46: turtle, suburbia, designated bike path, platform 9-3/4, tree protection area, private residence, they're a wake at the moment, strawberries, rocks, peed indeed, garmin glitch

May 2, 2025

Apex to Creedmoor

Wanting to get an early start, I set my alarm for 7:00, then woke up at 6:15. Blehh.

The first half of today's ride was just a matter of winding my way through Raleigh suburbia with nothing much of interest to photograph. I found myself passing through tony subdivisions that had bright green topiary bushes in the shapes of mushrooms, then neighborhoods in which the only green was the weeds clawing through cracks in the road and sidewalks.

Traffic was variable, ranging from an occasional BMW gliding past in an affluent neighborhood, to a moderate amount of traffic on larger thoroughfares as people made their way to school and work, to an incident in which I consider as the epitome of North Carolina drivers....

On a two-lane road there was a van behind me and an oncoming car when, out of nowhere, the guy behind the van decided to pass both of us. He missed the oncoming car by just a few feet and missed me by the same amount. Of course, no one honked... just another Friday morning.

I promise I'll quit complaining about the terrible North Carolina drivers... probably about the time I cross the state border.

crossing Interstate 40, I had the option of riding on the road or on this designated bike path

and having to navigate past this, from the designated bike path

Once I got on Patterson Road, about my halfway point, the traffic instantly dissipated. It was like no one knew the road existed and I felt like Harry Potter at Platform 9-3/4 at the King's Cross train station.

These guys are usually very camera shy and fly away before I can get into non-zoom camera range, but this wake didn't appear alarmed. I didn't know what to call them so I looked it up: a group of vultures in flight is called a "kettle", the term "committee" refers to a group of vultures resting on the ground or in trees, and a group of vultures that are feeding is termed a "wake."

U-Pick-Em Strawberry Patch. I was very tempted, then remembered the last time I packed some strawberries in my bag.

there are thousands, and almost all of them ripe

About a hundred miles or so ago, I started seeing these fake rocks in people's front yards

I haven't seen them anywhere else and have been wondering if they're decorative, functional, or religious (as in, "I stand on the rock of salvation and everyone in our church gets these to show we're Christian.")

come on over here and fight, you big chicken

By the I checked into my motel in Creedmoor I was so fed up with my Garmin that I decided it was time to call Customer Support. Something happened a week or so ago and now it no longer shows what road I'm on, nor if there are any other roads nearby. Even if I come to an intersection, it doesn't appear on my map. If I veer off course, I receive no warning, and I still hear the same instructions: "in 200 feet continue north, in 200 feet continue north, in 400 feet turn east, in 200 feet turn east, turn east."

I spent about half an hour on the phone with a woman who kept asking me if I had the Map Manager on my Garmin Express, and she couldn't figure out why I didn't. After she did some of her technical wizardry, it finally appeared.

At that point she asked me to tell her which maps I have loaded. The answer was "three climb pro maps," at which point she became really confused.

"I... don't und.... ... ... How are you even navigating with no base map?" asked the person with an intimate knowledge of the Garmin I'm using.

Clearly, not well.

Thinking back to the day I got pulled over by the police, I believe what happened is that I had been routed on Business 1 and not Highway 1, but when I got on Highway 1 instead of the correct road I wasn't alerted, and thought I was on the right route. My Garmin gave me no indication, even looking at the map, that I was on the wrong road because the road wasn't labeled.

After some stops and starts, we got it loaded again. It was previously on there, then just disappeared, and it makes me wonder if I just got a lemon because weird things keep happening. I asked if she thought this would fix the issue in which I stop getting verbal directions and she said "Hopefully."

To Be Determined.

I've missed a number of turns over the past week. You can see in the middle of today's ride where I missed another one.

Heart

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Bill ShaneyfeltIn 2008, I traveled some of the roads you have recently been on when I rode from Dayton, OH to Wake Forest, (& back) where my daughter & family were at that time. "Hills, headwinds and heat" were my constant companions, and rain was a frequent visitor.

Brings back a lot of memories, but no e-navigation then, just scraps of maps taped together. I figure there was about a 10% increase in miles over what I figured with all the missed turns.
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo Bill ShaneyfeltGood memories, I hope. I'm astonished at my good fortune regarding the weather on this trip, which I do understand will eventually change. Since I began, I've had a headwind 3-4 days, and no wind once. The rest of the time I've had a tailwind. The temps have been mostly 68-75, with a rare day over 80 (2-3, and I just left early).
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1 month ago

Bill ShaneyfeltTo Mark BinghamI left home on 2 June, so I was in mostly mid to upper 90s.

Funny thing, the first day was great weather, second was 7 1/2 hours of downpour. Then it got hotter as the days passed. I averaged about 85 miles per day, even though I had only planned on 50. Oh, to be 64 years old again! (79 now and knees won't let me do more than about 20 miles unloaded flat miles) But, yes, lots of good memories. Still keep in touch with some folks I met.
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1 month ago

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,235 miles (1,988 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
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Steve Miller/GrampiesWay back at the dawn of time, when GPS technology was in its infancy, Steve thought a Garmin would be a really useful addition to our touring kit. After it variously told us we had arrived at our destination in the middle of a corn field and on a freeway and also insisted that the nearest gas station was 30 miles away even though we were standing at one, Dodie declared the thing to be useless and reverted to paper maps only for several years. Now we have her cell phone with OSMAND+ running and while it still glitches infrequently she has finally ditched the stacks of paper and relies solely on GPS tracks.
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo Steve Miller/GrampiesI might have to check that out.
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1 month ago

Jeff LeeI've never had a dedicated navigation device like a Garmin, and don't really see the point of one now, with a smartphone and the RideWithGps app. That app allows you to download the complete map for use when you don't have a cell connection.

My process is this: Create a route for the day with RideWithGps. I do it on my laptop, since the route planner is easiest to use on it. Then I click on the "send to device" button, which sends the route to my phone, which downloads the entire thing.

Then when I start riding in the morning I turn on the RideWithGps app and tell it to navigate. I keep the phone in my handlebar bag the rest of the day, listening to the navigation audio cues.

That's worked well for me on my last several tours.
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo Jeff LeeI used to do that but, weirdly, it made my Apple Watch die very quickly. There’s probably a way to prevent it, but I suspect the watch might lose some functionality. I’m hoping the issue is resolved, but if not…. it’s on the table. I keep thinking I just got a bad one.
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1 month ago

Lyle McLeodTo Mark BinghamWe use a combo of what Jeff and the Grampies do. RWGPS to make a route, and then export the GPX track to Pocket Earth (the iPhone equivalent of OSMAND - which stands for Open Street Maps for ANDroid by the way, and Open Street Maps is the Wiki version of open source maps that is the engine behind most non-google based GPS apps). Pocket Earth is simply maps that you can download to your device (including topos) and once the gpx track is imported, it’s simply a coloured line that you follow along (or not if you miss a turn) just like you would on a paper map. No -turn left in 100 m - crap. Just use your eyes and follow a map. The only potential flaw is yourself. Although we have garmin watches, they are ONLY to record our ride. Every Garmin that I’ve tried to use for navigation has ended up crushed under my heel. Pocket Earth and OSMAND are just modern equivalents of paper maps that let you overlay a GPX line that you can follow along, just like people have been doing for thousands of years.

Whoa. i feel relieved now.
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1 month ago

George (Buddy) HallWell - guess I really am the retro grouch here - I much prefer paper maps tucked under the clear plastic holder on my handlebar bag, or just a cue sheet for the day that tells me at what distance to turn. I have the phone GPS for a backup only. I have used the RWGPS phone app in a similar fashion to Jeff, but only when I have to (for example, in the pre-sunrise darkness on an unfamiliar rural route with many turns I follow Jeff's technique and download a map in advance and let the phone app verbally tell me when to turn - when I can't even read the street signs in the darkness it's pretty handy). But when I can I'll make myself a cue sheet and follow it - of course, that presupposes that I have time to study the route in advance and develop the cue sheet.
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo George (Buddy) HallRetro, definitely. Grouch, definitely not.
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1 month ago

Rich FrasierI tossed my last Garmin navigation device 15 years ago and replaced it with a Wahoo Bolt. We use Wahoo Elemnts now for turn by turn directions to reduce the battery load on our phones. The differences between the two company's products are striking. The Wahoo stuff just works. I've never been tempted to go back to Garmin devices. Their software sucks. And you can believe me on that, since I'm a software developer. Or at least I was before I happily retired. :) I guess that makes me a Garmin grouch.
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1 month ago

Mark BinghamTo Lyle McLeodThat seemed cathartic. :-)

I downloaded PocketEarth, and will check it out after the trip. It seems like a good idea to wait until *after* the trip because when you say "The only potential flaw is yourself" then, clearly, it's going to be full of flaws...
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1 month ago

Lyle McLeodTo Mark BinghamYeah, I slept well after writing that.
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1 month ago