In praise of the pootle

[ChrisEyles]

I've tried my hand at quite a few different kinds of cycling over the last few years. Started out with long-ish, fast-ish road rides, then discovered MTB'ing and started pushing my boundaries at that too (until a few nasty crashes made me promise to Mrs Chris to reign it in a bit!).

But over the last year my favourite rides have been the ones where I've made up a packed lunch, taken a thermos flask and an OS map (sometimes even a pair of bin's for some en-route birding) and pootled through the local back lanes and bridleways.

There's something very nice indeed about a lower distance and pace ride where you can take your time and smell the roses.

Here're some pics from today's pootle, a couple of hours up and down the Exe valley

 

[ChrisEyles]

How many fellow pootlers have we got on CC then?

 

[Randomnerd]

Well pootled, that man. I’ve been known to pootle, and I intend to do it again. Has to be low intensity riding, so one can stop and draw or jot down a few lines of verse. Wouldn’t want to drip sweat on the jotter and have the sepia ink run willy nilly. I’m hoping we have a Merseyside pootler, so we can find out what it’s like to pootle round Bootle. Don’t think I dare log off....

 

[MichaelW2]

My fav type of riding too. I think more beginners would be well served by a pootle than a "challinge" which results in some money raised and an "I'll never get on a bike again" style of comment.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Pootling is great. So is pushing on at times. I try to do both.

A great way to pootle is to dream up a point to the ride e.g. how many thatched roofs can I spot, or visit that church you've passed many a time but not gone in. I also pootle by doing some shopping - I get my milk (unpasteurised) from a farm about 20 miles away and flour even further away than that.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

In fact, I'd go as far to say that, unless you pootle at times, then, within a couple of years, you'll end up not enjoying your cycling.

 

[Bobby Mhor]

Everywhere you've been there is a bike lying on the side of the road...phew!

Nothing wrong with a pootle, I do regularly..
If you want something to do whilst pootling, see this thread HERE, join us

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

Pootling on a bike should become a (inter)national pastime.

Every ride is a pootle round for me. I always plan my routes, but take my time taking in the view and enjoying the journey rather than being in a rush to get to my destination.

 

[welsh dragon]

Nice photos. Pootling should be compulsory for everyone. Pootling is all that i do. There is nothing better IMHO.

 

[biggs682]

How many fellow pootlers have we got on CC then?

I am quite happy to be called a pootler , as i enjoy just stopping where i want for a quick picture or snoop around , must admit most of my rides are sub 50 milers done early in the day ie 5.30 am and hitting the tarmac . It really is the best time of the day for riding as less traffic and people about to get in the way .

 

[Jason]

also a pootler on occasion. Nothing better than riding with no set route or destination (other than eventually home). The most enjoyable rides have been without the Garmin, and my constant looking at it for speed/distance covered.
finding a hidden cafe or pit stop is easier than taking a packed lunch imo

 

[hoopdriver]

I am an old hand at pootling, and have logged many thousands of miles at pootle speed with my camera and tripod in my saddle bag, stopping to admire views and set up shots, pick blackberries in season, turn down unknown leafy lanes on a whim, and generally stepping back into an older, slower gentler world where miles mean something and sixty or seventy of them might represent a full day’s travel.

 

[Tizme]

First ride of the year and definitely a pootle, 26 miles at an average speed of 11.2mph
Stopped several times to take some photos and to watch two buzzards just the other side of the hedge (they flew off as I went to get my camera out!) So many things to see, all missed from a car. I was glad I was on the Vagabond as the roads were completely waterlogged in places. I used the Cycle.travel website to come up with a circular ride of around 25 miles as I tend to end up going on the same routes, usually incorporating the climb up to Alfreds Tower at Stourhead because I always want to check that I can still do it, it only beat me the first time I did it!

 

[BSOh]

Nice photos. Pootling should be compulsory for everyone. Pootling is all that i do. There is nothing better IMHO.

Agreed! Its all I do too

 

[ChrisEyles]

also a pootler on occasion. Nothing better than riding with no set route or destination (other than eventually home). The most enjoyable rides have been without the Garmin, and my constant looking at it for speed/distance covered.
finding a hidden cafe or pit stop is easier than taking a packed lunch imo

I am an old hand at pootling, and have logged many thousands of miles at pootle speed with my camera and tripod in my saddle bag, stopping to admire views and set up shots, pick blackberries in season, turn down unknown leafy lanes on a whim, and generally stepping back into an older, slower gentler world where miles mean something and sixty or seventy of them might represent a full day’s travel.

Agreed, there's nothing like exploring those inviting lanes and back roads, getting a bit lost, getting the OS map out, then trying to navigate back by road signs (on which country "miles" can seem a lot longer than they should be!)... much better than mentally calculating what your average speed is the whole way around!