As you know, I navigate on long rides using GPS technology in the form of a bar-mounted Garmin Etrex. That isn’t a Sat Nav system as most people think of them since I program each route in myself using mapping software rather than relying on the device to plot routes for me. I double-check each route before uploading it to the device so there is no chance of me being told to cycle into the sea (for example), unless coastal erosion has washed away a coast road since my mapping software was published!

I encountered a new one-way system in Haslingden on The North-West Passage audax in 2007 but I took my own advice and engaged my brain! I didn’t follow the Etrex which was trying to send me the wrong way up the one-way street. I merely followed the road signs up to the main road above and used common sense to take me back to the original route beyond the one-way road.

I think Sat Navs are great as an aid to navigation, but they should be used with care. I also think people should carry maps and know how to read them just in case the technology packs up.