I ventured out on my mountain bike yesterday in the vague hope of finding some wilderness. I struck gold.
I’m used to following my nose on the road but when it comes to off road riding there’s always that nagging doubt that says, “don’t do it – you could die.” Ok maybe, I’m being a bit extreme with the death part, especially living in Surrey but I’m sure you get the theme of what I’m trying to get at here, for a city dweller, I put myself outside of my comfort zone.
Fortunately, I had a route planned on my Garmin Etrex so I wasn’t truly alone out there but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I really was away from it all. I set off from home and headed out onto the North Downs – while I think of it, why are they called Downs? I did a fair bit of climbing. Optimistic mapmaker perhaps? You wouldn’t like to see their 2am girl after a few beers. “Yeah, she’s really good looking……..”
Anyway, so I’m in the wilderness and it’s fun. It’s really fun and I’m asking myself why don’t I do this more often? 4 hours riding around, slipping in mud and crashing through undergrowth is a great way to relieve the stress of normal life. All within 15 miles of Croydon, in the “busy” south east.
Whilst on my mini adventure (which some would call a “bike ride”) I found a beautiful bivvying spot on top of the North Downs (Ups) ridge. Great views, soft comfy ground and close to a pub which holds regular topless modelling competitions – ok I made that last bit up but as I didn’t actually go into the pub, I can’t say for definite that they don’t. My punishment for finding this spot was a puncture but I still think it was worth it.
So when am I bivvying you ask? Soon. I’m practically there with my kit list. I managed to convince my lovely other half to buy me an Alpkit Filo jacket (in Ice Blue if you’re asking) which looks amazing value and should be extremely warm over winter. I considered the “Lego Blue” but I remember my brother getting a Lego man’s head stuck up his nose and that’s a risk I’m not willing to take. I’ve also got an Exped pillow coming from Santa Claus and some nice warm insulated mountain bike shoes. The only thing that’s really stopping me is the weather. I’m scared I’ll freeze to death at night. My sleeping bag is a 2-3 season bag and I know that by having my down jacket, I “could” be ok but for my first bivvy experience, I want it to be warm. I don’t want to have a freezing cold experience that will put me off what will be a good adventure. So, I’m going to wait until I can afford a down sleeping bag. I figure that if I’m going to buy one, I’ll get the best out there and wait until I can afford an Alpkit Pipedream 800 (or 600 in combination with my Filo if needed) which should mean I can theoretically sleep out in snowy conditions and it will be light and not too bulky. I was hoping to do the Mach and Back mountain bike ride in January but that looks like it won’t happen now. I also need to get a tarp to give me some options if the weather turns sour but I might just opt for a micro tarp which would cover just my torso.
One other thing left to buy is a hip flask. I’m determined to get a taste for single malt because a) it is cool and b) I want others to perceive me as being cool. My only concern is that this could turn into an issue in itself. Cold winter night out on the moors – acceptable to have a wee dram? Yes. Nippy morning out on the bike with friends? Nothing wrong with a little convenient drop from a hip flask, especially if you share the wealth. Cold morning outside? A shot to warm the cockles – sounds good to me! Snow outside and a slow morning at work…….. this could lead to a P45 but on the upside, I’d have more time to ride which is always a good thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment