Anyone who knows me will tell you I am absolutely rubbish with technology and electrical items. I only have to look at a computer and it deletes its own memory. I cleaned the fridge last week and now it’s on the blink. And when it’s my turn to pick up the bill in a restaurant, my tip entries on the credit card have to be doubled checked by an adult after I once tipped a waiter £5,000.
Yes, I am the epitome of the old dog that won’t learn new tricks. As much as I try and keep up with the technology of our day it conveniently stays that one step ahead of me.
So considering my ineptitude with all things gadgetry, investing in a top-of-the-range sat nav for my bike is quite a risk.
We had one for the car and I loved how it freed me from the navigation tasks on our holidays. Instead of gradually developing car sickness reading the map, I could enjoy the scenery instead. Those tense moments when there is a decision to be made on when to exit the motorway no longer result in out and out verbal warfare between me and my partner.
Sat navs should be renamed and I think “the relationship saver” is perhaps more appropriate.
And this is why I brought the cycle sat nav. After a lovely start to a Sunday ride with my partner, chaos was beginning to descend. We hadn’t eaten breakfast as our ride was supposed to encompass a big roast somewhere along the way.
But by the time lunch time had arrived we were still studying a map, wondering how on earth that big distinctive tree had somehow managed to uproot itself and follow us for the 10 miles we had supposedly just ridden.
Without even seeing a bridge we were somehow on the wrong side of river. It was as if we had ridden across the water like messiahs on bicycles.
With lunch time been and gone, tummy’s rumbling and arguments developing, I swore to myself we would be freed from the constraints of my orienteering skills and the next ride would be a joyous affair with no stopping to read a map and no more missing lunch.
So I have brought the Garmin Edge 800. It promises to be the best bike-specific GPS unit out there, and the sales blurb enticed me in with words such as “fun” and “easy to use”. I don’t think the marketers have encountered someone with my track record yet.
So I sit here now with the thing in my hand and the dog-eared map in the bin. I am nervously wondering how you turn it on, I am pressing all the buttons but to no avail. Perhaps it doesn’t like me, perhaps it would rather wait for somebody with more technical experience.
Whatever it’s doing, I want to wring its neck. However, I will keep my cool. I will persevere with this gadget if it takes me a month or a year to work out because this is one device that won’t be demoted to the bottom drawer. It promises to enhance my life and save my relationships, therefore it will not elude me – or will it?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here