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[RC] Telling Distance Without a GPS - Bruce Weary DC

There are old, tried and true ways of telling distance without all this complicated, new-fangled GPS technology:
1) The curve of the earth causes an object to disapper from view on the horizon when it's about 30 miles away. This is how I know that when a rider disappears ahead of me over the next hill, he's 30 miles away.
2) In the movies, they talk about something being "a day's ride" away. I once rode my horse 100 miles in a day, so I know a "day's ride" is 100 miles.
3) If I can hear my mother screaming for me at basecamp, I know I'm within 100 miles of it. If I can make out what she's saying, I'm within 50 miles. And if my spine is starting to de-calcify, I'm within 25.
4) I have to pee every five miles, so if I have peed 10 times, I should be at the finish line of a 50. Twenty times for a 100. Which is why keeping yourself hydrated is so important.
5) Some casual trail riders around my town tell me that when they go out for a walking trail ride, they "must have gone at least 20 miles" in the three hours they were gone. So I know I can go 20 miles in three hours.
6) When it's cold out at night, I can make it to the porta-pottie in a hearbeat. Let's see.......a heartbeat is about one second, and the porta-pottie is usually 40 yards away....can someone help me with the math here?.............. 7) I have known riders that have gone off trail accidently for a half hour but then returned to the correct trail. They often say they went ten miles off course, so that would mean anyone off trail is traveling at 20 mph, until they get back on track.
8) If my ex-wife gets within 500 feet of me, I get a rash.

These are simple tools that help me know where I am and how far I have to go. Technology isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Dr Q

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