Maps
I’ve always preferred book type
maps until I used “philip’s multiscale
Europe 2000”. This must be the shittest
most aggravating map ever made and I HATE it. Yes yes,
it’s my own fault, I bought it, but fuck me, you
arrive at the Polish border and find the entire massive country is represented
as an A6 postcard. Bah! ISBN 0540077518 – never buy this item, it’s WaNk! My friend and
more experienced traveller Matt Little always uses the fold out type map, and
for bikes I’m now convinced they the way to go. You need a tank bag with a
viewing window and you need to be a bit brutal with the folding (I found this
quite difficult at first, whatever that says). You can generally get maps of
the locality at petrol stations and the like, but I figured that it’s better to
get what you can in advance and there were a few borders with maps out of stock.
The Michelin maps are pretty good for the countries they do. 1:400k is ok for
road riding, 1:200k is harder to get but amazing
detail that can lead you around tiny country roads. Above 1:700k is a bit shit
and 1:1200k in
It took up a fair bit of room in my
panniers, but I’m too stingy to throw them away, and it was reassuring having
them. I also picked up quite a few on the way. Also they mark the campsites!
Really important for me, but don’t put all your faith in the tent symbol, quite
few times the site was derelict or non-existent. Oh and now I can impress
visitors with the size of my cartographic library J
One thing that got me a few friends was
the big map of
‘oh you hero/english twat’ J It was fun marking other travellers’
routes on it too.