Map reading

Generally I plan a route the night before at the "I'm going through these villages" level, make a note on the back of an envelope if there's bits I don't know and then follow signs.

The irish farmer - possibly the same one talking to the American tourist. "Back home it takes me all day to drive to the other side of my ranch".
Reply from farmer. "Aye, I had a car like that once ! "

An old timer in our club can pretty much navigate his way around the south of england from memory and once advised me to remember the towns/ villages on the outer edges of my intended route area. One for each of the compass points. That way you only really need to remember 4 places to look for if lost and then you will know what direction to head once there.

I use Garmin Connect to plan routes and upload them to my device. Google street view for cross referencing. I'm pretty good with most of Hampshire & Berkshire now from memory. Wiltshire and Surrey are getting stronger. If i go to a new area then i use the compass points principal.

Never been lost yet, wish i could say the same for my legs!!

I like to plot routes with distances on Endomondo and then it's just a case of remembering or sticking a few cues on a piece of paper. I recently did a cycle round the suburbs of Glasgow so put street names on a piece of paper that went on the top tube.

Making it up as you go along is all very well but can also very easy to get lost/disorientated if you don't have a map - mental, paper, or electronic - of how signposted places relate. I have a garmin etrex 30 nowadays but the small screens on most devices don't lend themselves to planning/modifying routes on the fly, but are a decent backup and at least record where you've been. I've not done the sort of riding in recent years to need one but you cant really beat a map on a map board for useability - I did a fair few mtb trailquests in the eatly 2000s (?) where one had to quickly decide or modify a route - on a 3.5 or 5hr event a lot of area can be covered. A garmin or even smartphone (assuming you have coverage or use offline mapping) really wouldn't work as well. Fwiw, not much drag either.

In large measure from concern about safety, I've always relied quite heavily on pre-plan routes and GPS. These days it's via a Garmin 800, but I've been doing it since the days of the original big yellow Etrex handhelds.

I use cyclestreets & bikeroutetoaster for planning. If I'm not sure about something I'll cross check with google street view to make sure it's neither a motorway in disguise or a load of old Sustrans.

If I'm riding into an area I really don't know, I'll print a few A4 maps as well to slip in the jersey pocket, or stashed away in a drybag with the valuables. Sometimes you just need to spread out a sheet of paper rather than view the world through a tiny screen.

Before garmin came along I had an old clipboard attached to the handlebar clamp via a bracket with a couple of rubber bands for holding down the bottom of the map.

I use a Garmin eTrex precisely because I don't like stopping to check the map. I generally also take a map and compass though because using just a GPS is like looking at the world through a toilet roll tube. A decent map lets you see everything around you so you can improvise

I did a 60 mile ride today. I was unable to get the route from Garmin onto my Edge 810 so listed the villages and followed road signs. Only off route once (though did go down a long hill and have to retrace route back up!)

I just usually wing it... See which way I fancy from a junction and see how long it takes me to get back home! I always record my trip with my Garmin and review when I get back... It's clear to see which roads you turned back on!

I got ..temporarily unlocated.. in the west of Ireland and had to wave to a farmer to get him to come over. He wandered along to the gate in the field and I said
'I'm a bit lost, is this the road to Castlebar?'
he replied
'Oh no, you'll not get there on this road, have a good day now'...

Mixture of just ride along and see where it goes, check Map on Garmin to see where road goes there and then. To plotting route prior and following directions.

It's hard to get lost in Northern Ireland. If you do find yourself on a road you don't know pretty soon you'll come across a road sign pointing to somewhere you do know.

Just go out for a ride and see where you end up.
Use road signs; that's what they are for.
If you get really lost, ask for directions.
If you get wet feet, you're probably in the sea.

I like garmin connect/communicator to create routes, just drag the turn points to create a desired route. Upload and away you go.

I plotted a seventy mile quiet road route in a few minutes. Use with Google maps to see street view and elevations makes it super easy. I spotted on one route I created it went up a 20% hill by seeing the sign post on street view

When I'm looking for new routes, when not just blindly following my instincts, I plan the route out using a map or google maps the night before. I write down significant place names and junctions to look out for, which I stick to my stem with tape. If I was doing a cross ride in a large off road area I sometimes put an OS explorer map in my back pocket just in case.