Mountain Bike Rider — March 2018

FEATURE

48 mbrMARCH 2018

actually civilisation was very close by.
ThissensationwasoneIusuallyassociate
with mountains; a feeling of solitude, of
beingsomewhereremote,wildandfar
awayfromtherestoftheworld.Ofbeing
small,andyoung,comparedtothetrees
around you and what they have seen. Some
ofthesewereherelongbeforetherailways
startedbringingpeopletothecoastfortheir
holidays.Itwasawonderfulsurpriseto
learnthatyoucanfindthisinthewoodstoo,
withouthavingtogosofar.
Iwasbeginningtorememberthatsome
ofthebestridingisn’talwaysthemost
epic.Havingfunwithfriendscanbejust
as rewarding.
Onefinalridetookusexploringin
thewoodsaboveDunster.Thesewere
different again from others we’d ridden
intheprecedingdays.Itseemsthatevery
beautifulpieceofEnglishwoodlandhasits
owncharacter,eventhoserelativelyclose
toeachother.Tall,narrowtreesthatlooked
likebarcodeswhenviewedfromadistance,
concealedoff-cambertraversesthathadus
dabbingafootouttostayupright,gigglingall
thewhile.Thethintreesswayed,somewhat
alarmingly,andknockedtogetherinthe
breeze above, our moving ceiling reminding
usthatBrianwasn’tfaraway.Thewoods
wereprovidingasanctuaryfromthestorm.
We found the last of the summer’s dust
hiding under the top layer of rain-damped
soil, and yellowing pine needles lying like
snow on the ground, giving some much
needed traction on steep, tight fall-line
descents.Itwasthekindofterrainthat
makes you feel good about yourself... hero

dirt.It was perfect. I found myself smiling

contentedly, relaxed and happy. This trip had

been exactly what I needed.

Thestatisticsofdistance,heightclimbed

and descended during our few days away

are completely irrelevant. This trip wasn’t

epic in scale, nor was it hard or challenging

inanyway,butwehadexploredanewplace,

had a brilliant time, and weren’t going to

return home with the need to spend weeks

recovering. The steam train set the pace and

providedaconstantreminderthatagreat

journey doesn’t have to be about how fast or

how far. Sometimes you need to slow down

to speed up.

Taking the green line to

destination happiness

Nothingreleases the

pressure like a trip

back to the age of steam

Mossywoodland

trails are perfect

for relaxed riding