GPS ➡️
GPS is quite popular nowadays; but so far I’ve never gotten interested in it. In fact, I’m not sure I can trust it!
Once, while biking on the levee (where I usually ride), there was someone driving a car up there! They said their GPS had directed them there; and that tells me not to rely solely on any such “positioning” system. I think I”d rather have a printed cue sheet!
Familar Territory 🏞️
Of course, it helps that I’m nearly always in familiar territory. If I really did plan to go for a bicycle tour of, say, the Loire Valley, GPS might be warranted.
I suppose there was a time when paper maps were distrusted — just as I have reservations about global positioning systems. Before print, people found their way by other means, including the stars.
Somewhere in Kon-Tiki, the author mentions that it was “incredibly easy” to steer by the stars. Alas, between light pollution and air pollution, it’s getting hard to see the stars at all.
But if I’m able to spot a familiar constellation, there’s a chance that I’ll have my GPS!
