Newbie and map reading
10-30-14, 05:03 PM
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Newbie and map reading
We have a trail system at Camp Robinson in NLR, Arkansas with 37 miles of intertwined trails that are a blast to ride but impossible for me to follow on the map. How do you ride without getting lost ? I don't mind just riding until I get to a place I can locate but it sometimes places me on trails that are above my riding skill level.
10-30-14, 05:13 PM
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Learn to terrain associate. One can roughly guess where one is based on the slope of the ground and location of different terrain features (these can be manmade or otherwise.. even things like the angle between two intersecting trails). With a little practice, one can usually tell where one is within a few hundred meters.
90% of the time this is enough to get me where I want to be when I am out playing in the mountains.
90% of the time this is enough to get me where I want to be when I am out playing in the mountains.
10-30-14, 05:14 PM
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We have a trail system at Camp Robinson in NLR, Arkansas with 37 miles of intertwined trails that are a blast to ride but impossible for me to follow on the map. How do you ride without getting lost ? I don't mind just riding until I get to a place I can locate but it sometimes places me on trails that are above my riding skill level.
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10-30-14, 07:06 PM
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I have a Garmin but the GPS is hard to use on that small screen. I looked at the sat image on Google on the phone and it shows a dot in the middle of the woods but that wasn't all that helpful. I guess it's just a matter of practice and remembering turns in the trail like the person before said.
11-03-14, 03:14 PM
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I have a Garmin but the GPS is hard to use on that small screen. I looked at the sat image on Google on the phone and it shows a dot in the middle of the woods but that wasn't all that helpful. I guess it's just a matter of practice and remembering turns in the trail like the person before said.
Or plan the route ahead of time, turn it into a track log, and navigate to follow the track log. As long as you can see the track and your position you'll have an idea of whether you've gone hopelessly wrong and if you have you can figure whether to backtrack or reroute.
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11-03-14, 03:32 PM
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Read up on how to locate yourself with a map. A very good use for an hour or so of your time. Everyone should know how to read a map... Besides, maps are lighter than GPSs.
11-09-14, 05:53 PM
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Sure, except here in the UK I can carry one GPS instead of a dozen 1:25000 paper maps. For a long ride the GPS is lighter and smaller, and also pinpoints my precise location at any given time.
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11-10-14, 09:09 AM
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Riding more and an awesome app called mtbproject has taken care of this issue. I have been working on keeping up with turns and sun position too which is helping a lot.
