I'm a mountain biker at heart but will pick up my road bike to hurt myself on a group ride every so often and I usually have a few 'big-mountain' rides in the calendar throughout the year. Throw in a few bike parks, bike packing and local trail centres and I'm a happy man.
But then COVID-19 hit, we got locked down and I found myself needing to be a bit more creative on a local level. I'd recently got into riding gravel after The Dirty Reiver last year and took delivery of a lovely new Canyon Grail in early March.
I have a big map of my local area on the wall of my office and for years I have thought about trying to create a loop from my doorstep of bridleways, tracks, canals and backroads but I just never got around to it. So this seemed like the perfect excuse to do just that.
And boy am I glad I did.
Within less than half a mile I discovered a bridleway I'd ridden past hundreds of times and never noticed. That linked into another and another. And they're always completely empty. After a few rides, I had created a couple of 20+mile loops that were absolutely incredible.
So even though, like most of us, I'm now working at home, I am also not travelling for work. There are no physical meetings and as a result, I'm able to find that little bit of extra time to lose myself and simply explore.
It has had a huge effect on me mentally. I expected to feel stressed and confined during lock-down. I expected to struggle creatively too and yet quite the opposite has happened.
I'm getting really quite fit, the creativity is flowing and I think I just a better human to be around as a result.
Yes, I miss the mountain bike and the banter with mates but there is a silver lining in these terrible times. The sun has been shining and I am determined to make the most the limitations we've been given. That adventure could be on just on your doorstep too.
We at The Overland believe that the world needs better solutions to single-use packaging. That's why we now offer an alternative.
It's called RePack - reusable and returnable delivery packaging.
RePack is a super simple solution to an ever-growing problem of packaging trash. It simply reduces trash and saves up to 80% of CO2 emissions compared to single-use packaging.
Add a Repack to your order for £3 and receive your goods in a reusable, environmentally friendly packaging. It's FREE to return!