The other half has been pestering me about what do I want for xmas and she had even mentioned a GPS and it is not the first time she has mentioned buying one (it is not as though I have a bad sense of direction). A couple of years ago she suggested one for kite flying, while I can see it could be useful when flying at the beach and you can get some good long runs at speed (you use them to record the distance travelled throughout the day, top speed and average speed for the day etc.). But as I don’t fly at the beach very often (2 or 3 times a year) it seemed very pointless when our local field is only half a mile long.
But now we are into mountain bikes I can see A GPS would be very useful additions, at least I think it would? But the more I look into it the more confused I become. Let put it this way I can see three possible usages for using a GPS with mountain biking.
- a) For planning a route before leaving home and using it for directions while out riding
- b) for recording a route when you are out riding
- c) to aid redirection if you change your route while out riding
So lets start with a) this is all well and good until you find out that with some GPS units you can’t use the maps from the GPS on your PC to plan the route, you have to invest in third party software at more cost.
Then there is b) now this is fairly simple for most GPS units or so I have been told, this is useful if you find a new paths and want to record it, you just cycle down the path and the GPS will record the route for you (assuming you told it to record the route you take).
Finally c) so you have gone out for the day and you end up injuring yourself, nothing serious but it is enough to stop you from completing the ride and you need to get back to your starting point or the point where you were going to be picked up by the quickest route. So you want to be able to say, I’m at A and I want to get to B, it can do that but not in the same way as it would do it with a Sat Nav from a car. It will point you in the right direction but it won’t tell you there a large lake to go round or a cliff to get down.
Then there are the maps that the GPS units use (most come with a basic map but you need to purchase more detailed maps), various different scales, various areas of the UK and all with a nice price tag on them. Now obviously the cheaper the model GPS the less features, the bigger clearer screen the more ££££’s will be leaving your pocket. All in all it is not a cheap option.
Now before anybody says buy an OS map, I have, 3 to be exact, but they are not the easiest thing to use when out riding (also means I have to carry my reading glasses with me to be able to read the map).
I had hoped to get out riding today but the winds were just to strong, gust up to 65mph locally with the wind eventually dropping off around 5:00pm tonight. Add that to the near horizontal rain, it was not an ideal recipe for riding. Which was just as well. I had some new handlebar grips to put on my bike and when I went out in the shed to fit them I found I had a flat tyre. The culprit was a 3/4″ thorn stuck in the front tyre, not sure where it came from as the last ride was a mid week blast on the road around the block.
The next big event we go to (and that only to take pictures) is the icicles (so named as it bloody freezing on the beach in January) event at Westward Ho! (its the same location the sidebar photographs were taken) towards the end of January 2010. Been the last couple of years for the day, would like to think I can get the camera out before then though. Would like to take it when we go out riding but I think the risk of falling off and damaging the camera\lense is to great. 
Thinking about going to the MTB centre near Blandford over Christmas\New Year so might do a bit of both, half day riding then half day photography and then half day riding……………..something tells me that won’t work.
