I have it down pat what routes will take me from point A to point B and how long it will take including pit stops to arrive at a given trailhead at a set time. My vehicle has traveled them enough that my husband jokes I could just use autopilot and we’d get there.
How often have I risen early, often before the sun, to hit the road and travel miles to a trailhead to begin a hike to some special spot and soak in the surroundings? As I zip along to and from the trailhead I try to soak in the scenery along the road but know that so much is unseen.
Take away the destination and the roof and this hiker is on two wheels!!
It has been many moons since I rode a motorcycle. My husband had one when we met and through the years has had many but it’s not a family sport with 3 children so we found other forms of recreation. Hiking became the top spot for many years. But the children are grown and on their own and my husband’s dormant love for bikes was reawakening. But could I ride again?
On a perfect spring day, the flowers were scenting the air, the birds were busy and life just seemed beautiful as I warmed up in the sun after a long cold winter. Happy thoughts filled my day. But as evening set in the phone rang... my youngest sister was dead. She too was enjoying the perfect spring day with her husband on an afternoon ride, something they enjoyed very much and it ended tragically. Years have passed since but I couldn’t see myself ever riding a motorcycle again. My husband understood and never pushed it instead seemingly satisfied to tinker and restore older bikes and cars.
Then recently on a sunny day I told him I thought I might be ready to ride again. We took it short and easy as he got used to carrying a passenger again and I renewed the understanding of lean!!
We drove some back roads and checked out some trailheads, did some bike/hiking and generally figuring out what to take and what to leave behind. We lengthened the rides and now were ready for an overnight trip. It definitely saves on gas money!
This was more of a road trip but I brought my trail shoes to take in some of those short trips that will often get passed over in favor of something longer and higher. We had no destination but to have fun and see things from a different perspective. When a hawk flies over your head you see the claws. When the rain falls it’s not unlike standing on a 4K in 60 mph wind. We meandered through the back roads out of NH and into ME winding north up through the mountains naming off what I could, seeing places I had been and more places to go. Looping back through northern NH towards VT and then south through VT making a full circle of so many peaks we hikers flock to and seeing them from different angles. I must learn to take more pictures but they are there in my mind. Like popular trails the main roads are full of summer traffic but back roads are like those trails less used, quiet and peaceful. Farmlands, old towns, rivers and waterfalls, distant views and quiet parks all have their charm. Oddities are here and there. We stop from time to time to stretch, climb to a viewpoint, drop down to a river bed and enjoy the flow.
It’s an adventure similar to and different from hiking. How so?
Packing – like my backpack I pack taking only what we need, and put what I need to get to within easy access.
Layers- I work with layers but differently, taking them off on stops rather than putting them on. It’s funny to be dressed like winter when you pass people in shorts and tank tops.
Food and drink – I found I need to always have some with us because on the back roads it can be a long time before you can find something.
Rain gear – It gets fully tested for high wind and downpours. Getting them on quick is a skilled learned on the trail and entertaining for sure to those under the cover of a gas station overhang. I find a certain joy hiking in the rain – but I have nothing nice to say about riding in the rain.
Map and compass are invaluable.
I’m sore at the end of day but it’s not the feet that hurt
How often have I risen early, often before the sun, to hit the road and travel miles to a trailhead to begin a hike to some special spot and soak in the surroundings? As I zip along to and from the trailhead I try to soak in the scenery along the road but know that so much is unseen.
Take away the destination and the roof and this hiker is on two wheels!!
It has been many moons since I rode a motorcycle. My husband had one when we met and through the years has had many but it’s not a family sport with 3 children so we found other forms of recreation. Hiking became the top spot for many years. But the children are grown and on their own and my husband’s dormant love for bikes was reawakening. But could I ride again?
On a perfect spring day, the flowers were scenting the air, the birds were busy and life just seemed beautiful as I warmed up in the sun after a long cold winter. Happy thoughts filled my day. But as evening set in the phone rang... my youngest sister was dead. She too was enjoying the perfect spring day with her husband on an afternoon ride, something they enjoyed very much and it ended tragically. Years have passed since but I couldn’t see myself ever riding a motorcycle again. My husband understood and never pushed it instead seemingly satisfied to tinker and restore older bikes and cars.
Then recently on a sunny day I told him I thought I might be ready to ride again. We took it short and easy as he got used to carrying a passenger again and I renewed the understanding of lean!!
We drove some back roads and checked out some trailheads, did some bike/hiking and generally figuring out what to take and what to leave behind. We lengthened the rides and now were ready for an overnight trip. It definitely saves on gas money!
This was more of a road trip but I brought my trail shoes to take in some of those short trips that will often get passed over in favor of something longer and higher. We had no destination but to have fun and see things from a different perspective. When a hawk flies over your head you see the claws. When the rain falls it’s not unlike standing on a 4K in 60 mph wind. We meandered through the back roads out of NH and into ME winding north up through the mountains naming off what I could, seeing places I had been and more places to go. Looping back through northern NH towards VT and then south through VT making a full circle of so many peaks we hikers flock to and seeing them from different angles. I must learn to take more pictures but they are there in my mind. Like popular trails the main roads are full of summer traffic but back roads are like those trails less used, quiet and peaceful. Farmlands, old towns, rivers and waterfalls, distant views and quiet parks all have their charm. Oddities are here and there. We stop from time to time to stretch, climb to a viewpoint, drop down to a river bed and enjoy the flow.
It’s an adventure similar to and different from hiking. How so?
Packing – like my backpack I pack taking only what we need, and put what I need to get to within easy access.
Layers- I work with layers but differently, taking them off on stops rather than putting them on. It’s funny to be dressed like winter when you pass people in shorts and tank tops.
Food and drink – I found I need to always have some with us because on the back roads it can be a long time before you can find something.
Rain gear – It gets fully tested for high wind and downpours. Getting them on quick is a skilled learned on the trail and entertaining for sure to those under the cover of a gas station overhang. I find a certain joy hiking in the rain – but I have nothing nice to say about riding in the rain.
Map and compass are invaluable.
I’m sore at the end of day but it’s not the feet that hurt
