Getting Lost

After the big move to Wisconsin and almost a week off my bike, I was getting anxious to get out and explore my new surroundings. I carefully planned a route to get over the freeway and away from the busy streets closer to Milwaukee to my east. I was pleased to find that it only takes a few miles until I'm in open country roads passing cows and cornfields with some nice little leg stabbing climbs to boot.

In my ecstasy I soon realized that I had forgotten some of my landmarks and taken a wrong turn. Now, I welcome getting lost because it generally means that I find myself in new exciting places and I'm a good back tracker. However it can leave your ride feeling a little bit like this...

After backtracking and taking a sidelong jaunt to a section of my proposed route I resumed my ride home, albeit in a somewhat scrambled order. The day only turned out to be 6 miles longer than intended and I got a taste for my new riding "neighborhood." The verdict. I like it. No mountains, but we knew that already, now didn't we.

As I returned home I thought about how badly that could have gone if I didn't have a reasonable sense of direction. I mean I could have wound up in Illinois or something...something worse, like taking a wrong turn into Lake Michigan and winding up like this guy.

That would be bad.

Luckily, I can swim. I mean, I didn't get that lost. Or as lost as this post has gotten. Back on track.

Getting "lost" is one of the pleasures of bike riding. Sort of. There are a few keys to truly enjoying it.

First of all, pay attention to how you got lost. I know that seems dopey, because if you were really paying attention, you shouldn't have gotten lost at all, right? Wrong! Sometimes you follow your directions flawlessly or someone else's directions and you still wind up somewhere that you weren't expecting especially when you are exploring new territory. BUT if you know the streets from which you came and the general direction you need to go to back track you can save yourself the call home to get a ride when the sun goes down and you are in the middle of who-knows-where.

Second, have an idea of boundary roads. For instance if you are planning on riding around a lake, know the main roads that are on each side of the lake. This helps if you miss a turn or suddenly wind up on a road that takes you away from the lake. Or if you know that you are riding southwesterly and don't want to ride further south than Highway 1,984,241 or further west than Crooked Lane that can help make sure that your quick little cruise doesn't turn into a century.

Finally, don't panic. AND don't be stupid. If you wind up somewhere that you shouldn't be (i.e. not safe) don't be too macho to turn around. In most cases, though, the bigger problem is when you just keep riding and riding and riding without thinking and the next thing you know you're in the wastelands without so much as a 7-eleven to stop and ask for directions.

The bottom line: exploring is fun, even when you don't exactly know where you are. That's what exploring is after all isn't it? I bet Lewis and Clark rarely knew where they actually were. You never know what you might find...

although, if you get far enough away to meet this guy, you might be too far away to make it back...