I love taking my mountain bike riding in the forests and hills near
me. We have a rule to never go out without the cell phone in case of
an emergency, you never know what could go wrong and when you need 911
you also need to make the call and can't always rely on a land line
being within range. I read something on the net called the Sullivan
Report that shows the importance of cell phones for health and safety.
I keep a Tracfone because they use all the towers so I get signal all
over, I also really like their double minutes packages. Think about
your safety before you go cycling again without a cell. If your
interested in the Sullivan report see link:
http://www.newmillenniumresearch.org/archive/Sullivan_Report_032608.pdf

Simon,

Many Search and Rescue professionals and backcountry enthusiasts dislike the
dependence people have on cell phones and other technology as safety nets.
Better are the older rules: Tell somebody your travel plans, use the buddy
system and always carry your "10 essentials" of backcountry safety. Cell
phones are fine for backup and true emergencies, but SAR people see too many
relying on cell phones and ignoring the other, more critical aspects of
safety backcountry travel.

Richard Masoner
http://www.cyclelicio.us/