Stranded on remote trail

[Mr. Coffee]

It is clear to me Staples didn't have a GPS bike computer with her. A suicidal lack.

A GPS bike computer is an autonomous device, has a long battery life, doesn't need a network coverage, and the satellites are certainly available in the desert.

She probably always rode with her husband who had the GPS bike computer. And since she always rode with him it didn't occur to her that she might need it. I've been in enough situations where a GPS by itself didn't help me very much. You need good maps too. And even the best maps can get seriously out of date and no map will tell you if the roads you need to ride are passable that day. Or for that matter if some bridge over a raging torrent is passable that day. If you are passing through areas with active agricultural activity or active logging operations the roads can change dramatically on almost a weekly basis -- new roads can appear and old roads that were recently new can become impassable.

I use a GPS (Hammerhead Karoo) and have multiple mapping apps with offline maps on my phone. So far that has kept me out of too much trouble. But I've had multiple times where i had to stop and get off the bike and puzzle through multiple apps and the GPS maps to figure out which unmarked jeep road was probably the right one.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

She probably always rode with her husband who had the GPS bike computer. And since she always rode with him it didn't occur to her that she might need it. I've been in enough situations where a GPS by itself didn't help me very much. You need good maps too. And even the best maps can get seriously out of date and no map will tell you if the roads you need to ride are passable that day. Or for that matter if some bridge over a raging torrent is passable that day. If you are passing through areas with active agricultural activity or active logging operations the roads can change dramatically on almost a weekly basis -- new roads can appear and old roads that were recently new can become impassable.

I use a GPS (Hammerhead Karoo) and have multiple mapping apps with offline maps on my phone. So far that has kept me out of too much trouble. But I've had multiple times where i had to stop and get off the bike and puzzle through multiple apps and the GPS maps to figure out which unmarked jeep road was probably the right one.

One thing is sure. If two or more riders have GPS bike computers with the same GPX loaded then it is impossible to miss a person riding the same track. It is the very idea behind gravel bike racing. (You are punished or disqualified if you ride off course).

I was on a gravel group ride on the cold March 5th, 2022. There were Fast and Normal groups riding two different tracks. I was dropped and simply followed the GPX track. To my surprise, I found three other riders having some snacks en route. We restarted the ride and it somehow happened I brought the whole Normal group as the leader at the finish line, and only then the Fast group riding a longer course joined us (-4 C perceived temperature).