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What is your solution for riding in a spot with low reception?

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What is your solution for riding in a spot with low reception?

Old 08-07-20, 08:53 AM
  #151  
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Six pages, OP has scored again....
Are we seeing part of a pattern here?
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Old 08-07-20, 08:55 AM
  #152  
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Originally Posted by Reflector Guy
Are we seeing part of a pattern here?
Next up: I'm thirsty and my water bottle is empty. What would you do?
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Old 08-07-20, 09:01 AM
  #153  
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Originally Posted by Reflector Guy
Are we seeing part of a pattern here?
People should be riding more and posting less.
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Old 08-07-20, 09:34 AM
  #154  
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Everyone realizes that 30 years ago that was not a problem. There wasnt such a thing. And yet since I was there at the time I did not read of news reports that people got lost and died in the wilderness.
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Old 08-07-20, 09:59 AM
  #155  
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Originally Posted by rydabent
Everyone realizes that 30 years ago that was not a problem. There wasnt such a thing. And yet since I was there at the time I did not read of news reports that people got lost and died in the wilderness.

A good map which shows backroads, trails and unmaintained roads or a Topo map is all that a person needs to navigate their way through unknown terrain. Google maps is good too... I have never used GPS because I find them annoying and confusing. A GPS doesn't guarantee that a person won't get lost and find their way out...30 years ago I was involved in wilderness survival and did a lot of trips into unknown terrain. The only thing we used back then was a topo map and compass and no other gimmicks...I've also ridden my bike through many unfamiliar areas that I have never been to before and I only used a paper map. Never got lost yet...Humans have been navigating their way around the world for thousands of years without any electronic gadgets and today people can't even take a short drive to their local Wallmart without being connected to their GPS or satellite.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:05 AM
  #156  
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Originally Posted by GlennR
People should be riding more and posting less.
I did a 2 hour ride very early this morning, I wasn't connected to any satellite or GPS and my cellphone was turned off in my pocket. The only thing I was connected to was my bike and the environment around me.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:07 AM
  #157  
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Originally Posted by rydabent
Everyone realizes that 30 years ago that was not a problem. There wasnt such a thing. And yet since I was there at the time I did not read of news reports that people got lost and died in the wilderness.
I wonder if more people are going farther afield than they might if they had to depend on their map reading and navigation skills. With a modern smartphone, you don't have to know where you're going, because it will tell you, and it will tell you where you are and how to get back.

Until it doesn't.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:08 AM
  #158  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
Next up: I'm thirsty and my water bottle is empty. What would you do?
Isn't there an app for that particular dilemma ??
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Old 08-07-20, 10:15 AM
  #159  
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Originally Posted by genejockey
I wonder if more people are going farther afield than they might if they had to depend on their map reading and navigation skills. With a modern smartphone, you don't have to know where you're going, because it will tell you, and it will tell you where you are and how to get back.
It doesn't matter how easy and convenient a modern smartphone is.....As far as I can remember I have always enjoyed reading and looking at maps. Reading a map is like reading a good interesting book. I don't care about some electronic gadget telling me how to navigate my way.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:23 AM
  #160  
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Originally Posted by wgscott
I don't have people phoning me in the middle of a bike ride to sell me viagra.
…...or have scammers calling me and texting me and telling me I owe income taxes and if I don't reply to them they will send a police officer to arrest me.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:27 AM
  #161  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
It doesn't matter how easy and convenient a modern smartphone is.....As far as I can remember I have always enjoyed reading and looking at maps. Reading a map is like reading a good interesting book. I don't care about some electronic gadget telling me how to navigate my way.
Yeah, but you know some people look at a map and can't understand it, or translate it into an understanding of places in the real world.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:32 AM
  #162  
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Yeah, but you know some people look at a map and can't understand it, or translate it into an understanding of places in the real world.
I work with a few of those people. I dispatch service technicians all over the Chicago area, and there are a few of them who can't find their way past the the end of the street we're located on.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:33 AM
  #163  
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Yeah, but you know some people look at a map and can't understand it, or translate it into an understanding of places in the real world.
That is where learning Orienteering , in or out of the Scouts , is good education .. finding way-points with Map & Compass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering
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Old 08-07-20, 10:44 AM
  #164  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
A good map which shows backroads, trails and unmaintained roads or a Topo map is all that a person needs to navigate their way through unknown terrain. Google maps is good too... I have never used GPS because I find them annoying and confusing. A GPS doesn't guarantee that a person won't get lost and find their way out...30 years ago I was involved in wilderness survival and did a lot of trips into unknown terrain. The only thing we used back then was a topo map and compass and no other gimmicks...I've also ridden my bike through many unfamiliar areas that I have never been to before and I only used a paper map. Never got lost yet...Humans have been navigating their way around the world for thousands of years without any electronic gadgets and today people can't even take a short drive to their local Wallmart without being connected to their GPS or satellite.
However, you are connected enough to post almost 6,200 times to this forum alone. That's a lot of time you could be riding your bike, studying maps or doing some orienteering.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:53 AM
  #165  
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Originally Posted by velopig
However, you are connected enough to post almost 6,200 times to this forum alone. That's a lot of time you could be riding your bike, studying maps or doing some orienteering.
Posting on the forums is done during working hours. Bike riding, etc, is for after work.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:55 AM
  #166  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
Seriously, if somebody is so paranoid that they won't go out for a bike ride unless they're " connected "...I think it's time for them to find another hobby, find something that doesn't require leaving your house.
Seriously, if the use of a cell phone gives a person a sense of security to venture out further than they otherwise might go, who the hell are you to say that's a bad thing? I know I'm more likely to play a round of "where does this road go" if I know I'll be able to GPS my way out of any maze I get myself into. And no, I really don't want to start using paper maps again, they were always a PITA.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:57 AM
  #167  
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
That is where learning Orienteering , in or out of the Scouts , is good education .. finding way-points with Map & Compass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering
True, but one thing I've learned over the years is that there are differences in aptitude for this, which I think has some relationship to the ability to visualize, like visualizing where you are in space and translating that to a map.
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Old 08-07-20, 10:57 AM
  #168  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
- take pictures to remember sights.
- take pictures to show others.
- receive phone calls for life outside of cycling. Calls for work or home life for example.
- update someone on location for setting plans after cycling.
- Google maps for location and directions at unonown intersections.
- and of course your favorite...music!


All are completely reasonable and there is no need to snidely comment that someone who chooses to carry a phone is addicted to social media or is on a boring ride.
Yes, there is no problem with carrying a phone, they are extremely useful and handy to have. What people are taking issue with though, is the thought that you have to have some plan in place for riding in an area without signal, as if you are going into some unexplored wilderness where danger lurks. Ridiculous, people were riding bikes long before there were cell phones, and in many areas, like where I grew up, we rode in areas that were lightly traveled and sparsely populated, making it even more difficult for you to get help if something happened. We rode anyway.

Today, riding in an area without signal is no big deal, all you have to do if you have an issue is crawl or drag yourself one block to the next Starbucks.
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Old 08-07-20, 11:02 AM
  #169  
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
That is where learning Orienteering , in or out of the Scouts , is good education .. finding way-points with Map & Compass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orienteering

This is like where people lament that the ubiquitous use of electronics for communication has led to people not learning how to write cursive. To which I reply "and?" New technologies have always caused some skills to wither.
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Old 08-07-20, 11:08 AM
  #170  
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I have a collection of nice maps from my European tours ..
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Old 08-07-20, 12:09 PM
  #171  
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I have a coworker who doesn't like taking extended rides because he doesn't hold the map in his head, so he's afraid if he misses a turn he'll be lost. And he has a Garmin!
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Old 08-07-20, 12:46 PM
  #172  
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Originally Posted by DreamRider85
A lot of lot rides are in country rodes and often times there’s no cell phone service. What is your plan?
Phone is turned off and stuffed in the bottom of a bag. I don't know if there is service or not. If I need to make a call I ride to where there is service.
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Old 08-07-20, 01:56 PM
  #173  
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Originally Posted by wolfchild
I did a 2 hour ride very early this morning, I wasn't connected to any satellite or GPS and my cellphone was turned off in my pocket. The only thing I was connected to was my bike and the environment around me.
I turn the sounds down on my cell when i go for a ride so i'm not disturbed. But i recently got a Garmin 530 and it can receive texts and lets you know the caller ID when you get a call. I had to turn those features off.

I do carry my phone in the event I get lost or need something. But it doesn't control my life.

I also turn on location sharing so my wife knows where I am and can tell her BF to get out before I get hone
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Old 08-07-20, 09:31 PM
  #174  
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Originally Posted by livedarklions
This is like where people lament that the ubiquitous use of electronics for communication has led to people not learning how to write cursive. To which I reply "and?" New technologies have always caused some skills to wither.
A third of my students can't read the time off of an analog clock.
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Old 08-07-20, 11:40 PM
  #175  
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Originally Posted by wgscott
A third of my students can't read the time off of an analog clock.
And I bet even fewer of them know how to use an analog watch to figure out their approximate direction. Paper map reading is another skill that seems to be declining.

Cheers
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