[JeffH_PA]

This past weekend I went on a ride sponsored by Google and Bing maps. As it turns out none of the turns or trails I was supposed to take matched what they said I should do.

I'm not really complaining, it was a lot of fun and I had a great time. What was a bit embarrassing though was the fact I had to call my wife from a town 15 miles down the road because I was too chicken sheet to brave the narrow berms down a mountain on a highway, not to mention my legs were spent. My ride was supposed to be a nice easy loop through the mountain roads in my back yard. Nothing matched up on my phone, and a 1.5 hour ride turned into over 4. I was blessed with mild climate so water was not a problem. In a few months though it could be bad.

The down hill was crazy fun though. Definitely doing that again, now that I know where to find it. White Oak Road, double track gravel if you're in Elizabethville, PA.

I don't really care about cadence or any of that crap. I just don't want to get completely lost by myself in the PA mountains again. Any suggestions for a decent gps?

 

[Anschutz]

I've always seen people using garmin but I'm sure there are others as well


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[Harold]

There is a whole forum here dedicated to bike computers and gps receivers. Spend some time reading there.

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[slapheadmofo]

GPS is way overated as an MTB accessory/crutch IMO. Exploring, getting lost and learning trails by way of saddle time and trial and error is a huge part of what always made riding interesting to me. The whole pre-packaged, 'I need to know what's out there before I go" thing takes all the adventure out of it as far as I'm concerned. Just leave all the electronic trinkets at home and ride til you know your way around.

:thumbsup:

 

[Whacked]

The whole "getting lost and learning the trails" can open the doors to a whole level of hurt and even death. Dehydration, fatigue, heat, exposure are all killers. Just a while back there is a thread about a cyclist death from cold.
That said I like the Garmin Edge series. Definitely check out mtbr gps forum

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[slapheadmofo]

Dehydration, fatigue, heat, exposure are all killers.

None of which a GPS will immunize you from. However did we survive so along without them?
People armed with smartphones, GPS, etc regularly get into all sorts of trouble, in part due to the false confidence their gadgets give them. There's only so much trust I'm willing to put in a battery.

 

[Harold]

All of those problems and limitations come from failures between your ears. It is beyond stupid to go into unknown places without knowing where you are. A gps is simply one tool among many that helps you figure out where you are and where you've been.

Before gps I used paper maps, most frequently the shitty not-to-scale ones handed out at park entrances and I got lost on a regular basis.

Thankfully none of those situations ever ended up with serious injury but things could have been very bad At times if so.

A gps helps me spend less time navigating and being lost and more time actually riding.

I choose my Oregon when I go new places or ones I don't know well. If I know them well and I don't need navigation then I choose one without mapping.

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