Unexpectedly finding a café serving the perfect bacon butty and strong filter coffee, just when you need it.

The moment when you've finished work after a tough day, shoot out on the bike and after a few miles you've left all the hassle and stress behind, you've slowed down and are riding just for the joy of it. The "normal" day is forgotten, you stop for a drink of water and to enjoy the view, it's just you, the ride and the outdoors around you.

Unexpected food/drink opportunities are definitely golden. Particularly when you find a place that meets all your needs: friendly people, tolerant of muddy bikepackers; somewhere secure for loaded bikes; good, filling, reasonably-priced food; decent coffee; somewhere to fill bottles/bladder; good coffee; etc.

There's a certain feeling that I only get towards the end of a days riding, sometimes when leaving a pub/food stop for the evening. It's when you're irreversibly (almost) committed to spending the night out, and what you're doing shifts from being something normal (going for bike ride) to something a bit unusual (going to sleep in a ditch), and there's a childish sense of excitement, that you're doing something you shouldn't. It helps if it's dark too.

Alpinum wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2020 11:26 pm During yesterday's train ride, at the Bernina pass


The rest from today
























Even just getting the beer was something to remember. A small village shop I came by by chance, wonderful interaction with three locals and the shop filled with the smell of freshly baked tuorta da nusch.


A day sparkling with good moments.
And the bike worked really well too

Ooooo, love these pictures, brings back memories, I used to spend quite a bit of time there in my younger days...no bikes but walking and cross country skiing

The peace that follows a well launched shoe at whoever's snoring in the bothy ... bliss.

gently waking up in the morning sunlight after having slept soundly and not had to get up during the night for a wee, think this has only ever happened once to me

That moment after a really long climb when gravity becomes your friend again and you freewheel at 40mph, I’ve recently fitted a silent onyx hub and flying along with only the wind noise is really special, never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Standing at the top of a mountain looking back.

The tingling excitement when I see the Welsh border sign.

In no particular order -

Walking a bike onto a calmac ferry, any journey that includes a ferry trip is always an adventure.

The smell of a forest on a wet morning, even better if there's also some low lying mist

The look on the faces of early morning walkers as you're coming down a mountain as they are going up.

Encounters with wildlife that make you smile, a large skein of migrating geese passing overhead or sharing a trail with a deer even if its only for a few seconds.

Falling asleep under a clear cloudless sky after a great day on the bike.

Few that spring to mind:
- night riding and I seem to tune in to the crackle of tyres, especially when it's frosty
- night riding watching mud and dirt flick in front of the light in streaks like fireworks
- flowy singletrack that is softened by a nice bed of pine needles
- watching stars and not sleeping even though you're dog tired
Not necessarily riding but:
- walking into a pub and smelling the sweet smell of on open fire, and hearing a few cracks and pops from the logs.

mark wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:20 pm In no particular order -

Walking a bike onto a calmac ferry, any journey that includes a ferry trip is always an adventure.

The smell of a forest on a wet morning, even better if there's also some low lying mist

I've only done once but taking a bike on a ferry/boat seemed like a 'proper' outing, not sure why but it sure does. Also like starting walks from boats too Maybe I've been influenced too many times in American/Canadian adventur films

That smell too, yes it the little things in life that make it so grand

Standing quietly amongst the trees in full stealth mode and watching someone walk by completely unaware of your presence ... then wondering how many people have stood quietly amongst the trees and watched you have a wild one while all the time you believed you were entirely on your own

mark wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:20 pm In no particular order -

Walking a bike onto a calmac ferry, any journey that includes a ferry trip is always an adventure.

Massive +1 to a wee ferry trip. I'd also include trains. There's something great about setting off (bike or hike) leaving cars and vans behind with only your own leg power to get you home.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:48 pm Standing quietly amongst the trees in full stealth mode and watching someone walk by completely unaware of your presence ... then wondering how many people have stood quietly amongst the trees and watched you have a wild one while all the time you believed you were entirely on your own

That's the last time I wild camp in mid Wales

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 6:39 pm

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:48 pm Standing quietly amongst the trees in full stealth mode and watching someone walk by completely unaware of your presence ... then wondering how many people have stood quietly amongst the trees and watched you have a wild one while all the time you believed you were entirely on your own

That's the last time I wild camp in mid Wales

I'm just grappling with who's where in Stu's scenario. I think there's a 100m-circumference circle of 20 people, all having a wee, all looking clockwise, seeing the next person 5m ahead of them whilst believing nobody can see them, but in fact being seen by the person 5m behind them.....

Please stop

And you thought werewolves were the worst thing in Hafren .

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:48 pm Standing quietly amongst the trees in full stealth mode and watching someone walk by completely unaware of your presence ... then wondering how many people have stood quietly amongst the trees and watched you have a wild one while all the time you believed you were entirely on your own

My grandad worked on the gangs that put the first telegraph poles up to bring the telephone to remote parts of the UK. They used to camp wild in the stretches between the towns and villages. He was fond of telling a story about when one of the gang went off into the bushes for a crap. My grandad crept silently up behind him with a shovel and slid it under his arse to catch the turd, then silently removed the shovel before the guy saw it. When the guy stood up and pulled up his trousers he just about went demented trying to find where his crap had gone, while my grandad and his pals tried their best not to laugh from the bushes. Apparently he was really spooked by it, but none of them ever let on.
Eeee, they made their own entertainment back then.

Climbing into my sleeping bag and eating dinner at the end of the day

First coffee of the day , still in my bag, contemplating the day ahead

Generally just being in the tent somewhere

Collecting the bike in the airport and finding it still in one piece, or rather the correct number pieces.

Most wildlife encounters ( seeing a wolf run through the forest -good, being charged by a moose - not good)

Finding a beer left in a bothy

Completing a route I thought was beyond my capabilities

Borderer wrote:

Superb story that one B!

I've squirrelled it away ready for my next group-BaM .

Borderer wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 9:08 pm

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:48 pm Standing quietly amongst the trees in full stealth mode and watching someone walk by completely unaware of your presence ... then wondering how many people have stood quietly amongst the trees and watched you have a wild one while all the time you believed you were entirely on your own

My grandad worked on the gangs that put the first telegraph poles up to bring the telephone to remote parts of the UK. They used to camp wild in the stretches between the towns and villages. He was fond of telling a story about when one of the gang went off into the bushes for a crap. My grandad crept silently up behind him with a shovel and slid it under his arse to catch the turd, then silently removing the shovel before the guy saw it. When the guy stood up and pulled up his trousers he just about went demented trying to find where his crap had gone, while my grandad and his pals tried their best not to laugh from the bushes. Apparently he was really spooked by it, but none of them ever let on.
Eeee, they made their own entertainment back then.

We used to do that down the pit as well. It worked all the better because of the darkness down there.

I won't recount the Mexican Sunrise prank that was also done in case anyone is eating.

For me, as a newcomer to all this, it's the moment when your anxiety on leaving home becomes calm confidence in your ability to carry on regardless. Usually happenes about 2hrs into the trip when I stop to make my first brew. It's like the point of no return where if you've forgotten anything you'll just make do. Then you stop thinking and start letting the adventure wash over you.

rollindoughnut wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 11:06 am point of no return where if you've forgotten anything you'll just make do. Then you stop thinking and start letting the adventure wash over you.

Unless it's the doughnuts you've forgotten in which case all hell breaks loose .

Getting out of cold, wet riding gear into dry sleeping gear/bag and feeling it warm up.

Borderer wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 9:08 pm My grandad worked on the gangs that put the first telegraph poles up to bring the telephone to remote parts of the UK. They used to camp wild in the stretches between the towns and villages. He was fond of telling a story about when one of the gang went off into the bushes for a crap. My grandad crept silently up behind him with a shovel and slid it under his arse to catch the turd, then silently removed the shovel before the guy saw it. When the guy stood up and pulled up his trousers he just about went demented trying to find where his crap had gone, while my grandad and his pals tried their best not to laugh from the bushes. Apparently he was really spooked by it, but none of them ever let on.
Eeee, they made their own entertainment back then.

Thanks for that. I haven’t had a good laugh like that for ages.

I really like when riding through the night, coming out of a long stretch of very quiet dark lanes into a small town that is lit but deserted. Having 5 minutes or so of seeing civilisation a different way to normal and with different eyes, then blasting out the other side back into the dark lanes.