Remember the days of using a folding map to explore new routes in unfamiliar territory? We now live in a world of smartphones and GPS devices to take away all that kind of stress and inconvenience of reading a map but now just following a blue line to get you where you want to be.

The exciting advantage of this is finding out interesting way of discovering what is around you and maybe finding a hidden shortcut to widen your horizon. 

If you do not have much time on your hands, planning a cycling route will help you big time. So, if you need help plotting a route you have come to the right place…

PLANNING YOUR ROUTE:

Knowing where to point your front wheel is key to having an adventurous day out. With so many mapping tools on the market like Strava, Ride with GPS & Komoot it may be hard to choose one to use, but find one that suits your needs best.

Many tools integrate Google Street view so you can see the conditions of the terrain you will be riding on. This is important to know depending which wheels you are riding on. A cool feature on some tools is, you can view other people’s routes if you are looking for some inspiration.

GPS computers are designed to withstand the elements: they’re waterproof, have a backlit screen and long battery life. If you’re out on a particularly lengthy bike ride, you might want to take an external battery pack and charging cable to top it up as you go around to avoid getting lost.

As a cyclist we have all heard of Garmin cycling computer. Their devices use GPX files which can be loaded from a mapping website to the device itself via a USB.

GARMIN EDGE 830

Who cares that the Edge 830 cycling computer — with touchscreen — offers dynamic performance monitoring and insights to help you improve? You do.

• Ride like you know every hill and curve. Plus, find the routes the locals hit most.
• Get lost in your ride knowing Edge will always get you back.
• Ride your best, then beat it. Compare recent efforts to previous rides.
• Finally, a coach that doesn’t yell. Sync structured workouts right to your Edge.

GET ON YOUR BIKE

Now that you have your route on your cycling computer it’s time to ride. Most GPS computers will show you a line to follow which is very similar to your cars GPS satellite navigation system. Don’t worry if you miss any turns as your GPS will re-route to get to your destination.