I got soooo lost yesterday on my way home. I tried to take a new route, and it ended up taking me 2+ hours to get home, instead of the usual 1 hour or less. On top of that, I had a direct headwind. Blah. It was warm when I started out, so I was sweating, but then the sun set and I started to get really cold. What a crappy trip home. I was going to take a day off from riding today and take the subway, but I got back on my bike this morning. I'm glad I didn't give in.

Oh well, look at it this way: Sometimes getting lost is a great way of discovering the city. And it surely is always an adventure.

What part of town did you bike in?

BTW, I am planning to try a new commuting route either today or Friday. Might be interesting.

Getting lost usually leads me to my more interesting rides. Providing that I do not have a time limit for getting to where I need to be or end up in a scary part of town.

However, it is very difficult to get lost in Denver. With all the sunny days you can always see the Rockies to the West. On the other hand, cloudy days or night....

On my way home, I commute from downtown (Bay & Richmond) into thornhill (Bathurst & Steeles). I have a route which is mostly side streets, staying inbetween Bathurst and Avenue Rd. Yesterday, I decided I would try and take the Don Valley trail home. I got so lost in Sunnybrook park at the end of the trail, and when I finally got out to some streets, I had completly lost my bearings and started backtracking south again. I eventually hit Eglington, went west to Bayview, and just took Bayview north. Not fun.

How one manages to get lost with all the mapping software available to study routes

Sunnybrook Park is on a MUP with frequent twists, turns, forks, and shortcuts. My first time on the trail I got lost as well - even after studying maps and satelite images.

Mookle, I take the Don twice a day. It's quite nice once you know your way. Although, wet leaves have been slowing me down lately. Have fun.

Jalopy

There were some sections that had some mud. My 28 mm armadillo slicks didn't perform to well.

Study maps???
Actually I usually study maps of the area any time I'm biking in a different area but the road structure in the midwest is so regular that I often will just ride without having a particular path planned out. With a decent sense of direction occasionally you have to make a few detours but seldom do you actually get lost.
However I did live in New England for a few years and it is very easy to get lost in that area. Most roads are wind thier way between points that may no longer be relevant and the names often change at each town boundary and at every 3-way intersection. Up there I always carried a detailed map of the area whether on bike or driving.
Craig

Just thought about it and realised that I would have to go about 10-12 miles out of my way in order that I would even stand a chance of getting lost. I like it when I do though.

I love maps but sometimes I go out and navigate by the sun for the day. You can find the most interesting places that you would never have gotten to.

https://maps.google.ca

If you use the satellite view you can see empty lots and school playing fields that allow you to take unofficial short cuts

Aren't there any signs in Sunnybrook Park that lead you to Edwards Gardens? From there you'd be able to figure out how to get home w/o backtracking. Better yet, get one of these: https://www.toronto.ca/cycling/map/index.htm. The map shows the major MUPs through Sunnybrook.

I didn't really get lost as much as do some unplanned exploration when on my regular ride Monday I came across a crew that had completely closed the road. As in no way around.

I ended up backtracking about 8 miles to get around, but not before I explored every possible way to get around. While there were some options, most of them involved high speed traffic on narrow roads. I originally used mapping software to pick my route, an oasis of little travelled roads in a sea of angry traffic. The problem is that it's difficult to improvise and sometimes stuff happens that you don't expect.

And besides that, if you're not in a hurry sometimes it's fun to get lost.

Az

My version of getting lost is more of a mild turned around. Anyhow, reading a map and riding a route are two completely different things. That being said, having a map on me is helpful when I need it. I was forced to pull over to the side of a road and read my map when I was learning my new route at night.

Maps are for wimps!

Studying my route on good computer mapping software sometimes makes me overconfident.

Things look totally different in real life. I don't have a bike compass (I just ordered one on Nashbar yesterday though) so in some instances I have spent considerable amounts of time riding off in the wrong direction and having to ride back the other way.

I like to wander intentionally on my bike sometimes, but I don't like not feeling in control of how long my ride is and I don't like being lost when I'm worn out or hungry.