"car free adventure"
self designed & self supported bicycle tour adventures

Technology - A cell phone is required, GPS? 

The cell phone had become a "proven, must have" technology by the time we embarked on our Italian adventure. GPS was new and I had no experience with it when we went to Italy.

As for the cell phone, if a bike ride is more than a comfortable walking distance from "help" needed to solve a problem then I want a cell phone. I use the cell phone to call those who can help me out of my dilemma where I am and what has happened.

I make it a rule to carry my cell phone with me on "all" bicycle excursions whether they are rides for physical conditioning or rides through Tuscany. The practice of carrying a cell phone has saved me on numerous occasions.

We carried cell phones with us on our first bicycle adventure in France. We did not have sufficient "cycling" experience to appreciate what a good idea carrying cell phones would be when we made that decision. My son and I were separated from the support van several times, or lost is better word, in France and the cell phone saved us on these occasions.

We had rented the cell phones we used in France, but after our experience in France we realized that a "cell phone" was required on a bike trip. We purchased the latest cell phone technology to support our bike ride in Tuscany.

In Tuscany when British Airways left our bikes in London for a day we communicated with Kevin, the third member of our riding group, who was already in Tuscany, from the Fuimicino Airport to keep him informed of what our recovery plan was. We used the cell phone to communicate between the support van and the cyclist on the road during the bicycle ride through Tuscany. We also used our cell phones to keep in touch with the people in the States.

As for our introduction to GPS, we were using maps to guide us through Tuscany, but maps present a lot of problems when cycling. They are big and difficult to use but the basic problem is that maps are designed for the motorist. They do not provide sufficient detail to show the small back roads that we typically bicycle on.

Kevin brought along a GPS device. He had purchased the 'GPS" software for Tuscany and had downloaded into the device before he came to Italy. GPS does provide the desired level of detail.

I was wary of GPS because it was "new" and as an engineer I knew that someone was in the back room coming up with a new device which would replace the one Kevin had just bought for half the price. I also did not like the fact that I had to spend extra money to purchase the software for locations I wanted to ride through. The cell phone had evolved as well and was now mature. GPS could be expected to go through the same maturing cycle.

Kevin used the GPS device to map out and review the day's route with us each day. Unfortunately if he was not driving my wife or I had no idea how to use the device and therefore we had to rely on our poorly detailed maps. Of course we got separated from the riders several times along the route. But the times we were all together using the GPS device I was impressed. It will quickly become a required device to carry on a bike trip.  

Other bicycle experiences are posted on the Italy "journal" page