Stupid stupid stupid route decisions....

wesk

I'm still not sure why I did it, but riding up the Cheddar gorge on Friday afternoon, lovely sunshine, happy thoughts as I spun away at the pedals, I saw a track going up the left hand side. When I say track, think goat trail, thinning at the top. So, thinking that's the way I wanted to go (heading over to the the Trig point then Rowbarrow), I chuck the bike on the shoulder and head on up the trail. For the first 100ft it was walkable, then it got steep, really steep, to the extent that I sometime had to hang the bike on a rock and climb past, then drag it behind me.
45mins later I get to the top, look back and think why the bloody hell did I just do that. It took ages to do, exhausted me and endangered myself plus potentially the guys who would have had to collect me off the rocks. What's worse is that I'm actually also a climber who knows all about the dangers of stupid idiots like me going off up things with no equipment (other than a helmet).
Problem is, now I'm chuffed I did it, feel like the ride was better for it and want to do more next time. I think I need a collective smack round the head. Or, is it actually any worse than the decents I did, entirely solo later that afternoon down through the woods. :?:

cat_with_no_tail

Nah, you've got to go off and do stuff like that from time-to-time. Especially if you ride mainly on your own. It's the only way to find those absolute gems of hidden trails.
.

biff55

yep , its the pioneering human spirit.

Chingbling

I say go for it.
If you ended up being rescued that would have been interesting though!!

_jon_

I had a similar thing happen when cycling in Dartmoor recently. I was following a GPS route and came to an intersection. The track was pointing to go to the right but I could see the path went straight on (I couldn't see a path on the right). There was also a sign there that said there was a bridle way straight on and one to the right.

I cycled up and down several times but couldn't see the path on the right (through the forest). I decided to head into the forest along what looked like a path that maybe hadn't been ridden for a very long time as it was quite overgrown.

After a while I realised I'd gone the wrong way but it was too late to turn back. I ended up climbing over large boulders (it was literally a case of jumping from one boulder to the next) and dragging my bike over them and through bramble bushes (in my shorts) in order to try and get back to the main track which I should have been on originally.

Luckily I eventually managed to get to the path but I must have been clambering through the forest for about an hour and was exhausted when I got out (it was more tiring that the 25 mile cycle ride) and still had a massive hill to climb.

That is the last time I go down a route that doesn't look like it is a proper/previously ridden path!

upinsmoke

In Morzine last week; I had done a few trails on the Morzine/Les Gets side and decided to head up the Supermorzine lift to meet the family. At the top of the lift found everyone who were about to head back down so said I'll see you back at the Chalet, I'm riding down.

Couldn't see any marked trails and after heading along a track signposted for a Nordic skiing route decided to cut into the trees where I saw some bikes had been before.

Ferk me...I must have carried the bike down 50% of the mountain. Seriously steep, alot of it on the edge of a ravine. Tight tight switchbacks with a good 30 ft tumble if I got it wrong. Respect to whover had left the tyre marks. What I did have the bottle to ride left me with a big grin though (And helped take a pair of Superstar Kevlar pads to the metal in 3 days of riding.)

paul.skibum

I have doen a fair bit of map scanning in the Morzine area with a mate to find new trails - we'd find a red line for a path on the map, check the contours and think, that looks fun - they often were but they could also err toward the unrideable with a great deal of objective danger!

booldawg

I scour my OS map of the local area looking for new bridleways, tracks and green lanes to explore. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised, othertimes I'm cursing myself whilst brambles are ripping at my clothing.

tsenior

locally yes, if i've travelled to ride somewhere i tend to stay on piste to avoid wasting riding time.

a mate and i were riding along the top of the escarpment on esclusham mountain near llangollen, we'd dropped down too far and couldent be bothered regaining the height, so decided to drop down a reasonable looking path in a gully to the road....fairly quick with a couple of limestone pavement drops, nice route we thought....

...thankfully the look on the faces of 2 climbers coming the other way wearing harnesses, helmets and carrying ropes alerted us to a, cough, slightly bigger, drop about 10m further on :shock: