Why do you do it?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm sure everyone has their own reasons why they bikepack, bivvy, ride miles to sleep in a hedge, etc ... so what are the reasons? I'm starting to wonder if we all might have a collective character defect, seeing as the vast majority of the mountain biking population just don't seem to get the attraction

Is it an escape?
An opportunity to test yourself?
An excuse to buy loads of stuff?
To be at one with nature or some other hippy dip-sub standard reason?

So go on, why do you do it and what makes it great?

[didnothingfatal]

Everything, I climbed mountains for years, and riding the bike was for fun. The climbing got more dangerous so I gave it up for someone, it's a selfish game anyway So wild camping fills a void, just escaping the misery of city banking (world's most bullshit job), the bike just allows you to go further, plus you can take gear geekery to a fantastic level, ultralight gear always had me, I'm lazy and don't want to haul heavy stuff around! Always want to kit my friends daughter out when she does DoE, her friends dying under 75l Berghaus packs, I think she'd be ok with 30l OMM!
Combined with a desire to do someting challenging, a friend ran an ultra, and I'll never have the patience to run that far, but biking ............
As for hippy dippy sub standard, well only when seeking the purity of the single speed or moving fast in minimalistic barefoot shoes, the purity of the experince man

[Bearbonesnorm]

Hope Matt won't mind me lifting this but I think it possibly sums things up for a lot of people.


Think of it this way.....

Most people in the UK, for 365 days a year, sleep in a house under roof in total comfort cosseted from the outside world.

To sleep outside, to see the stars, clouds, moon. To experience the sun going down and coming up, to feel the cold, to be acutely aware of the weather is something very good indeed.

To wake up instinctively because you heard an an animal nearby or because the clear sky and stars you fell asleep under is now dropping water onto your face.

I ride my bike on my time it’s my escape from work and the everyday. I can clear my head, relax, see places buy most importantly I enjoy it. To extend this to biving takes the escape, experience and enjoyment a step further.

To sleep out on some remote Welsh hillside is confirmation that I can cope without my laptop and mobile and that I can stick everything I need on my bike and have a comfortable night in places a lot of people wouldn’t / couldn’t cope with. There's a bit of primeval engineering still in us all and it's good to realise and pander to this every once in a while.

In reality I have more things than I need, (although I am a bit of a gear freak / still a man after all) but I am also more stressed. My life is overworked and time poor.

The alarm company on our offices have my mobile so they can ring me 24/7 and I can’t ever switch it off. I have lots and yet I have less.

So as my time is precious and more elusive one of the best ways of liberating myself from this despotism is to go beyond its reach.

This is the attraction of a bivvy bag, to get to the end of a ride, to have nothing to do apart from boil some water, eat some hot food, crawl into a bivvy bag, drink some whisky and sleep.

You can take a tent but it's only half the joy; if comfort was my primary reason I'd stay in a hotel.

So yes I 'bivi'

Written by, Matt.

[Matt]

I didn't write, that's another chap on another forum and he drinks at lunchtime..

I just like building dens

[valleydaddy]

well for me it echoes all of the above plus I like the basic adventure thrill that modern life excludes us from nowadays.

What is better than sitting in the beautiful countryside we are so lucky to have, alone, or with friends and savouring the sights and sounds of the wildnerness that is still left in the UK.

It reminds me of the camping trips my dad used to take me on as a kid and using his ex army gear and now using stuff that is probably a tenth of the weight.

I showed him my bivi kit the other week and he asked where was the rest of it, and as you know I dont travel that light - getting better though

So in reality it's getting out there, exploring, enjoying, excercising, energising, and making the most of the ability to do it. I am glad we are a select few who do as if every biker did it it I am sure it would be banned.