Roadbooks are what cyclists use to access their version of pacenotes. These are low-tech devices operating on one of the oldest paper technologies around: The scroll.

There are too many different manufacturers to list, and they can be made from either metal, plastic, or a combination.

In broad strokes, they come in two varieties: Manual or automatic. With the manual ones, you simply advance your pre-inserted scroll by means of the knobs at left (so you can keep your right hand on the throttle).

The automatic kind hooks up to your odometer, and through clever mechanical voodoo, the pre-calibrated paper advances in sync with how fast you're traveling.

You can choose to make your own sheets with handwritten notes.

Or you can print your own, leaving yourself some highly specific warnings.

The ones that are pre-printed, of course, opt for highly legible fonts so you can quickly read them at speed. Any moment your eyes are on the roadbook is a moment you're not scanning for State Troopers.

They can get as low-tech as you like, and you can jury-rig them to jive with your bike's set-up. Here we see the user has opted to sacrifice "screen" real estate, probably to minimize on text clutter. I wonder about the orange paper choice, but perhaps they offset the hue of sunglasses or goggles he's wearing.

This one was rigged up by Motorcycle Cannonball racer Shinya Kimura. He made it out of an old first-aid kit and wooden dowels.

So just where did the idea for these pre-GPS navigation devices come from? Stay tuned.

More Roadbooks!!
» How We Used to Navigate Using the Road Atlas
» Pacenotes, Sketches That Your Life Depends Upon
» Rigged for Motorcycles
» The Wrist-Mounted Original