What makes an Adventure

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ZeroDarkBivi
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What makes an Adventure

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

I found out the answer this morning.

Currently touring Southern Thailand, and whilst having breakfast this morning I was engaged in conversation by a loud Texan expat and his niece. The bike was in sight and the usual questions followed, culminating in the lady asking if I was blogging the trip. I replied in the negative - no interest in carrying a laptop or tablet. Her reply was enlightening: “that’s a shame; that would be a real adventure”.

As for the trip, it’s warm, mostly flat, always a tailwind, friendly locals, proper good food and bivis have a roof and a bed - the opposite of a proper Boners trip. TBH, there are a few too many highway sections that are just head down on the areo bars ticking off the distance, and hoping the drivers passing are paying some attention. Averaged over 30kph so far, so not remotely difficult terrain. That’ll change if it does rain.

So, now I have posted on here, that might make it a short rde?
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voodoo_simon
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by voodoo_simon »

Perhaps, or before we get to drawn in, did she say it in a meaningful way or a figurative of speech?
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thenorthwind
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by thenorthwind »

That reminds me of the time I was leaving my student house to do a coast to coast ride. A housemate's girlfriend asked me "Are you doing it for charity?" to which I replied in the negative... "Why are you doing it then?" :roll:
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Bearbonesnorm
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Confused - did she mean that the act of writing about your trip in the form of a blog would be an adventure or that writing about it in a blog would make the trip more of an adventure?

Virtual world init - she has you in front of her to talk to directly but seemingly appears to think it would be better to read about what your doing on a computer :???:
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techno
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by techno »

Maybe she meant that it'd be worth recording.
Such a good adventure that others would enjoy reading about it.
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Alpinum
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Alpinum »

Blogging to some may be more of an adventure then a cycling trip of some sorts.

To me it would anyways.

It's more of an unknown to some then packing the bike and going on a trip into the wild for a few weeks.
I'm sure that's what she meant.
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Scud
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Scud »

When i lived in York and London, we always saw the Japanese tourists that always seemed to have a camera or video camera attached to their face as we used to joke that they had their holiday when they got home, as they hadn't seen it whilst they were here!

I always wonder how many of the instagram bikepacking trips that take place actually do ride, you often see fully loaded but very clean bikes, that despite having what looks like 30kg of stuff loaded on them seem to be balanced by a wooden stick for the photos..
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Ray Young
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Ray Young »

What makes an adventure? In my opinion, your attitude.
boxelder
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by boxelder »

I think, for a lot of people, adventure is something they only watch/read about, therefore it's only an adventure if shared and followed by others.
Your description makes it sound like you consider it more of a holiday than an adventure that needs recording.
You do realise she was just trying to get into your (less than optimally fresh) lycra?
Don't tell us you didn't go there. That could have been an adventure..........
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BigdummySteve
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by BigdummySteve »

thenorthwind wrote:That reminds me of the time I was leaving my student house to do a coast to coast ride. A housemate's girlfriend asked me "Are you doing it for charity?" to which I replied in the negative... "Why are you doing it then?" :roll:
I had exactly the same response about my Jogle trip, eventually my wife made me raise some money for a local hospice.Of course then you have to blog the trip,I’ve refused to embrace the evil of Facebook so my wife posted regular updates etc, although it raised £500 the the very worthwhile hospice i felt it took something away from the trip. Most people I met along the way also assumed it was a charity ride.

I think possibly some of these charity ride are another form of self promotion, the adventure is elevated to a higher plane by the charity angle thus the poster achieves more kudos amongst the Instagram/ Facebook believers.

Makes me a LOT madder than I can explain, ask me Saturday night :-bd
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ScotRoutes
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by ScotRoutes »

If you're in a social bubble where the only time you hear of someone doing LEJOG it is associated with a charity then it's perfectly reasonable to assume that everyone who does it is doing it for charity..




Some extreme positions being adopted in this thread. Go out. Ride your bike. Write about and share it if you want to. Stop trying to read too much into other folks actions.
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ZeroDarkBivi
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

Not having a go at bloggers; I learned loads from some of the older HT550 blogs when I started doing this, but the zeitgeist of hipster attempts to win the Turner Prize (or promote their position as prostitute influencers) are a bit of a turn-off. Quite happy to ride my bike without chugging, instagram hashtags, or self-affirming likes from the Facebook bubble of deciet!

It is a holiday and NO I DIDN’T!!! It was breakfast time and I had 190km to do that day. Otherwise...

Yes, this is just a pleasant holiday but my neck is already aching from too long in the aero bars; looking forward to some hills tomorrow.
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Jurassic pusher
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Jurassic pusher »

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:Not having a go at bloggers; I learned loads from some of the older HT550 blogs when I started doing this, but the zeitgeist of hipster attempts to win the Turner Prize (or promote their position as prostitute influencers) are a bit of a turn-off. Quite happy to ride my bike without chugging, instagram hashtags, or self-affirming likes from the Facebook bubble of deciet!

It is a holiday and NO I DIDN’T!!! It was breakfast time and I had 190km to do that day. Otherwise...

Yes, this is just a pleasant holiday but my neck is already aching from too long in the aero bars; looking forward to some hills tomorrow.
I`ve had worse things for breakfast! :grin:
boxelder
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by boxelder »

I`ve had worse things for breakfast! :grin:
He was probably just concerned that Dad would insist on blogging it.......
jameso
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by jameso »

just a pleasant holiday
:-bd
neck is already aching from too long in the aero bars
:???:
I'm confused :grin:

What's the traffic been like? The opportunity to tour in Thailand comes up occasionally but I get warned off by impressions (though not mine) of drunk drivers and a lot of 4x4s being badly driven. Not sure it's actually any worse than the UK, though tbh I wouldn't do a long road ride here without very careful planning.

Blogging and sharing etc, I'm with SR here. Let's not fall into the negativity trap of thinking we know people or their intentions just from what we see posted online. Some people like to share stuff, maybe the main audience is their Mum and it's worth every selfie : ) yeah, some of it is narcissistic crap, it stands out when it is. I can think of some great instagram accounts and blogs that I follow for regular images and comments on people's trips. TBH I wish I could be arsed to write up more of my trips somewhere, I prefer to 'just ride' and it's too easy to move on afterwards and daily clutter can erode the detail in some of the memories too soon.
I did used to write a daily diary (on paper!) during my first bike tours and hiking trips. I like looking back on those.
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ZeroDarkBivi
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

What's the traffic been like?

So far the traffic has not been bad at all - drivers use their horn as a friendly warning they are passing rather than in an aggressive manner. Local cops have been great, saluting me as I ride past! There is definitely a right-of-way based on size of vehicle, so even the mopeds take the piss at junctions, but you get used to being at the bottom of that food chain! I have no intention of riding at night (beyond 1800), and I deliberately got a taxi out of Bangkok to avoid that traffic madness!

In this Information Age, where precision navigation and easy access to gpx routes may have diluted the adventure aspect, I have found a good counter to that; handover total control of route selection to Komoot. By the time you realise it doesn’t know all the best trails, you are probably committed to following it anyway and that is the random path to a bit more adventure!!! certainly found myself on wet jungle trails today that my 30mm G-Ones where not optimised for...
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Dave Barter
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Dave Barter »

My mum is the sole reason I started writing and sharing my "adventures". She took real pleasure in living something vicariously whilst fighting Ovarian cancer. Many others take great inspiration from the blogs and pictures of others no matter what the scale or nature of the trip. Please lets never ever discourage anyone from documenting their trip. It can do nothing but good. Remember that gobbing off in the pub about your last epic is essentially the same thing with a smaller audience.
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jameso
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by jameso »

So far the traffic has not been bad at all
Good to know, thanks. My friend toured Bangkok to N Thailand a few years ago and said it was OK, though he stuck to tracks as much as he could. I get the 'might has right' road rules over there, it's just how it is and you ride accordingly, but family discouragement based on their non-cycling view of it is a bit frustrating. Anyway... Enjoy your trip!
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ZeroDarkBivi
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by ZeroDarkBivi »

Just cracked 215 km on the highway today, and might have to reconsider my previous comments! There is some random driving, particularly overtaking at crazy moments, but balanced by the relative lack of traffic (compared to the U.K.) and no worse than I experienced on the northern parts of the HT550, and less deliberately intimidating, just stupid! Could be poor education/awareness, just a more superstitious attitude (Insh Allah / Karma / whatever), or a culture more accepting of risk. The ‘hard shoulde’ is the safe place to ride, but you will regularly get vehicles going along it the wrong way!

All that said, I felt less safe as a taxi passenger than any time on the bike...

If I ride here again, it will be in the north; did a bit of mountain biking there and lots of potential.
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Zippy
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Re: What makes an Adventure

Post by Zippy »

Dave Barter wrote: Remember that gobbing off in the pub about your last epic is essentially the same thing with a smaller audience.
Ooh, perhaps posting on the internet is actually slightly better as the audience is (or should be!) there by choice, I can leave if they're not actually interested.

I love reading people's threads/adventures on bike trips etc. I also especially like car build threads/write-ups. The internet is great for this, although the gradual death of the forum and the rise in social media type superficial blogging is a bit of a downer.

Er, I'll stop now before I go off on a tangent. I may have a long post for 2019 plans and 2018 review.... or I may just leave it.

Blah blah blah, Merry Christmas (or whatever other festivities you enjoy) everybody. :smile:
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