Getting lost

[Dare]

Something I have done sence I was just a small kid on a bicycle. Ride out into BFE and get lost. You never know what you will see when you just take the backroad.

I live in Brazil and desided to visit some friends of mine in Greencastle. Rather than take the highway I took the backroads through amish country. And I learned a few things about the Amish

1. Horse and buggies are the normal modes of transportation. They always have the right of way, and they drive worse than most people in cars!

2. You will find power lines, phone boxes, satelite dishes, and DSL connections everywhere, but you will not find a gas station.

3. Amish kids love motorcycles.

4. Paved roads, all be it very rare, are very well maintained!

5. Amish are pretty friendly until they catch you stopping to take a **** in one of their corn fields.

Anyway. I took this little trip without any maps, knowledge of the area or anything. Just jumped on the bike and rode. Saw some parts of Indiana that I never knew were there. Including an area near some town I never heard of, Clinton Falls. There was a huge stream that seperated all of the houses from the road. They all had suspention bridges across them. I thought that was pretty cool. I also found out that this state has a **** load of covered bridges! I think I crossed about 6 of them. And probably saw 15 or more!

I also discovered that gravel sucks! I found more gavel roads than I have ever seen in my life. Also found plenty of dirt roads too.

I had fun getting lost though. There were a few times I really wasn't sure where the hell I was. But in the end, I found Greencastle. It was a good trip.

Anyone else get lost?

[jessep28]

If you would like more experience getting lost in the middle of nowhere and no reference points except HW numbers which induce you to drive via intuition, come to Nebraska. We have plenty of them. Oh, and gravel!

[Black Hat]

I get lost from time to time as well. It's not difficult here. I live in the rural-suburb cusp Northwest of Atlanta, Georgia. I don't have to go far to find cows. I guess I have a decent sense of direction, as I haven't had to phone for directions so far. One can find some nice places when you don't have any idea where you're going.

[jessep28]

With cell phones having internet (thus maps!) and GPS....it isn't that hard to stop somewhere and find out where you are.

[Dare]

Originally Posted by jessep28

With cell phones having internet (thus maps!) and GPS....it isn't that hard to stop somewhere and find out where you are.

Yeah. But where is the fun in that? I've thought about getting a GPS map system for my bike (and my car). But I'd probably leave it at home when I felt adventureous.

[rbentnail]

On occasion, when a few of us are lucky enough to get a day off work together (different depts.) we'll ride to get lunch. The question is never, "where we going?", but rather, "what direction we going?" The last time I ended up riding 390 miles roundtrip for 2 hotdogs and a bag of chips! It's great fun....

[5ohmike]

Living in New England it's impossible to get REALLY lost. Worst case scenario you eventually come across a road that goes East, follow that til you hit the ocean and then see if you need to go North or South. Kind of reassuring I guess, but I imagine it must be a lot of fun to just have NO idea where you are or anything else is...

[YurFatMom]

I love getting lost!(As long as I am the pilot)

Where I ride there are 50 mile stretches of not a single town, just a couple houses, and thousands of lakes to go see. Most of the time I carry a map, but somedays I ditch the map and just ride. I usually end up taking about 4 or 5 hours trying to get back and I love it!

[GeorgiaRider]

Love exploring new roads and getting lost myself. Some of the roads don't have road signs either. At some point they come back around to something I remember. Nice riding where one seldom sees cars. Actually had to navigate around two horses this weekend without spooking them.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by 5ohmike

Living in New England it's impossible to get REALLY lost. Worst case scenario you eventually come across a road that goes East, follow that til you hit the ocean and then see if you need to go North or South. Kind of reassuring I guess, but I imagine it must be a lot of fun to just have NO idea where you are or anything else is...

+1.

[BamaBob]

Some of the best rides are when ya just flip a coin to decide which direction to point the steel pony and go. No set destination or scheduled event - just roam the roads. Amazing how you can live in an area all your life and yet discover hidden treasures called backroads!

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by 5ohmike

Living in New England it's impossible to get REALLY lost. Worst case scenario you eventually come across a road that goes East, follow that til you hit the ocean and then see if you need to go North or South. Kind of reassuring I guess, but I imagine it must be a lot of fun to just have NO idea where you are or anything else is...

I have it better than you. I live in Connecticut (AKA: The Third Smallest State in the Union). Nothing is more than 2 hours from anywhere else in the state. Head East until you hit Rhode Island. Head North until you hit Mass. Head West until you hit Upstate NY. Head South until you hit the shore. If that's not where you want to be, change your direction to where you should be headed.

I used to live in Upstate NY. While that state isn't huge, it'll take you a good part of a day to get across it. The same goes for PA. In both of those cases, gas stations (and bathrooms) can be few and far between in some areas.

I can't imagine being out in some of the really big states out West/Midwest. I'll bet there are some areas where you could drive for hours and not see another human being. Now that's getting lost!

[A2rider]

I find the best roads by getting lost. I think it's the best way to discover your part of the country.

Dare, you should put which state you are from. I thought you were going from South America to Ireland! LOL

[ThumpinKwaka]

Back in the 80's when I was working in Sydney Australia, after work I'd have a quick look at the street directory, pick a suburb like say Bondi, jump in the ute (I had a bike but I had to pedal it!) and head for it.

That is one hell of a way to learn your way around a city. Many a time I would end up in the totally different area than what I had planned and I got myself totally confused and lost. Freak, as a country bumkin I navigate by the stars but in the city, how many stars can you see? Bugger all.

One time I wanted to go to Nth Sydney (over the harbour bridge) and beyond. I ended up at Sydney Airport which is the opposite direction and about 40km's south of where I wanted to be! No idea how I got there or back but it was great doing those rides, even if it was in the work ute!

[wireguy]

Originally Posted by jessep28

If you would like more experience getting lost in the middle of nowhere and no reference points except HW numbers which induce you to drive via intuition, come to Nebraska. We have plenty of them. Oh, and gravel!

NEBRASKA i thought i was the only person in nebraska! i always tell the california guys our curves all have stop signs! just remember what we used to say in the infantry :we're not retreating we're just advancing in a differant direction!

[antiq]

Getting lost is fun! No GPS for me.

[jukief]

Originally Posted by wireguy

NEBRASKA i thought i was the only person in nebraska! i always tell the california guys our curves all have stop signs! just remember what we used to say in the infantry :we're not retreating we're just advancing in a differant direction!

Yeah, but you're not that far from Colorado and lots of mountains. Come on over and ride!

[Stonestrike]

Originally Posted by jessep28

With cell phones having internet (thus maps!) and GPS....it isn't that hard to stop somewhere and find out where you are.

Unless of course your lucky enough to live on the fringes of cell phone signals.. I often lose connection at home, and when I head out toward the mountains, I know the cell phone is iffy at best :}

[Smp1151]

I always try and stay as close to the railroad tracks as possible and that winds up getting me somewhat lost. If I know what rail subdivision I'm close too I can usually find roads that lead to the next station

Some of the best trips involve not knowing where I am

[Scrambler81]

As long as I'm not heading to or from work, I don't care where I am. I live in a small state, so sooner or later I'm bound to hit the water, then I'll know to turn back.
I'm the same way in the woods with my Jeeps. I've been running the state forest for 30 years, and I still get lost. That's what makes it so much fun! I see these guys out there now, mapping out all the trails with their GPS, and it just makes me cringe.