/walks almost as much as actually getting out and doing them.

Same here but I am not averse to just going out and riding or walking for either a set time or untill I am tired and them making my own way back as memory dictates (this has sometimes meant longer rides or walks than intended ) Also like taking a A4 size map and following to the furthest practical edge of it.

 

[Dave 123]

Ad hoc is a bit of a funny notion when you know every inch of every lane for 15 or 20 miles around. You might string them together into different combinations, increase or decrease your ride-length as the whim takes you, but such familiarity means that no ride is really ad hoc. The longer ones need planning, but even that doesn't always go well.

I have to agree with Mike. In Cambs I know where I am, same in Devon and Cheshire N Wales.
It was interesting the other week on holiday "that looks quiet...." off we go then! We ended up in some beautiful places.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Both... sometimes it is a planned route, sometimes it is ad-hoc and sometimes it is both of those as well.... often I will see a road/lane and just decide to take it to see where it goes.

I have got an edge 500 and I have tried to follow a course I loaded into it, but the directions it gives I don't think are that great, its not like following a car sat nav, so for those routes I did plan and intend to follow I always end up off course. Does anyone else have difficulty following the course direcitons on an edge 500 or is it just me ?

yes - as with the edge 200, there is an art form to reading them and sometimes you have to go off course to see that you are off course, but usually you can work it out, for instance if the main road bends round to the right and your trail clearly shows straight on, then you are turning off left at the bend and not staying on the main road (hope that makes sense).... But I find it easier to work on the "well the route says I should be going towards 2 o'clock" and settle for whatever road is closest to 2 o'clock...

 

[youngoldbloke]

I always take a printed map of the area, large or small scale as appropriate. Seeing an overview of the whole area, and the way in which roads link up, is really helpful. Locally I hardly ever need to look at a printed map any more, as I now have a mental map. However it doesn't seem to work for everyone - one person I often I ride with 'knows all the roads around here', it's just the order they come in that confuses her .

 

[Cush]

. However it doesn't seem to work for everyone - one person I often I ride with 'knows all the roads around here', it's just the order they come in that confuses her .

Sounds like my wife

 

[tudor_77]

I enjoy messing around with maps and planning rides/walks almost as much as actually getting out and doing them.

Hah I'm exactly the same, nothing quite like planning an epic on Garmin and then going out and actually doing it!

 

[DaveReading]

As both a cyclist and a runner, I love the freedom the bike gives you to just follow your nose, get lost, and make it up as you go along. When I run, I really need to know that at each point on my route I have enough miles left in my legs to get me home again, whereas on the bike I can always be reasonably confident that I'll be able to pedal all the way, perhaps a bit more slowly than normal if I've done more miles than I intended.