Bmblbzzz wrote:I would have sent the OP's old gent up to the Severn Bridge via Tockington and Olveston, but it does depend where you're starting from. Doesn't it always?
We were chatting in the centre of Brizzle and he departed just before 11am and I had visions of catching him up when I left for work an hour later when I saw the speed he rode of at.
GPS seems to be predicated upon the notion of a journey from A to C perhaps taking in B. Doesn't really seem to cater for a thorough exploration of an area, taking in all paths tracks and bridleways, i.e. the road less traveled. There is much to explore on, for example just one O/S map without the need to 'press on'. Dawdling is a rare luxury, I find.
Good to hear from you after such a long time. This is probably my last post for a while, cos' I'll be 'home' in France again by the end of the week (Plymouth - Roscoff, and then 5 - 5.5 days on the road).
By co-incidence I found some old route pics earlier this morning (on a previously 'lost' memory stick), so please accept one: it shows that if needs be I'll 'wild camp' almost anywhere, even in a scrapyard!
GPS? Nope. Maps? Nope. 40 years of riding the back roads of France? Yep, I can still remember the way, even with an increasingly aged memory. Now then, where was that bar, the one where the barmaid had big sprockets?
Happy days,
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Wild camping yep, in a scrapyard!.JPG (13.81 KiB) Viewed 452 times
jimlews wrote:GPS seems to be predicated upon the notion of a journey from A to C perhaps taking in B. Doesn't really seem to cater for a thorough exploration of an area, taking in all paths tracks and bridleways, i.e. the road less traveled. There is much to explore on, for example just one O/S map without the need to 'press on'. Dawdling is a rare luxury, I find.
Not necessarily. In fact GPS can be a great means of exploring the road or track less travelled. A device like an eTrex is basically a map of a huge area (such as the whole of the UK) with scale variable on a huge range and the bonus of recording where you've been, so you can more easily find those less travelled paths again, if you want to. The main downside is that the physical area of the screen is small, but if you're intensely exploring a small area, that's not such a problem.
Each to their own but I don't buy into the idea that one persons way of touring is better than another. It's all about attitude rather than equipment, a GPS can be your master or slave, just like a map can, or someone else's route from a forum. I enjoy the planning, others like it all planned for them, and others like to have no plan, I doubt that's changed much since the start of cycle touring. Old Skool is great if that's your thing, but it can be as much a straight jacket as anything hi-tech. Without getting all tree hugger, you do learn something about yourself when you venture outside your comfort zone, it might be you learn that's not for you.
Morzedec wrote:By co-incidence I found some old route pics earlier this morning (on a previously 'lost' memory stick), so please accept one: it shows that if needs be I'll 'wild camp' almost anywhere, even in a scrapyard!
pwa wrote:There must be a lot of people these days for whom two weeks without any screen to look at would be an adventure in itself. Real "getting away from it" stuff.
. For many,2 minutes without a screen would be new territory.
Morzedec wrote:Bonjour, another 'Old Gent' here (a mere 73).
I now live 95% of the time in France, where I have no car, landline nor mobile, television, washing machine, central heating, nor much else either. What I do have is an acre of fruit trees and veg beds (produce which I swap for wood), plus three bikes and two trailers. My Pavone dates from '74, My Raleigh from '78, and my Holdsworth from '80: by the end of last year one trailer had 50,000km under its single wheel, but if I go out 'wooding' has not enough capacity so I've a new one which rides 'in-line' tandem' behind the first one.
Am I happy? dead right I am, but not as happy as I'll be on Tuesday when I set off back to France again: five and a half days to ride from Roscoff until I reach home (600km), wild camping along the way.
I have a near-neighbour in France (anyone living less than 5km away is a neighbour) who is 88 years young, and he rides out - weather permitting - every day.
Ah, the open road, and at this time of the year - the smell of manure in the fields.
Happy days,
You are on t'internet though, so you must have an electronic device of some sort - laptop, iPad, smart phone, old style steam powered PC or even a Blackberry?
"Zat is ze reel prowoking qwestion Mr Paxman." - Peer Steinbruck, German Finance Minister 31/03/2009.
Oldjohnw wrote:I have the entry level Garman E10 which I use when walking in the hills if I need exact location. Otherwise, good old OS maps.
OS Mapping is great even better when on a smart phone as you don't physically have to carry 18 maps the weight and volume of which is considerable.
Unfortunately, my obsolete windows phone does not support the OS app. I only carry one map when walking. When cycling I carry photocopied pages - perhaps 6 or so - plus I have my iPad with the maps downloaded.
I've toured for years using paper maps, love them and have shelves of them.
However, GPS has been a revelation especially getting through urban areas. I still use paper maps to plan a route and carry them whilst touring but I can put this route on a device that allows to navigate. I can also alter this or choose to ignore sections of it. I've chosen where to go not the device anymore than the paper map was controlling me previously.
I'm sure many people have gone the 'wrong' way and discovered something worth seeing but equally they may never know what is was they would have seen if they had gone the way we had planned. I certainly don't have fond memories of spending over an hour trying to get out of Olomouc ( or possibly Ostrava, certainly somewhere in the Czech or Slovak Republic) only to find I'm on some major road and still heading in the wrong direction.
I love the ability that GPS gives me to navigate a quiet way through the back streets of a strange foreign city. OTOH I rather miss the little interactions of asking little old ladies (or pretty young ladies) for directions.
Olomouc is a lovely town! The old walls, I remember, and the people from the printer's who invited me to their flat for a party. No GPS (or maps either) involved!
