The Year Of Adventure?

Well, looking back at my previous post it appears that I may have cursed us all to the current situation of 'The Great 2020 Covid-19 lockdown'.

I sit here finally looking to get around to writing up the one and only trip I managed to achieve this year before life came crashing down around us and can only reflect that you really don't know how good you have something until it's gone. No ride outs, not even a quick blast on the back roads, no meeting with mates, no next adventure and quite possibly, no Morocco trip for me this year.

There are two ways to deal with this as I see it, one, sit around the house and mope about like I have been or two, use this time to actually do what I told myself I would do, write up my adventures and plan alternatives. Seeing as option one has done little good, shall I start to get back on track and try step two?

I promised myself at the start of the year I'd get out more on my slow Himalayan taking in things more, rather than blasting around and not seeing much as I had in most of my years of riding. The idea was for me to be able to get away at the weekend, or take longer weekends and see the UK, to prove how good we have it here in the UK, if only you ventured further than your back gate, broke out a map and used some intuition to find some great riding, views and surprise yourself by finding local quirky landmarks or regional delicacies.

I also sought to write up these experiences so that I can look back in years to come and remember fondly all the places I'd been and let the nostalgia seep through me. I guess it was also partly to share these trips with anyone who may have an interest, so they might be able to go and have a similar experiences and see for themselves what the UK has to offer.

I kept half of my promise, I managed to get away at the end of February/start of March and went on an unexpectedly strange, yet awesome trip which gave a sweet slice of grand adventure all of it's own, with snow on the roads in the Peak District and some tasty off-road trails. I failed however on the second half of my promise to write this up, a failure I seek to rectify this weekend with a cold beer by my hand and a wad of pictures to flick through and remember the pre-lock down times which seem so far away already.

Between writing the Peak District foray up and getting merry on memories (and beer) I'm also going to get my planning head on and get something to look forward to once this all blows over. I'm thinking another trip to Scotland's West coast with some friends or a wicked trip to the valleys of Wales where I've already got a vague idea of some off-road routes.

So stay tuned, I'll hopefully get it done in the next week or so and there is much to shout about if you fancy feeling far away in the heart of England.

Oh and did I mention I probably need to come up with something to do with the new car/camper I switched the Astra out for? More to come on that later perhaps!