Carlton green wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 11:06pm
a.twiddler wrote: ↑30 Jan 2023, 1:35pm
Re Asking a Local for Directions. Is the aversion to this a Bloke thing then? I note we have not had the ladies' point of view about this.
Isn’t asking for directions a sign of weakness? Surely a real Bloke always knows where he is and has a perfect sense of direction coupled to a finely honed intellect.
I'm not proud, I'll quite happily ask directions, I flagged down a passing motorist once, but.....
Within a very short time of taking up cycle touring I learned never to ask directions unless you want to be sent down the motorway, or wherever all the cars go. Conversations invariably end with something along this theme:
"Yes, but that's the main road. According to the map, there's a country lane goes across here somewhere"
"Ah, dunno nuffin about that mate, if you want Blogthorpe, it's down there"
Then there was:
"Is this the right road for xxxx"
"xxxx? That's miles away, you'll never make it!"
Two miles actually, in the middle of a 60 mile day.
"Excuse me, do you know where the Youth Hostel is please?"
"There's no Youth Hostel here"
"There had better be, I've got a bed booked for tonight"
It was about 50 yards away.
The last time I recall asking was in Preston town centre, wanting the road for Leyland. Not one of half a dozen passers-by knew, so I just followed my nose, and ended up on the A49 through Euxton. I'd been wanting the B5250 through Leyland, but it was good enough. By comparison, negotiating Wigan and Warrington was a doddle.
Galactic wrote: ↑31 Jan 2023, 11:18am
BTW, I was once asked for directions by a platoon of scary looking riot cops in a forest. They showed me a map (held upside down) and asked if I knew where we were. I showed them where we were, and also showed them my compass, pointing out that north was in the opposite direction from what they thought it was. They got all blokey at that and insisted they were right and I was wrong. Knowing not to argue with a dozen tooled-up riot cops (complete with body armour, helmets, batons, guns etc), I bade them good day and left them to it.
On one occasion I was fairly sure I was on the right track but something had made me wonder, and there was a woman by the junction, so I asked. Almost immediately I realised my mistake, and then spent the next ten minutes losing the will to live as I tried to think of a polite way to extricate myself, and not go the way she was telling me. At one point I showed her the map, and said
"We're here aren't we?"
"No!"
"So where are we, then?"
She just waved her hand across the map in a broad sweep, and said
"There"
(By the time I'd got the map out I could see I was right, I'd just asked because I was trying to save the bother of digging it out of the pannier)