Does Adventure cycling exist nowadays
I think it's long gone,
What an utterly depressing thought. And on the Touring & Adventure Forum!
We carry all the information on the phone, navigation to get anywhere. Garmin wahoo etc with Komoot and other apps to guide you from A to B.
Having access to the information is not the same as using it. Having the comfort of knowing there's a vast pile of info a few finger taps away can give some of us the courage to spread our wings further. We may not even use it when we get there but it's that support that gets us out.
(Let's not forget that the same tech can play a huge part in calming the fears of loved ones at home).
Ironically, if ever there was a navigation app to regularly throw up "Adventure" it's Komoot - and I don't mean that in a positive way.
The only hiccup is the weather
Only hiccup?
Only hiccup?
I admire your positive outlook!
What about mechanicals? A global pandemic? Closed borders? Terrorist attacks? A robbery? An accident? Dog attacks? Or bear ones? There's no shortage of folk who headed off on a bike, met their soulmate and totally changed their plans. Is that a hiccup?
Colin Mortlock's book Beyond Adventure, "Mortlock, C. (2001) Beyond Adventure. Reflections from the wilderness: an inner journey."
I feel by saying that there is no more adventure cycling, that you are making a value judgement based on what you see from the outside, rather than what the individual themselves is experiencing on the trip.
That's a very thoughtful reply Chris and a book I'll check out. Thanks for mentioning it.
Labelling is not something I'm comfortable with, although I can see its uses at times but I definitely agree with the overall observations.
Even the most mundane trip can turn into an adventure if you're not properly prepared.
I'd rarely, if ever, suggest for someone to head off without being prepared. There's a difference between
levels of preparation and also preparation can be unbalanced.
In the end it boils down to just you and the bike, and what you do with it.
That saved me from a whole lot of typing! 100% agree.
As @chriswoody suggests, it's a state of mind as much as anything else.
Full agreement here. The "head" side of things, though, is something that can often be overlooked in preparations.
Adventure cycling is not having a pre made plan, just a map and today a credit card.
No plan? How does one decide what map to get/use without even the most basic plan?
If you want a discussion on the merits or otherwise of the degree of planning then fair enough.
But laying down the law on what is, or is not, "Adventure Cycling" isn't a good look.
Not carrying a phone would give a real meaning to Adventure cycling.
It might. But any issues with that credit card you're carrying is going to be a whole world of hassle without a phone.
There's the security and comfort it can give to friends and family left behind.
Judging by your posts on here carrying a phone is something you do, no?
Years ago it was not a problem finding accomodation if a b&bb / hotel/ hostel was full.
I'm thinking there's some rose tinted viewing taking place.
The world is a very small place today.
Yes. Smaller than it was 10, 20, 50, 100 years ago.
So?
If it feels like an adventure it is an adventure.
That's pretty much it!
Yes it's an epic ride but nothing compared to the China- home rides people done 20 years ago
Nothing? A bike ride from China is nothing? Jeez, tough crowd.
told us it's a must do as China is changing fast.
About the only thing I can agree with. The world is always changing. If we want to see a place as we think we know it, the sooner the better.
My Daughter thinks that every bike ride is an adventure, especially when there's a chance of finding a new playground in a new town, Horses, or she can make a hiding place in the forest.
Tapping in to our inner child is no bad thing. At all.
There's a moving little anecdote in Jenny Graham's account "First Coffee, then the world". A very accomplished cyclist and adventurer, she's at the starting line of her attempt to cycle around the world faster than any woman (and lots of men) before, totally unsupported but there's a young fella there to join her on his first big adventure - a 100km ride to visit his Grandfather.
The scales of the "adventure" facing both might be worlds apart but his attempt is recognised and remembered by her for what it is - to him - and features in a great book.
Written several years after she completed her quest - and broke the record - I find it very heartening that this little story made it to the final book.
Adventure is what's between our ears and beating in our chest.
Feck the begrudgers.
