General Cycling Discussion - Do you ever have trouble deciding where to ride?

This happens quite a bit to me, especially on the weekend. I wake up on Saturday mornings and the sun is shining and I want to ride. The only problem is I can't decide where to go. If I ride somewhere then I usually kick myself for not riding somewhere new. Does anyone else have trouble deciding where to ride?

How can I solve this problem?

A map, a corkboard, and some darts should be all you need.

A map, a corkboard, and some darts should be all you need.

Nice method. I use a map to keep track of where I have been. Look at the map, and look for somewhere I have not been yet.

Criteria for picking a bike route:

Smooth roads. - A must
The fewer traffic lights or stops signs the better.
Lightly traveled by motor traffic.
Wide shoulders/lanes.

Google Maps, I spend my free time at work scouting locations for my rides. Nothing beats getting paid for working on my bike routes and it frees up more time on my days off!

Urban Shooter, how do I access the Google Maps?

Criteria for picking a bike route:

Challenging climbs.
Few stops.
Shady on a hot day, sunny on a cool day.
Good food stops.
Nice scenery.
Bonus: other riders to challenge.

I have lots of good rides from 30 miles to 120 miles out my door, so I just rotate em so I don't get burnt out on one route.

Just decide when you get on the bike. Just start riding in a direction you havent before and very soon you will come upon an Idea of a good place to ride. Other than that, I like the random dart idea.

Urban Shooter, how do I access the Google Maps?

http://maps.google.com/

And when all else fails....there is and will be "another day"!

Urban Shooter, how do I access the Google Maps?
Even better: www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/

Even better: www.sueandpaul.com/gmapPedometer/


Doh! And that is exactly what I use.

I'm telling you. Darts.

I have to figure out a ride every week for 40-50 other riders and try to keep it interesting. The good cycling roads that we can use for a 45-60 mile ride from the same starting location can be limiting, but there are lots of ways to vary the route. I have to come up with a route and post it tomorrow evening.

http://mappoint.msn.com

and

http://www.caa.ca/indexm.asp

Between the online maps that mappoint provides, and the paper maps that CAA provides, I've ridden most of the paved roads in a 100 km radiius of where I live, plus quite a few further out than that.

At some point during the middle of the week, I take a look at the map to see where I haven't gone yet, and where I might like to go. Sometimes I decide to check out that lake out there, or that town I haven't visited yet. Other times, like on a long weekend, I decide that Saturday I'm going to go north, Sunday I'm going west, and Monday I'm going south (I work to the east, so I've cycled out that way several times). Sometimes I might want to work on a particular technique so I might choose a route that I know is quite hilly, or into a headwind.

Something different every time!