Thanks for the info about the information centers everyone! Will definitely remember to visit them. (:

If you are carrying a smartphone, you should have an app with downloaded maps (even if you are using other maps or a GPS). These are cheap/free. Osmand (buy the paid version), Galileo (buy the paid version on ios. The Android version is new and not complete), and map.me (free and has lots of features including off line routing).

You want downloaded maps since you might not have cell service.

Google maps work best if you have cell service. If you used Google, You should have a backup for it.

Paper maps often don't have enough detail and it can be hard to locate where you are on them. They also are not always convenient to get (tourist information centers are not as common as some people here appear to think).

Using a map app on you phone will be much more useful than a PDF map (only use that if the map you need is only available that way).

A dynamo is probably overkill. You might be able to get away with an external small battery charger (which are much cheaper). The idea is not to get a big one but to get the size you need. You might want or need an external charger even if you have a dynamo.

If you are in a place with weak or nonexistent cell service, smartphones drain faster trying to find a tower to connect to. Turn it off when you aren't using it or use airplane mode (make sure the GPS still works) or turn off the cell access. The GPS in the phone doesn't need the cell network. If you are outside of your service area, turn off the cell service! Keep in mind that you can still connect to the Internet using wifi (obviously, you will only have access to wifi in limited places, not in the middle of nowhere).

I use a Garmin Edge 800 too. You can get a GPS for $200.


You should practice any method you use before needing to use it.

There are a few different ones for iOS and Android.

Try "maps.me" which is available for both and free. This does offline routing.

Osmand is also available for both but it's new (not complete) for iOS (which means it's better for Android at the moment). Try the free version but buy it to use (it's cheap). The interface isn't the greatest. This does offline routing too.

Galileo is good for iOS (it's new/incomplete on Android at the moment). Again, try the free version but use the paid version. Galileo doesn't do routing.

Locus Pro (on Android) has a lot of features but you have to figure out how to download free maps to it (otherwise, you have to buy maps through the Locus store).

All of these I've mentioned are actively being improved.


Most of the mapping apps use data from Openstreetmap (OSM). That data is generally pretty good but it isn't perfect (and might be better in some places than others).

Almost every city with a population of 5K or more will have a visitor center. Very rare for them not to.

True, but in my experience, not always located on whatever back or "bike friendly" road you happen to be on. They are typically near an interstate exit closest to the business district or at a Chamber of Commerce, often in the center of town. Finding them sometimes can be a ***** and time consuming if on a bike.

I did not read all the posts so if this is redundant I apologize. I use paper maps, try to save my precious phone battery for when I get lost, and then I use the maps app in my phone to find myself.

I am a fan of maps and asking locals what may be the best bike roads.

I love exploring and going into the center of towns. I'm not in a hurry when I'm on tour. Sometimes the visitor centers are on the interstates. Easy enough to jump on for one exit and then get off. Chamber of Commerces are great IMO. A lot of useful information.

+1

I know lots of cities that size that don't have them.

Sometimes, the maps they have aren't that great.

It's also nice not to have to look for them.

I've never been in one that didn't have one on my five tours. CoCs often double as them. State maps are pretty universal.

I'm not sure where you're touring at though.

What time of the year are you starting your trip?

Lots of small places don't have enough traffic or commerce to support them.

The Chamber of Commerce in my town isn't in a place anybody would cycle to.

And those might not be open on the weekend.

Having alternatives doesn't keep you from checking them out.

Having alternatives keeps you from needing to rely on them.

State maps don't tend to have much detail and more suited to automobiles.

If you are considering some off-road riding (or even if you're not), I like the United States Forest Service maps. As of their date of publication, they indicate whether roads in national forests are paved or not. Since most of them were published within the past twenty years and we haven't been converting many unpaved roads to pavement in that time, I have found them to be pretty accurate in that regard.

USDA Forest Service - Caring for the land and serving people.

Right. I didn't say smaller places have them. I said cities with populations of 5K+. That's big in comparison of most towns you'll run into while on tour. Those cities that aren't tourist spots often have their visitor centers at the CoC or town/city hall. Even towns with a few hundred people have CoCs and town/city halls.

They tell you which rodes bicycles are and aren't allowed on. Paved vs unpaved roads. Pass elevations. City populations +/-. Etc.

Enough for most touring cyclist

One can ride quite a ways without finding a town big enough to have useful maps of the area. For example, I was riding down the Pacific coast after not having been there in over a decade. I left on the trip on a whim and didn't bring any maps. That worked fine until just a bit south of the Lost Coast. I couldn't remember enough detail about my options in Sonoma County, where I would be turning inland. Worst case, I planned on just heading east at the Russian River, but I knew there were many alternatives that were more scenic, more challenging in terms of terrain and had less traffic. Unfortunately, there was not a single place to get a map that had any detail at all from Fort Bragg south. I did get one "wine country" map at an auto parts store, but it didn't have what I needed.

Brookings, Oregon & Creasent City, California both have visitor centers/CoCs where you can get maps of both states.

Both cities on the coast not far from either boarder.

Just an FYI if you ever ride the Pacific Coast again!

You'd be hard pressed to find a visitor or tourist info. center on Long Island, population 2.5 million or so, Nassau and Suffolk counties. I think the state runs a seasonal site on the Southen Parkway, but you wouldn't be riding a bike there. Maybe some of the state parks. Possibly when you come off the ferries from Conn.

I think the point folks are making that in today's internet age, visitors centers tend to not get funded and there are certainly fewer then there were 30 years ago, thus I'd be getting my maps elsewhere, especially as the overall quality of free government maps is not as good as say a Mobil map from a gas station, circa 1975.

There's a few of them on Long Island. In fact a new one just opened there at Exit 51-52 in October. You can bike down Motor Pkwy, where the visitor center is located.

But as you mentioned; not sure why anyone would bike that close to NYC.

I certainly wouldn't.

How do people find these chambers of commerce and tourist information centers without maps in the first place?

Some of them are easy to just run across (especially, if you are riding on major roads or highways).

The chamber of commerce in my town is not in a place anyone would be riding a bicycle.

I can see people stopping at these places if it's convenient but it's not always convenient.

It makes more sense to have maps ahead of needing these places to get them.

With a smartphone, it's easy and cheap to do that.

And neither Brookings nor Crescent City have any maps with adequate detail. If I just wanted to know where hwy 1, 101, 20, 128, 36, 299 and such are, I don't even need a map. If I want to see the ridgeline route from Sea Ranch to Myers Rd or the route from Mendocino to Lake Berryessa, then I'm SOL with a state map.

Mendocino to Lake Berryessa is pretty clear on the CALTRANS map I have from my last trip there (obtained free from the visitor center in Brookings). I don't know where Myers Rd is though without a city name so can't look.

When I took up cycling in '90, I was given a paper copy of the cycling map of Nassau County, which is next to NYC. Many of the roads were marked Red, Yellow, Blue or Green, in order of appropriateness for cycling. It developed as I discovered, that there are miles and miles of roads that are decent for road cycling, 'ya just gotta' know which ones and the map was key. They haven't produced this map in decades due to budget reasons, though the State of NY incorporated most onto it's electronic PDF versions. So I no longer carry the map, but my phone has the pdf on it. Such is the internet age.

We're starting in March and will do three months in America and then another three in Canada. We've also bought solar panels so hopefully that'll help keep the phone charged in addition to using paper maps if we can. And thanks for the USDA Forest Service maps [MENTION=185425]B. Carfree[/MENTION]! Definitely gonna check that out. (:

Good to know! I stayed upstate New York on my tour this summer. Through Brocton, Arcade, Canton, and Lake Placid before dipping into Vermont.

The paper maps I obtained from the visitor center in Erie, PA of New York worked well for that area.

Of course, the choice is always yours. That's what choices are all about. Road maps (e.g., from AAA) work just as well as anything. (If you are an AAA member, road maps are free.) Advantage of paper maps is that you have a complete preplanned route in front of you at a glance--no batteries included, AND, no batteries required! GPS may be helpful in a pinch, but so is asking a nearby human, or just enjoying the adventure of winging it. See, e.g., mindbiking.com.