To satnav or not to satnav, that is the question. R5K members join heated debate...
Forget Brexit, this is the real debate that’s vexing the nation
It’s the issue that divides households and stirs the passions. No, not Brexit, but satnavs; are they the greatest contributor to a quality ride since John Loudon McAdam or a brain-shrinking device that switches off our internal compasses forever? Nowhere is the debate bubbling more vigorously than among MCN’s R5K members; the mile-crunching community that knows a thing or two about how to get max satisfaction from a ride. “No GPS here,” says on and off-road loving Lee Rider. “I’ll take the occasional peek at Google Maps, but the best roads and trails I’ve been on I found while I was lost.” R5k wise owl Kev Raymond agrees: “I use satnav for finding addresses in unfamiliar towns. The rest of the time it’s just basic directions scribbled on an old cornflakes box. I did a trip through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy and back through France again a few years ago. The only time I turned the satnav on was to try to find a hotel in Ljubljana. Only to discover it didn’t contain a map of Slovenia!”
“None of my bikes have a satnav,” says Barry Thompson. “I’ll only use the phone to find a location if it’s time critical. I’ll often go down roads I don’t know in order to get lost.” Alexander Thorpe speaks for many when he says: “Satnav ruins the very things I love about biking. I much prefer heading in a general direction and getting there sometime.” “It would be a good idea to also go back to solid tyres, external oiling systems and drum brakes,” counters Charles Philip Gildersleve. “What’s wrong with progress?” According to Emma Miller, nothing. “After a lifetime of getting lost and only this year learning how to use a satnav, I am a total convert. I’ve enjoyed trips that would have been impossible before. Now I go where I want, when I want, I know what time to leave if I am meeting someone, or I can select a bendy route and please myself. If I fancy a different turning to see where it goes, I do, but it’s great to know the voice in my ear will put me right if I want it to. I’m not giving mine up for anyone.” O