It’s worryingly difficult to find a cyclists map to a reasonable scale, which was prepared in the last decade or so, and most importantly has some connection with actual geographical features. I’ve given up on finding all these on one map now, and carry at least three around with me whenever I venture far afield.
The first of these was bought soon after we moved in. It’s to a scale of 1:100 000 and boasts certain ‘special features’ such as trip destinations, places to eat, and recreational tips. Unfortunately accuracy isn’t its strong point. Several local cycle lanes are simply not there. Come to that, some minor roads and one entire town have disappeared as well. Our local government sells a much larger scale map (1:250 000) which may not show where to get lunch, but at least it shows all the local cycle ways. In fact it goes a step further and shows cycleways that aren’t there: I don’t mean lanes turn out to be unsurfaced tracks, more that they are a field: what the map (and some council members) insist is a cycleway turns out to be open land with the faint traces of a tractor crossing the grass.
Finally after some searching I’ve found the 1:500 000 Cycling and walking maps from the State Mapping Ministry, which seem to be reasonably accurate and show useful things like contour lines. They aren’t perfect, but at least they seem to actually show what is there, which is an improvement.
All this is a long way to say that I’m hoping to make a few longer-distance tours before the winter comes, so on the basis that the State Mapping Ministry seems to know what’s happening geographically rather better than anyone else, I’ve ordered a couple of their maps before venturing into the unknown. However, I’ll be carrying the others just in case, as well as a few emergency supplies.
If you don’t hear from me for a bit, don’t worry: I’m just lost.
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September 11, 2010 at 2:38 pm
John
In long distance Cycling I like to know where all the Hills and Mountains are and their Heights if I am carrying Camping Equipment to eliminate as much Hardship as possible. I like to be able to get to a destination in comfort then I can go exploring without a Loaded Bike when it is offloaded at a Hostel or B+B.
In most Maps they only show you the main Roads clearly and the ordinary Roads are sometimes ill defined and they do not give you much Information about Campsites or Hostels. You have to get a Map of a County in a Larger Scale to show you the Information you want. This is not much good if you are Traveling a great distance you could End up with loads of Large Scale Maps of many Areas.
We could do with an Bicycle Specific Touring Maps of the Country you are Traveling in showing as much Information as possible. All the best Easy Roads that do not have much Traffic and Campsites and Friendly Guest Houses and Hostels. We certainly do not have this in Ireland or Britain it is mostly Geared to Motorised Traffic only.
September 13, 2010 at 11:57 am
Andy in Germany
The map(s) I have show how much our local system is set up for cars: many routes are indirect or stop at the edge of a town because ‘There’s no space’ for a cycle lane (or to put it another way: “We mustn’t encroach on the holy car space”) Fortunately the maps show bike friendly youth hostels and similar -which is to say, most of them, you get very little hostility as a cyclist here.
My only other bugbear with these maps is that they are often inaccurate or out of date, but at least that shows there are more cycleways than a few years ago.
September 11, 2010 at 3:43 pm
oldfool
There is an old sailors saying “the chart is not the sea”. That is so true. I know of a place in the Pacific near San Diego, California where there is a rock just under the surface and even though it has been there for millions of years it is not on a chart as far as I know. Now I have misplaced the chart on which I penciled it in.
I have always been a map freak and have to control my urge to collect them or I would be buried in them. As it is I don’t believe I have ever thrown a map away.
September 13, 2010 at 11:59 am
Andy in Germany
Good to hear from a fellow map freak.
I’ve notes on my maps as well, showing where a ‘cycle lane’ is actually a dirt track with potholes, or where new cycle lanes have been built.
I can only imagine what motorists would say if their maps were as inacurate, but then it’s harder to miss a four lane highway than a cycle lane.
September 12, 2010 at 1:10 am
John Romeo Alpha
Some of the best cycling maps I have access to were made for and by mountain bikers. An Arizona rider/writer called Cosmic Ray published some useful, detailed, and funny maps that were also easy to carry, and didn’t need batteries, satellites or a cell connection. His “Fat Tire Tales and Trails” is a good read. Something like that, with Bicycle-specific touring maps as John mentions above, would be fantastic.
September 13, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Andy in Germany
They sound like fun -our maps atr a bit seripous by comparison, although at least some of them seem to have been made by people who ride a bicycle. Or at least have seen a bicycle.
And as you say: no batteries required. It concerns me that people are losing the ability to read maps as GPS and navigation systems take over which do everything for you -until the batteries die.
September 12, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Yant
I think we are lucky here in the UK to have the O.S. maps, the 1:50,000 landrangers have all the detail you need for bike touring. They do become a bit cumbersome though as I needed seven of them on my last tour.
September 13, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Andy in Germany
I miss the good old OS maps: I grew up with my dad’s collection which almost covered the entire British Isles. These 1:500 000 ones I’ve found are almost as good as a set of landrangers, but not quite as detailed.
On the flip side, at lease we have a passable cycling network for the maps to show, so I guess it’s swings and roundabouts.
I hear you on having to carry them about too. I’m on three maps and counting…
September 13, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Magicroundabout
We have a pretty nice cycle route map of my town – there’s even an “interactive” online version: http://swindon.pindar.com/
But the problem here is translating what’s on the map to what’s on the road.
What we need here is not maps but signs!!