Navigation

I had a real dilemma over this.   I love maps and have always taken OS Landranger (1:50 000) maps with me before.   These are the perfect scale for cycling but they do have drawbacks:  a full day's cycling can cross 3 whole maps,  and you have to stop regularly to re-fold the map.   In wet weather I have an Ortlieb map case which keeps the map completely dry but it's a pain when you reach the edge of the visible map, and I get grumpy when the map gets wet.   I counted 19 maps to get to the Scottish border (if I get that far) - a significant weight and volume to carry.

So I've decided to buy a GPS unit for the bike - a Garmin Etrex 30, which was recommended in the CTC's Cycling magazine.   I've loaded OpenStreetMap maps onto it, which seem to have good coverage and plenty of detail for my purposes, and they are free.   The disadvantage is that I have to plan my route beforehand, on the PC, and then download it to the Garmin (there are other ways to use the GPS but this seems to be recommended).    After a few test rides, and some fiddling around with setup options, I'm very pleased with this choice - the batteries last a long time and the maps are easy to read.

Another plus point is that I've had several happy evenings on the PC looking at maps and using bikehike.co.uk to plan my routes, think about what I want to see, and I'm looking forward to it even more now :-)

Edit:  here is the GPS itself:

My new Garmin Etrex sat-nav.