Long Evenings

In less than two weeks the days will be getting shorter!!

Enjoy them when we can. A surprising number of people on Blacka Moor in the evening are on bikes.

The cyclists nearing the Seven Trees just visible in the above picture illustrate the image a salesman of mountain bikes would like to project. Idyllic scene on long summer evening, healthy outdoor exercise. In a better picture it could sell a few bikes. To me it's another part of modern life I can't quite understand. If I wanted to go out into the countryside and enjoy wilder places, why would I bother to take a bike with me? It restricts your freedom rather than adding to it. And nearly always you have to do some riding on main roads to get to where you want to be.

I've talked with cyclists who've agreed with me and others who've been very defensive. They (the latter) say it's just the same as walking; that's what you like to do and this is what we like to do. But it's not really. The typical cyclist I've come across will want to ride his bike first and look for some suitable place to do it afterwards.

To me as a walker the place I go to is the be all and end all; I'm not doing it for the pleasure of the means of propulsion being an end in itself, nice though it is to be in decent surroundings and away from noisy roads. I don't spend hours looking through magazines showing pictures of walking boots and other gear - there may be some who do, but I don't know any. And there's the question of speed. For me slowness is a distinct advantage because it enables me to see more and think more about what I see, as well as taking detours off the paths to investigate. But then I'm odd.