Yes its true. I have a major problem with directions/navigation and I need to seek (professional) help. It took me two hours today from Hackney to Notting Hill because I went via Hammersmith. I almost went via Heathrow
So ladies and gents, is there anything I can do, sort of spending £400 for a GPS? I guess one solution would be to keep the London AZ on the bike with me so I can always stop at the side of the road and find where I am. But you cannot do that on high speed roads such as motorways.
So, is there any way to improve my navigation skills? Anything whatsoever I can do?
this may sound simple enough but there are a few rules of Sun that cannot be ignored…
The sun rises in the East, so, if the sun is in front of you, you are heading East, if it is to your left, your heading South, if it is behind you, you are heading West.
Now this all depends on the time of day of course…
As England is in the Northern hemisphere, the sun swings South, so…
Am, Sun is an Eastern pointer
Midday, Sun is a Souther pointer
Pm, Sun is a Western pointer
Of course there are times in between where it’s not so clear, but you should ALWAYS know where the sun sets/rises.
This has saved me so many times in the days before SatNav.
Keep the map page open in your tank bag so you can see as you ride, I like to write the directions out nice and big and follow them, dont always work though cos the route finder lies!!
Mate of mine bought a car sat nav and put it in a placcy bag so he could use it on the bike.
Apparently Tesco are doing a Garmin sat nav for about £ 130. I have not seen it, but a guy from the Boxhill forum has one and is very happy with it.
Like you I get lost all the time and swear by my Garmin Quest to get me where I am going. The route is not always teh best, but you can cheat and it will recalcualte, or just follow what it says. It always gets me there. The Quest is now available for around £ 250 and have jsut won the Ride magazine survey on GPS for bikes.
alternatively i am not bad at navigation north of the river, so if i jump on the back and direct you to go straight unless i tap you on the relevent shoulder, and it will only cost you a cuppa…
Going south (of the river) is like going into the Amazon for me, so I take out the A to Z to find the best route. I then write the relevant road numbers on a yellow sticky with indications as to whether to turn L or R, as well as any landmarks, such as tube stations. The problem is if there are road closures, but I’m a woman, so I can stop to ask for directions…
Besides, sometimes being lost is fun! Amazing what you can find on your way from Crystal Palace to Chelsea when you don’t know the way! Such as Brighton…
all sat nav does in london is send you to the nearest traffic jam, try using routes along the river etc to begin with and swing off from there, also always look at the street name signs for postcodes always have w2 etc on them
watch out for things like the e numbers though 1 2 and 3 are near each other e 4 is up by n18 for some unknown reason
maybe someone should produce a map that shows postcodes and only the main roads through them for tankbags?
now how about someone a bit IT cleverer (than me) overlays the main roads onto it, and possibly adds the ace, frith street, chelsea bridge, cubana etc, might be a good thing to have lying about on the site somewhere for newbs etc?
If you want to save from buying one, the bus stop signs are useful too at giving general directions.
London sign posts are cr*p in general. As much use as a kick in the arris most of the time.
Suggestion for Ken L to reduce congestion - put up decent road signs to help people from getting lost. The number of times I’ve followed signposts in London I’ve got to a T junction with no sign to allow me to continue.
Garmin all the way though. I’ve had mine for 2 years and swear by it. Doesn’t require as much checking than a map does - especially while riding… Yikes.
when i’m relying on the map i make a note of the road before as well as the turning i want to make so i’ve got more of a chance of spotting it (sometimes road naming/marking is terrible). like paivi said landmarks like tube stations are pretty good, as are major junctions that you need to cross.
if you’re heading way out of where your normal stomping ground is try and stick to a-roads as they tend to be signposted along the route (maps make it look simple but street level there are one-ways and roads take strange turns). if you’re on a bike u dont have to worry about traffic so you can take the most direct/simple route.
its prob sometimes worth making a slight detour to use the routes you know to get you most of the way there. e.g. canary wharf is easy to spot pretty much anywhere in east london so you can head for that then head into central following the river (two lane carriageway all the way)
sounds like a daft suggestion but a small compass can actually be a gem to keep you on track (my girl’s father swears by 'em)
Have a garmin i3 myself and have used it on the bike a couple of times (window sucker in the rev counter). The i3 dosn’t have a headphone socket, only a built in speaker. Will be soldering on a earphone socket soon
