Cycle touring and/or night rides: what are the (your) defining feels?

[nikki]

The informed consent bit: contributions posted here might get regurgitated, reflected, refracted, defracted, smurshed into composites, mangled beyond recognition or otherwise find their way into something that I present in the public realm.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm at the early stages of a couple of art projects at the moment and my thinking could do with a bit of lubrication. *tumbleweed blows through the empty studio in the Fine Art department at $University*

I'm not quite sure what the questions I want to scratch at are yet, so it's a bit undefined, but does anyone fancy sharing some thoughts about their experience of being in a body on a bike (or trike, or tandem or...)?

Two starting points:

[1] With an eventual focus on cycle touring, but needn't be constrained to this to start off with.
I'm exploring themes of effort, distance and connection. What are the physical and emotional manifestations of these for you when you're covering large distances by pedal power? (Whatever constitutes 'large distances' for you.)

What are the enjoyable things/sensations/emotions?
What are the less enjoyable things/sensations/emotions that get worked through and become achievements?
What are the things/sensations/emotions that are just plain grind?
What are the things/sensations/emotions that make us come back and do it again?


[2] With an eventual focus on portraying a (probably solo) ride into the night.
I'm exploring themes of wheeeeeeeeeee!F*CKYEAHwhoopwhoopwhoop!

[hellymedic]

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=94579.msg1955850#msg1955850   

[arabella]

My random thoughts +ve and -ve:

+riding dusk to dawn and the dawn chorus, feeling invincible
+I do it so I know that I am alive
-not too keen on grinding up hills, but they get mainly forgotten later in the general euphoria
-same old same old roads (I've done too many local DIYs)
-getting the dozies rather than a conveniently timed coffee: harder to keep going - the sleep vs progress debate
+sheer sense of achievement best felt on/after 400km+ rides
+random conversations with random strangers (non cycling), and with other riders
+shared purpose (finish the ride)
+I'd rather be on a rie getting damp than moping inside looking at the rain dribbling down the outside of the window

[nikki]

Thanks hellymedic; remind never to do an audax-related project 

Nice list arabella - thanks!

I've had the phrase "bowling along under the moon" in mind for a few years now, and have just tracked down the source:

The whiole pleasure of night riding for me resides in bowling along under a moonlit, starlit sky, when even urban views take on some kind of magic quality. 

Meanwhile, am trying to compile my own list, too!

[contango]

The informed consent bit: contributions posted here might get regurgitated, reflected, refracted, defracted, smurshed into composites, mangled beyond recognition or otherwise find their way into something that I present in the public realm.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm at the early stages of a couple of art projects at the moment and my thinking could do with a bit of lubrication. *tumbleweed blows through the empty studio in the Fine Art department at $University*

I'm not quite sure what the questions I want to scratch at are yet, so it's a bit undefined, but does anyone fancy sharing some thoughts about their experience of being in a body on a bike (or trike, or tandem or...)?

Two starting points:

[1] With an eventual focus on cycle touring, but needn't be constrained to this to start off with.
I'm exploring themes of effort, distance and connection. What are the physical and emotional manifestations of these for you when you're covering large distances by pedal power? (Whatever constitutes 'large distances' for you.)

What are the enjoyable things/sensations/emotions?
What are the less enjoyable things/sensations/emotions that get worked through and become achievements?
What are the things/sensations/emotions that are just plain grind?
What are the things/sensations/emotions that make us come back and do it again?

1.
Cresting a bastard great hill and knowing you get to freewheel for a while and get up some good speed.

The kind of road where you can see for miles across open farmland, where the road is straight and has a very gentle downhill gradient (the sort of road where you can ride 15-18mph almost effortlessly, rather than the sort of road where you freewheel to 45mph), and has no other traffic on it at all.

Making it to the top of a hill that crushed my soul and spirit last time, and having that sense of "there's a big hill around here somewhere, hang on, I think I just climbed it and barely noticed it"

Riding along country lanes in near pitch darkness with the only visible light coming from my handlebars. The sense of silence and solitude that it brings. The absolute terror brought on by seeing a man wielding an axe in the middle of the road (actually, forget that last one, I made it up....)

A beer and a hearty meal at the end of it.

A warm shower after a day of riding, whatever the conditions (doubly so if it's been cold and wet!)

Being able to take off and ride into the distance, knowing there is no point at which I have to figure I need to turn back so I can be home by a particular time. The great sense of freedom of knowing that for however many days my tour will last I'm all but completely free from the normal routine.

The sense of achievement at getting to major milestones, not least The End. I think of the time I cycled the Way Of The Roses with a couple of friends, and the huge sense of achievement when we rolled into Bridlington and rode down the seafront.

2.
Struggling up a bastard great hill, thinking you've almost defeated it only to find that it levels off before going up some more.

Not being able to enjoy the fast freewheel down the bastard great hill you just climbed because of tight bends/gravel/traffic/whatever.

Getting cold and wet and muddy when the road/trail seems to go on forever and ever, amen.

Realising that with 3 miles to go before the beer, hearty meal, warm shower and soft bed, 2.8 of those 3 miles are uphill and it's steep. (Yes, I laughed about it with the friend I was riding with, over the beer and the hearty meal)

3.
Relentless rain when it's cold (although sometimes that can drop into section (2).

Roads where you can't just largely tune out and ride, where you've got to constantly concentrate hard on all sorts of potential hazards.

Headwinds

4.

A general lack of sense?

Seriously, however much of a grind one ride is all it takes is the memory of one really good ride to hope that the next ride will be Good rather than Bad, or at least that the good will outweigh the bad.

[2] With an eventual focus on portraying a (probably solo) ride into the night.
I'm exploring themes of wheeeeeeeeeee!F*CKYEAHwhoopwhoopwhoop!

The home straight, the false flat roads with wonderful views where you're actually going slightly downhill and have a tailwind so you can do 18-20mph effortlessly while soaking in the best views the countryside has to offer.

[rafletcher]

1).  Mainly enjoying the environment. For example sitting by a wooded stream eating lunch, listening to the wind and wildlife. Coming upon the unexpected - a singular example I recall was reaching the plateau of the Causse Noir one late summer morning. A wide open space, slightly hazy sunshine as the mist burned off, cool air, warm sun and the absolute silence. Bliss.

2). Those times when you're just "getting somewhere" and the getting is hard graft, or uninteresting - long straight never-flat-always-undulating French roads for example.

3). Headwinds, especially hoy dry headwinds. No shade on hot days. (I don't really do heat lol, though warmth is good!). Cold rain.

4). Good memories. Sense of achievement. Freedom from routine.

I've never ridden at night 

[mrcharly-YHT]

Night rides; discovering a landscape at dawn. There is something really special about this, particularly if out in the country away from commuter traffic. During the night, the landscape becomes compressed to the road immediately in front, silhouettes against the sky, and (on group rides) lights weaving through the darkness. As the sun comes up, the silhouetted hills blur, develop colour and textures are revealed. What seemed empty suddenly fills; maybe a farm or group of cottages show themselves, copses of trees.

Travelling through towns and villages, past houses with people sleeping; sometimes it feels like the robin on christmas cards, peering in the windows at the families and their life.

[velosam]

I don't cycle tour and I still need to do a night ride, but in case its helpful

What are the enjoyable things/sensations/emotions?
1. Just the mere fact that I can balance and co-ordinate myself enough to be able to ride a bike
2. Being able to go faster than walking
3. The (in my case at least) sense of adventure and that in theory you could go anywhere
4. the ability to go much further in a shorter space of time in very different conditions - so a bit of road riding, off road etc


What are the less enjoyable things/sensations/emotions that get worked through and become achievements?

1. Managing to get up hills
2. Covering a longer distance/ faster time, when all I want to do is stop
3. Same old route over and over again.


What are the things/sensations/emotions that are just plain grind?

1. Drivers, peds and dogs

What are the things/sensations/emotions that make us come back and do it again?

1. Being afraid of not being able to do it again - losing ability/ fitness
2. Being healthy - probably the main reason after a scare last year
3. The  joy of it

[vorsprung]

To save you the bother of reading all the damn posts on my blog these are vaguely relevant thought pieces
https://audaxing.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/how-to-find-yourself-on-a-bike/
https://audaxing.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/night-riding/

And these are some ride stories featuring a bit of night
https://audaxing.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/scott-of-the-a5/
https://audaxing.wordpress.com/2010/07/29/mille-cymru-with-paul-and-toby/

I run an event called "Avalon Sunrise" which has as a highlight (heh) seeing the dawn at Glastonbury Tor at midsummer.  When IanH suggested I organise it so that that there was a late night start, I was dubious.  But then I test rode the route and it's the best way to see those roads.
https://audaxing.wordpress.com/tag/avalon-sunrise

[Kim]

I went away and had a think about this, but didn't come up with anything clever, so I'll just wing it...

[1] With an eventual focus on cycle touring, but needn't be constrained to this to start off with.
I'm exploring themes of effort, distance and connection. What are the physical and emotional manifestations of these for you when you're covering large distances by pedal power? (Whatever constitutes 'large distances' for you.)

What are the enjoyable things/sensations/emotions?

I like exploring, turning maps into reality and reality into maps.  Seeing (and smelling) new things and watching familiar things evolve.

I like riding a bike.  There's the simple pleasure of machinery working well, obviously, but cycling is more than that.  As body hacks go, it's utterly brilliant, and enables me to go to places and do things I never could on foot.

So mostly it's about trundling along and seeing what's round the next corner, but every cycling achievement comes with a bonus 'up yours' to the flaky lungs and dodgy knee, and the bastards who caused them.

What are the less enjoyable things/sensations/emotions that get worked through and become achievements?

Climbs when you're not in the mood to enjoy them.  Particularly epic weather.  Mechanicals, accidents and injuries that are miserable at the time, but might make a good story later.  Occasionally motorised entanglements, assaults and abuse need to be worked through, but that rarely feels like an achievement.

Birmingham miles count double, as least psychologically.  While I don't actually mind urban riding, under some conditions it's just not fun, and I find that non-transport winter miles that are by necessity on boring roads not too far from civilisation soon become Work.  The payback for winter slog is more fitness than achievement, except where it contributes to the completion of some goal.

What are the things/sensations/emotions that are just plain grind?

Food.  Pain.  Lack of fitness when it impedes on doing things you could do previously.  Unfortunately timed illness.

Having to put unexpected effort in meet a deadline, resulting in a negative fun coefficient.

Crap weather or mental health that stops you leaving the house doesn't actually qualify, but deserves honourable mention.

What are the things/sensations/emotions that make us come back and do it again?

Curiosity, masochism, habit.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Scents, particularly plant scents, can be much more distinct at night.

I like to stop in a dark, quiet lane, switch off my lights and wait, watching and hearing.

[Kim]

The astronomy can be a lot more interesting at night, also.  Best to get off the bike before staring at the sky for long periods.

[mike]

I'm with cudzo on the smells at night, they always seem amazingly strong compared to daylight.  And the little pockets of much colder air you sometimes hit.

But for me, the biggest buzz of night riding is feeling like you're doing something slightly naughty - when you ride through a village full of houses all with no lights on, or go past a pub near last orders and there are only a few people left in it, and you know your mum would worry and say you should be in bed... that's the best bit for me.  (I appreciate that might sound like I'm 13.  Am 44 ¹/₄)

[Kim]

It's definitely naughty^[1] when you get to that bit just after dawn and people think you're dead keen and virtuous for getting up at audax o'clock to do exercise, when you've actually been having fun and just haven't gone to bed yet...


_{[1] This statement may contain lies or traces of lies.}

[Wowbagger]

I'm with cudzo on the smells at night, they always seem amazingly strong compared to daylight.  And the little pockets of much colder air you sometimes hit.

But for me, the biggest buzz of night riding is feeling like you're doing something slightly naughty - when you ride through a village full of houses all with no lights on, or go past a pub near last orders and there are only a few people left in it, and you know your mum would worry and say you should be in bed... that's the best bit for me.  (I appreciate that might sound like I'm 13.  Am 44 ¹/₄)

This was what I was referring to when, on the Dun Run with Nutkin on the back of the tandem some years ago, I referred to it "bringing out the prowler in me". She relied "I don't think I want to ride with you any more!" Fortunately she was joking and we have had some lovely rides since.

I'll b back when I've got a bit more time.

[Jurek]

Nikki,
I've posted the words below, here, there and other places before.
Feel free to use all, some or none if they help.
(I think it was Nutty who asked the question)



Night rides, why?

The lack of traffic.
The ability to ride four abreast.
The silence.
The night time noises.
The smells.
The temperature changes.
The white line and the silhouettes flashing past.
The camaraderie.
The feeling that at that time the world is yours.

Love it.

[perpetual dan]

[1] With an eventual focus on cycle touring, but needn't be constrained to this to start off with.
I'm exploring themes of effort, distance and connection. What are the physical and emotional manifestations of these for you when you're covering large distances by pedal power? (Whatever constitutes 'large distances' for you.)

What are the enjoyable things/sensations/emotions?

Big open vistas, spotting animals and birds.
Long gentle downhills, maybe a little swoop to them.
Finding a new road that's like either of those two things.
Feeling warm but knowing it is cold.
The sense of not really thinking about anything much, for a change.
Finding photos to be made.


What are the less enjoyable things/sensations/emotions that get worked through and become achievements?

Getting up a hill I wasn't able to get up before (without stopping). But it's a while since I did that.
Getting there despite tiredness, cramp (on one New Forest 200), foul weather; becomes an achievement when the ride is over.


What are the things/sensations/emotions that are just plain grind?

Headwinds.
Punctures.
Being unable to ride to work without getting sweaty - the ride is nice enough, but the faff takes the edge off it.
Traffic.

What are the things/sensations/emotions that make us come back and do it again?

Recapturing all of the first two lots of stuff.

Not so much night riding for me, but the moon on the sea and a tunnel of light on a quiet lane.

[nikki]

Nice descriptions, folks - thank you for all the contributions so far (and in advance for those still pondering). My thinkings moved on a bit today, and this thread helped a lot 

Here's a list I wrote yesterday for me and my enjoyable things about cycle touring:

• Feeling the air
• Smelling the place (not sealed in a carcoon)
• Conversations and encounters with strangers
• The view from the top
• Making camp
• Wheeeeeee!
• Corners (that bit where you go a tiny bit right to turn left, especially when going downhill - that feeling never gets old)
• Owning the road
• Horizons!
• Making the country smaller using your own power
• Being in all my senses
• Constant alertness
• No screens
• Momentum rolling you along the track into the campsite
• Becoming absorbed into the rhythm of body + machine
• The 5 minutes sit down before emptying the panniers and putting up your home for the night
• Seeing new things/places. This place.
• Silly adventures (Comedy Off Road etc) and stories to tell

Enjoying the resonances with what others have written!

[contango]

Another thought about cycling in general is that once you get into riding longer distances you start to realise just how close everything is.

When I lived in London and wanted to visit a family member near Salisbury I spent ages looking at maps, Street View etc trying to get a route that avoided the major roads but also avoided the kind of bridlepath that consisted of two inches of water over six inches of wet mud. And then I rode it, about 80-odd miles. Which at the time felt like a huge achievement, given that along the way I battled with all sorts of cramping issues largely caused by not drinking enough water.

Once I'd done my first 200 and got to thinking about a 300 I was trying to figure a route to cover the appropriate distance, given the logistical hassles of driving to the start of a 300 by silly-o-clock, driving back from the 300 in a state of near exhaustion and leaving my wife without transport while I was gone. It was remarkable to realise just how many places are within cycling distance if you can cover that kind of distance. Realising that London (my part of SW London anyway) to Reading is barely 30 miles, London to Newport is under 200 miles even taking the scenic route, London to Bournemouth is barely over 100 miles, London to Brighton is about 60 miles, the country does seem so much smaller.

And then I moved to the US where my part of Pennsylvania to the west coast is about 2500 miles and the Rocky Mountains are in the way.

[jane]

These thoughts below are about touring.  Night riding brings a whole different set of feelings and ideas..and different also depending on whether you're riding alone or in a group. 

I have to admit that for me cycle touring is quite a selfish thing.  I generally tour alone (apart from the fifteen years or so when I had my daughter with me) and enjoy the freedom to be alone, to do and go exactly where and when I want, to make decisions and take risks without worrying about the effects of both on anyone else.  It's almost an abdication of responsibility for anyone but myself.

I also love the relative freedom from "stuff" that cycle touring, especially with a small tent gives me.  I can survive in relative comfort for several weeks with my bike and what I can carry on it (plus enough cash of course, to fund food and a bit of entertainment now and again).

I enjoy the connection with place that riding through it brings...I never feel that places I move through in a car are real...it feels like watching a film or TV.  I rarely travel by car, though. On a bike it's different, you are definitely in it and almost part of it.  Every change in land surface, every gradient, every variation in the weather you feel immediately and you have to respond to those changes in some way. I guess some folks would say that makes you feel more alive.

There is something incredibly exhilarating and yet truly relaxing at the same time about getting to the end of a particularly hard days riding, pitching the tent, brewing a cuppa and just stopping! Either laying inside the tent and dropping off to sleep there if the weather's bad.  Or sitting outside, and drifting off to sleep under the stars.

Finding a wild camp space that turns out to be perfect!  That's a great feeling. 
Coming home.  Which kind of dovetails the whole experience, fits it all together, out of the city, weeks in a different life almost, then back.  Something I always love, touring in these islands, is getting up in the morning, breaking camp in what feels like a wilderness, riding through mountain valleys to a tiny train station, and after that train journey riding across Waterloo Bridge on my way home.

Things I don't enjoy...getting stuck on long straight roads through flat lands
Finding a wild camp spot that you think is fine and then turns out to be terrible.  Especially when the discovery comes at 3am in the middle of a massive storm.
Long straight roads on false downhills that are actually rising.
Homesickness.  I haven't done a really long trip for many years, but did get this a couple of times, years ago.  And if at the time it had been possible for me to turn round and go home straightaway, I would have done. A very powerful, physical feeling.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not only does night riding feel naughty, it allows you to do naughty things in a way you wouldn't otherwise get away with. I remember Andyoxon, who seems such a sensible chap, riding the wrong way round a roundabout on Roger's FNRttS, just because he could.

[Ruthie]

I've had moments on the loaded bike, in the middle of nowhere, when I've been by myself for a bit, when I've felt the most fulfilled I ever have in my life.  Like, I've achieved the purpose of me being on the planet sort of fulfilled.

[LEE]

I've had moments on the loaded bike, in the middle of nowhere, when I've been by myself for a bit, when I've felt the most fulfilled I ever have in my life.  Like, I've achieved the purpose of me being on the planet sort of fulfilled.

Agreed.

I love riding with others but there's a real, selfish, luxury about being on your own, out in the wilds, riding at precisely the right pace for you and stopping as and when you like.

On my own I interact more with the locals, more so in France when it's all too easy to become isolated from them in your British group.

Another shameless link to my Perfect ride home <<< which captures one of my cycling high-points, a 2 day solo ride back from PBP, to England.  I've been watching it a lot recently.
The ride down, with the Pompeys and Derby Mercury club was utterly fantastic in a different way.

As for touring with a full camping load I love that just as much, mainly for the way that luggage forces you to adopt a relaxed pace, to sit up and take in the views. 
There really isn't any point in pushing any harder, my fully loaded Thorn just ain't going any faster.

I've always treated cycling as by far the best way to move between Cafes and Bars.

[madcow]

I seemed to think that night riding had been covered somewhere else on here but perhaps not.
Like everyone else, I find that the absence of traffic , noise and light makes sensations much sharper at night. It is very difficult to define and explain but there is something so odd about it that it feels wrong yet is also so right.
It's just that so many cyclists are not willing to try it that makes it seem such an exclusive club, almost a dirty little secret if you wish.

Touring , for me means escape from the tyranny of the car(I drive 20,000 miles a year) .
Where do you park, where is the next refuelling stop and that constant need to eat despite the fact that you are not doing anything.
The bike is the opposite-stop where you like , look at the view, the birds, the activity around you. Smell the trees/grass/ animals whatever. Hear- the birds, streams,the wind etc. In a car you are deaf.
And then look on the map to see just how far you have travelled and imagine tomorrows ride.
I think many of us enjoy cycletouring because it takes us out of the car bound majority and gives us something that the car driver can never experience .
The sort of joy of travelling that sold the idea of the motor car but never delivered.

[nikki]

~~~  Time passes, one thing leads to another, and Art happens  ~~~

Elsewhere, madcow has reminded me of this thread and I feel I should report back...

The line of enquiry about effort, distance and connection turned into a project called "Orrery for Landscape, Sinew and Serendipity". Sort of taking a critique of dot-watching as a starting point for asking what happens if we instead follow along with something that tries to speak more to the moment to moment effort and bodily experiences taking place on the bike.

Part of the furniture with moving bits of stuff rather than a marker on a map on a screen:




Night ride mode:




Riding into the sunrise mode:




Metronome for the miles:




Headwind-o-meter:


(Also does a sideline in indicating main roads or switchbacks)


wheeeeeeeeeee!F*CKYEAHwhoopwhoopwhoop!:




Ravens for bastard hills, memories and freedom:






Team YACF credits:
Kim - electronics, networking and controlling the sun
barakta - provision of cups of tea glasses of orange juice
Mikelcu - database wrangling
jezhiggins - mobile app
Probably by this stage you'll also recognise how much this thread fed into things, so thanks to all you too!


Since building the Orrery, I've been using it as an excuse for having interesting conversations with people.
Round One: Emily Chappell, Hannah Nicklin and Tina Tylen (Kajsa's mum).

There are threads from those conversations woven together here:
https://soundcloud.com/nikkipugh/orrey-for-landscape-sinew-and-serendipity
(originally produced to accompany the Orrery in an exhibition)


What I want to do now is move away from thinking about the sorts of situations that are already well-served by current dot-watching and tracking technologies, and ask what different stories the Orrery can help make visible. I'm discovering this is quite hard! Probably the best example I've been able to come up with so far is of a parent stood at the window watching their child wobble off to big school for the first time. Y'know, that thing about there being someone riding the bike but there also being someone remaining at home to be mindful of the journey from a distance.

hmmm, still working on how I articulate that bit. Anyway, let me know if you have any suggestions for different situations!