A bicycle GPS is much more than a pricey cyclometer with snob-appeal...
Don't get lost
(duh!) Know where you are. This is unbelievably useful on a route you've never
ridden before.
Plan your route
As you ride, the waypoints click past automatically and the course pointer
leads you to the next. This requires that you pre-plan or download a route beforehand.
No more sweaty, crumpled paper map
Pre-plan new routes and ride them usually without referencing
a paper map.
Get to the ride start
in unfamiliar territory, in the dark, in the fog and rain, from hundreds of miles away.
Call help to your location
If you get in trouble, you need to know where you are. GPS saves lives
on the sea and in the air. On a bike it can save a life or a hassle. Call the authorities
and read them your lat/lon. Then move a few feet so that the helicopter doesn't land
right on top of you.
Mark your location for return
You can mark the location of a photo,
a point of interest, or an incident and refer to it later.
I abandoned my bike in trackless forest when it shredded its derailleur. I hiked out, then GPS'd right back to it the next day. I couldn't see it until I walked right up on it. I might not have found it at all without the GPS.
Chicks dig it
Ladies, you will never have to nag your man to stop at some store to
ask for directions. Not that he ever would.
