When I went out at the weekend, it was so slippy out on my local turf, that it actually annoyed me. I was really up for a consistent ride- which to be fair I should have expected wasn’t going to happen with weather of late.
But anyhow, I hit one of my trusty local runs with a decent clip and just couldn’t stay in control- I was all over the place. Normally I like this and have a blast- maybe the saddle will go down and I’ll ride a section a few times to use the conditions for my skill.
But it just annoyed me this time- so instead I went exploring round the wood, looking at sections I’d been meaning to look at for a long time. Pushing back up to the top I followed a path, which I’m guessing had been made by animals rather than people walking, which took me to a clearing and positioned me a couple of hundred feet above where I was before. I could see the regular trail below me and started looking for lines to get down there. Nothing stood out as such, but I could see the way I could imagine it going, and with my saddle slammed right in the frame, I set off traversing the hillside. Immediately I noticed I had loads of grip- the steep banks didn’t hold water, but were moist enough for the tyres to dig in. This made me smile and I had flash backs of some of the early Freeride films when the riders were sliding down huge banks of sand.
The hill I was riding was covering in roots and dead fall- so I had to be creative using it, although some things just fell in to place. I spotted a bombhole, which although not ideal to ride following the line I was on, allowed me to use as a berm and change direction- kind of like a purpose built switchback. Heading back the other way now I started to lose elevation quicker and I could see the trail coming up on my right.
It felt pretty natural and although wasn’t a smooth bit of trail, was certainly fun and I felt a little deflated to be back on the original trail.
I found my eyes were scanning around for other things to ride, and I saw another possible line pop up on my right, so I headed down it, again looking for features to use as bus stops or turning points. I came across some slabs of rock which with some clearing out, could be used as a feature- and suddenly other things kept jumping out at me. My eyes were honing in to new terrain. Instead of doing any work, I just carried on, eventually finding my way to the bottom of the hill and a field I’d never even seen. So out came the iPhone, and I figured out that unless it’s private land, I can pretty much follow it to a road. I’ll check that later on an OS map.
For now, I was marvelling in the fact I’d just ridden down a hill I’d been riding for years, and had ridden something- a bit on the messy side- that could be a new line with not much work. And it annoyed me- I’d wasted all my time having great rides on a single trail, when really there were loads of other options out there.
Next time, I’m going to make a few alterations, and am going to ride it in a few times. I now get what Freeriders search for- they don’t follow the beaten in path, but instead make a trail for others to follow. I’m on it!
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