shelbyfv

Dreamy, if you decide to get a bike and ride outside, plan a route that's easily navigated. Tell your mom where you are going and when you expect to return. She'll come for you, assuming she wants you back....

burnthesheep

My honest advice? If it bothers you and you have someone waiting on you back home......give them a copy of your route and tell them "if you don't hear back from me by XX:XX......come looking".

My routes always will have a passer by and I always have reception. But, no matter what you do........bikes, hiking, etc............when you don't have reception it is a good idea. Even in the days before cell phones, if you were going out somewhere solitary it was a good idea to tell folks "hey, I'm going to go do XXX tomorrow from around lunch to 3". Then it is "hey, Bob said he was going hiking yesterday but didn't show up to the card game..........maybe we should check in". Then you avoid the whole bit about a documentary of a guy sawing his own arm off to escape from a fall in a rock or something.

There's nothing "htfu" about that. It's called caring for people.

Riveting

I ride with my cell 100% of the time, and with a single earbud playing music or talk radio 100% of the time when I'm on solo rides, not because my rides are boring, but because I like music and talk radio. The cell is always in my right jersey pocket, and never in the saddle bag, just in case I crash, break a hip, and can't get to the bike, which could be down a ravine. This way I have easy access to the phone to call emergency medical services. I also solo mtb in the foothills of the Rockies, and always lose cell reception, that's where I get a little nervous, because the terrain is so technical, and sometimes desolate, so a damaging (to me) fall could mean I'm there for hours before anyone else comes by, if ever, so I've been considering a sat. phone just for this scenario. I believe there's one that will send your gps coordinates and a preloaded emergency message to a loved one, at the push of a single button, "I've fallen and I can't get up!".

Phil_gretz

I'll admit that I do carry a phone when I ride. It's there for emergencies, and I have used it to call by boss and my wife immediately after a bad crash on my way to work a couple of Junes ago. A passerby phoned 911 for me. I was a bit out of it initially.

Or, if my wife expects me home at a certain time and I have a mechanical of some sort, I can let her know how or if plans will change.

Finally, my wife and I sometimes meet up halfway through a ride, and then finish the ride home together. Phones are helpful if something goes wrong on one person's end of things. We wouldn't be doing this outside of cell coverage, though.

BlazingPedals

LOL this is another first-world issue. How did I ever survive my childhood without a cell phone???

tkamd73 

I do, but only for the camera function!
Tim

prj71

What was your plan before cell phones existed?

If you had one. Use that plan.

If it scares you that you may not get reception when you are out riding somewhere then maybe, just maybe, biking isn't for you.

AlmostTrick

Since I'm one of the last persons around who never had a cell phone, I suppose I wouldn't notice any difference!

Riveting

Those that didn't survive their childhoods aren't here to answer this question.

DMC707

--- Like, Obvy !!!

joseruivo

You need a SIM card from an alternative cell network that might have coverage there. Either use a dual SIM phone with a pay as you go/prepaid SIM from the alternative network(s), or a second phone, or just replace one SIM card with another if/when you need it.

I use two phones, one with Strava beacon, and one with Google Maps location sharing, so my wife can track me and find me if I stop at certain point and neither come home nor answer the phone for hours - like because I'm lying down on the road after an accident - or if I need/want her to go meet me at that exact point on the map, because I had bike breakdown, found a perfect place for diner, or whatever. Two different cell networks, because often I've been at places where one of them (or both) did not work.

downhillmaster

I follow the same basic plan for every ride.
When I get on the bike I start pedaling and continue to pedal until the end of the ride.
Has worked for myself and millions of other cyclists for a hundred years

Reflector Guy

Play it safe: Invite Mom to ride too.

rydabent

Just enjoy the ride.

rydabent

Believe it or not people actually lived before cell phones. If you are worried about getting lost, they have these paper things called maps. The great thing about them is they work anywhere, and dont need batteries.

wolfchild

Yes but what happens when if you get a flat ??...Don't you need a cell phone with a special cycling app to tell you what to do next ??

wolfchild

How many modern humans even own a paper map or know how to read one ??

phughes

You're overthinking. Ride and enjoy.

phughes

Amen

phughes

How do you make it through the day?

genejockey 

(raises hand)

genejockey 

Flag down a passing cyclist or motorist?

If it bothers you, limit your riding to areas with good reception. But bear in mind that millions of cyclists rode with no cell phones for decades, and the ones who had accidents generally found a way home.

What if you have an accident and fall on your phone in an area with good reception?

DMC707

Me too -- mine sits on one of those stem top carriers

But for those saying --- "We rode long before there were cell phones !" -- True , -- but that was also a time when pay phones were prevalent - (not if youre really in the boondocks ) but payphones were at any roadside pit stop 20 years ago

Atlas Shrugged

What a bunch of judgemental idiots! Nothing wrong with being able to communicate and have help available should something get out of hand. I enjoy long solo hikes and bike tours sometimes in fairly remote areas. Also, I have people who care about me and enjoy a check-in on a regular basis for this I use a SPOT satellite communicator to send a breadcrumb trail, to allow for all ok messages daily and an emergency button linked with worldwide emergency services should that be required.

Koyote

Back when I was squandering my youth, I spent the better part of many summers just bumming around the country in my pickup truck with a bunch of camping and backpacking gear...Completely out-of-touch for a month (or longer) at a time. It never occurred to me that being disconnected, and unreachable, would be a problem -- rather, it was great. Most of my friends didn't have as much free time, so I would often end up meeting someone in the middle of my travels. Sometimes a person would fly into a city, so I would plan to be nearby and would go to the airport; once, my sister was meeting me in Alaska during the middle of my trip, and so on the appointed day I packed out of the Denali NP backcountry, caught a ride to the train station, and fifteen minutes later the train rolled up and she hopped right off. Once, a friend and I were each travelling, and we made plans to meet at a certain state park that neither of us had ever visited; on the planned date, I showed up, picked out a campsite, started reading a book, and an hour later (and weeks after we had last spoken), my friend drove up.

Somehow, we accomplished all of this without phone contact. We also managed to repair our vehicles, treat our wounds, procure food, etc.

I sometimes share some of these stories with my students, who are all 18-22 yrs old and treat their cell phones as appendages. When I suggest that they are not necessary for modern life, they look at me as if I've suggested that they don't need oxygen.