One of the things that regularly go round in my head is the idea of quitting our troubled country and heading away on a bike to see what the rest of the world is like... I find myself writing this with a deep feeling on unsettledness and a plain old sense of misery because I find myself doing the daily grind of earn money, pay bills, eat, sleep... repeat!
Anybody who knows me well, knows my itchy feet and also knows I am always planning something as an escape. The plans don't always come to fruition, but something generally replaces that plan and provides me with either an adventure or I meet people who set me off in a new direction.
At the moment, I'm finishing off the project of repairing the Old Coach Road in Cumbria. By throwing myself into this I've personally learned a whole new set of skills, road maintenance wise and project management wise. I've learnt a lot about the intricacies of our legal system, the fact that our government are generally a bunch of thieves in suits and that the general public are the ones who are suffering from the greed on show from our current crop of leadership.
What's ironic, is that if it wasn't for the fact that my biking life has taken me away from road riding and into the word of both adventure riding and trail riding I would never have learnt these skills or been aware of these things, I would never have seen both the positive and the negative side of living in the UK in such stark and contrasting light. I'm sure biking would have taken me to another place and I'd have learned other things but because of the choices I've made these are the lessons I've learnt and I wouldn't change that at all.
When I interact with the people who are termed 'antis' because for whatever reason they think all green laning should be banned, I am constantly amazed that people with any intelligence at all can be so intolerant and unforgiving whilst at the same time blatantly ignoring their own impact on our crowded environment. These same people go home to their loved ones and are a completely different person.
In the world of MPV users, I am polarised by watching the folk who ignore any of the socially acceptable behaviour patterns because all they see is the closure of the lanes and believe that it doesn't matter either way what they do, they will be treated as criminals anyway so why not be one and the folk who 'keep fighting the good fight' and follow the rules, learn the game and try to make things better for all users not just MPV groups.
None of this is helped because in reality the general public is not party to the planning and discussions that lead to things like the NERC Act etc. That is all done behind closed doors within the elite circles that still really control the UK and their decisions are only ever beneficial to their aims.
This all leads me back to my personal quandary, quit this country and ride into the sunset to see what the rest of our fabulous, but troubled world, has to teach me or stay here and try to find a solution to my personal battle of feeling both frustrated and angry that this country is going the way it. Intolerant, myopic and self destructive would be the words that spring to mind!
I can honestly say I have met some fabulous people in the motorbike world, they are as passionate about their activity as the people I have encountered in the mountain world, so mixing the two is a seamless process for me... This is part of what has kept me here so long this time around!
One thing for sure is that the coming weekend will be a ride with some friends into some new terrain, offering some fresh challenges and visiting places I've not seen before. We'll combine bikes, camping, rivers and a coastline and hopefully complete a ride that was started at the end of winter which suffered both snow drifted closed roads and bike issues. Let's hope this one fairs a bit better and also that it satisfies my need for a little bit of adventure and challenge, thus staving off the travel cravings a little longer!
aah the perennial question, passion or obsession??
Anybody who knows me well, knows my itchy feet and also knows I am always planning something as an escape. The plans don't always come to fruition, but something generally replaces that plan and provides me with either an adventure or I meet people who set me off in a new direction.
At the moment, I'm finishing off the project of repairing the Old Coach Road in Cumbria. By throwing myself into this I've personally learned a whole new set of skills, road maintenance wise and project management wise. I've learnt a lot about the intricacies of our legal system, the fact that our government are generally a bunch of thieves in suits and that the general public are the ones who are suffering from the greed on show from our current crop of leadership.
What's ironic, is that if it wasn't for the fact that my biking life has taken me away from road riding and into the word of both adventure riding and trail riding I would never have learnt these skills or been aware of these things, I would never have seen both the positive and the negative side of living in the UK in such stark and contrasting light. I'm sure biking would have taken me to another place and I'd have learned other things but because of the choices I've made these are the lessons I've learnt and I wouldn't change that at all.
When I interact with the people who are termed 'antis' because for whatever reason they think all green laning should be banned, I am constantly amazed that people with any intelligence at all can be so intolerant and unforgiving whilst at the same time blatantly ignoring their own impact on our crowded environment. These same people go home to their loved ones and are a completely different person.
In the world of MPV users, I am polarised by watching the folk who ignore any of the socially acceptable behaviour patterns because all they see is the closure of the lanes and believe that it doesn't matter either way what they do, they will be treated as criminals anyway so why not be one and the folk who 'keep fighting the good fight' and follow the rules, learn the game and try to make things better for all users not just MPV groups.
None of this is helped because in reality the general public is not party to the planning and discussions that lead to things like the NERC Act etc. That is all done behind closed doors within the elite circles that still really control the UK and their decisions are only ever beneficial to their aims.
This all leads me back to my personal quandary, quit this country and ride into the sunset to see what the rest of our fabulous, but troubled world, has to teach me or stay here and try to find a solution to my personal battle of feeling both frustrated and angry that this country is going the way it. Intolerant, myopic and self destructive would be the words that spring to mind!
I can honestly say I have met some fabulous people in the motorbike world, they are as passionate about their activity as the people I have encountered in the mountain world, so mixing the two is a seamless process for me... This is part of what has kept me here so long this time around!
One thing for sure is that the coming weekend will be a ride with some friends into some new terrain, offering some fresh challenges and visiting places I've not seen before. We'll combine bikes, camping, rivers and a coastline and hopefully complete a ride that was started at the end of winter which suffered both snow drifted closed roads and bike issues. Let's hope this one fairs a bit better and also that it satisfies my need for a little bit of adventure and challenge, thus staving off the travel cravings a little longer!
aah the perennial question, passion or obsession??
