Getting back on a bike after even a few days away from it can be the best therapy anyone can get…and it’s all for free, well apart from the petrol you’ll use.
Recently I went away for a few days and didn’t have access to a motorcycle. Needless to say I was getting rather twitchy by day five, and by day seven, I was ready to jump on anything and ride off into the sunset.
So I arrive back in blighty and no sooner had I awoke the next morning, I was jumping on my faithful steed and seeking our new trails to ride. Now don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy riding on the road and buzzing through traffic…but it’s a pale second place to getting on the dirt trails and riding over hills and mountains or meandering my way along a forest track.
More and more these days, I am searching for interesting places to ride to or along, and most of that interest comes in the off road environment. I’m away from the rat race and I’m surrounded by serenity which can only be a good thing for my own state of mind too.
Riding dirt trails has been a life long passion of mine, but not necessarily in the extreme adventure riding sense. Moreover, it started as a boy riding around farms and open fields and then progressing into challenging myself to get my bike into the more unusual places.
It would probably be fair to say that my ‘hooning around the place’ days have long ceased to be of any interest to me. In fact when I’m riding, especially when on the dirt…I am much more relaxed about any precious itinerary to get from point A to B. I am much more comfortable easing along the track, taking the simplest route but being fully immersed in the environment and the elements too.
After a couple of stressy days, I was able to take the bike on some unexplored horse trails into the hills and managed to end up in more forests. Now, I tend to keep rolling through but there was an enormous sense of calm as I was riding, even when the track that I was on was taking me further and further away from the trail which I had plotted.
This is one of the problems with off road riding but it can also be one of the most appealing too. Many times, charts will depict a particular trail in a certain direction, but when you arrive, it doesn’t appear to be there. Sometimes masked by overgrown vegetation or not there in the first instance at all…or the route has been changed by a farmer type.
So this was my advetnure this afternoon. Perfectly at peace in the trees, but got totally lost for about 20 minutes. Luckily I was able to use my sense of direction to get me back on track and onto the main road again…but it just brought home to me that anytime you get on the dirt trails, sometimes maps or even digital maps don’t give you the whole story. You need to have your wits about you and some common sense of direction at times which will help to keep you on track or get back on track if you stray away.
Eventually I ws able to squeeze through a narrow opening and back to salvation in deepest and darkest Oxfordshire. I had narrowly escaped the clutches of the banshees that frequented the woods and the wolves that lay in wait and ready to pounce. All was well, all was calm…and I was a contented soul.
So now back at home homestead and it’s 3am. I’ve ridden back from the daily grind and the mind began to wander as I rode back. Where can I go next? Are there anymore trails to go explore? Have I exhausted all known routes? Do I need to book a place on a Charley Boorman adventure in Africa to satisfy my instiable appetite for riding on dirt? Well, that would be most fine indeed, but hardly necessary as I’m sure you could spend a lifetime on nearby trails and never ride the same one twice…it’s all about getting out there and find them.
Today was a good day! The bike purred, the tyres gripped and the trails were hard…ish with very few ruts and the scenery was breathtaking once more. It was good to be back on the bike…back for my goodness!
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