Handlebar-mounted map holders are one of those esoteric outdoors items that only complete cartographic nerds and adventure racers can wax silly about. Since I fit both molds—and add orienteering to my topographic confessional as well—the Rotating Map Holder from Adventure Racing Navigation Supplies caught my eye.
Last month, I employed the plastic platform on an adventure race along the St. Croix River in Minnesota, navigating trails and county roads for about 20 miles with relative ease. The 9×9-inch platform did not flex or flap, and the bungee cords held the map in place fine while on the go. The board does add wind drag, though less than I expected.
Made to fit all standard bike handlebar setups, the Rotating Map Holder mounts via a lever-activated clamp. You put in rubber shims to fit it tight against your handlebars. When putting the clamp on my bike, however, I had trouble getting the lever to snap down tight, though the platform stayed stable while I rode.
For reading the map on the ride, the platform rotates 360 degrees, allowing you to spin and orient the map with the lay of the land. This alone is a huge advantage to simply using an over-the-shoulder map case and trying to read a wrongly-oriented road map while riding on a bumpy road.
Indeed, pedaling and navigating has got to be one of the most dangerous parts of adventure racing. Several times while coasting downhill during races—the one time when I finally get a second to stop pedaling and try and peek at the map—I’ve squinted at bouncing details on a page and almost crashed. It’s like driving and talking on a cell phone, though much worse.
The Rotating Map Holder, on the other hand, keeps the map flat and easier to read. It costs $55 and adds just 8 ounces of weight to your bike setup.
While they seem hokey, the dual bungee straps pretty much keep the map in place. I had my map come out and blow off the bike once during my race. This was because I folded it a bit too small, and one side slipped out of a bungee, and the wind caught it, and . . . time to hit the brakes and head back for the page.
One feature that would be nice—and something I plan to add to my Rotating Map Holder—is a small stick-on compass. This way you would not have to check the lanyard around your neck for north before looking down each time at the page.
