A Midweek Winter Microadventure

Winter is a slow time of year for me. I spend the cold & dark months saving my pennies, yearning for endless summer nights filled with warmth and adventure. I find it hard to stay motivated in winter & I find it easy to say no. The perpetual cold and dark weather makes it hard to drag myself out – but that doesn’t mean to say adventures completely stop. When conditions prevail, a midweek winter microadventure can be the perfect antidote to mind-numbing cabin fever.

As you may have read in previous posts, or heard from me in person, this summer I’m walking away from my job for 18 months. My plan is simple, to take my bike and fulfil a dream of exploring the world on my own terms. As it turns out, this isn’t the kind of adventure you can just ‘wing it’. Surprisingly, it isn’t quite as simple as just picking somewhere cool to ride and setting off – it requires a bit of thought and research… who knew? Some will argue it doesn’t. For me, I want to make the most of it & above all, stay safe. For that reason, I’m doing my homework!

What I’m eluding to here is the sheer amount of information available online or in publications inevitably yields one or two horror stories. I won’t detail them, but they certainly make you question why on earth you would attempt such a feat or travel to such places. Reading this it led to a bit of a wobble, making me question my motives… would it be safe, is it what I want? The inevitable ‘oh shit’ moment made me realise just how big an undertaking this is.

I never done anything like this before, I’ve never travelled to developing countries or areas in geopolitical conflict and I’ve never been away from home for more than a month. It got me questioning myself, am I ready for this? Truth be told, I’ll never be ready for this. But if the time isn’t now, when will it ever be?

I’ve been working a lot of overtime recently & saying no to a lot of things, purely to save some cash & fund this trip. Maybe tiredness & lack of adventure enthusiasm was allowing negative thoughts to enter my head. Maybe the unrelenting wind & rain, causing me to stay inside more was making me soft. Either way, I knew I had to get outside to clear my head.

With the forecast once more looking exceptionally windy at the weekend (turns out it was storm Ciara!), I couldn’t help but notice cycling home on Wednesday night there was absolutely no wind. Ordinarily I step out of work & a barrage of wind off the Irish sea smashes me in the face and provides a wall of headwind the entire ride home.

I decided this was my chance for a midweek winter microadventure. An opportunity to get outside and spend the night under the stars to clear my head. With my new bivvy bag and sleeping mat quickly packed, I headed out to the local hill. The light of my headtorch guided me up the hill where I was greeted by an eerie, still bit of low hanging cloud. At least it wasn’t blowing a gale! It didn’t take long to reach the spot I had in mind. I rolled out the bivvy amongst a soft bit of grass & set up my bed for the night, super impressed by the ease of which my new set up could be erected.  

I had hoped for a quiet night, just myself, a beer and my book. Not so. The Bowland Mountain Rescue team were out doing some training. I guessed by the shouts of ‘Graham… GRAHAMMM!’ every 2 seconds, they were looking for a chap called Graham. I hope they found you, Graham!

It may sound rather daft to spend a Wednesday evening sat on top of a hill, in a sleeping bag, with only a warm jacket for comfort. I wanted to use this midweek winter microadventure to remember why I love living this way; why I wanted to set out and cycle the globe in the first place.

I sat down to finish reading ‘The Ultimate Triathlon’ by James Ketchell. His own account of a truly incredible series of adventure; rowing the Atlantic Ocean solo, climbing mount Everest & cycling 18’000 miles around the world – an incredibly impressive feat by any standards, let along after a horrific motorcycle accident. James ends the book with the words ‘Everyone has the capability to be whoever they want to be’ – it was exactly motivation & encouragement I needed, it gave me belief that I can pull this off.

At the end of the day, it’s not supposed to be easy. If it were, everyone would be doing it. With that positive mind-set reinstated, I put my head down and slept solidly for 8 hours – my dream was that good I don’t even remember it!

I awoke to the sound of pheasants chirping away… or whatever pheasants do. It’s a noise I know well, a friendly reminder I was in the forest of Bowland and close to home. Sitting upright & taking in my surroundings, it was blissful. Not a soul in sight. To the east I could see the first golden rays of a winter sunrise.

If I had to define adventure, it would be moments like this. Unspoilt, beautiful and yet so simple. I put the stove on & made some coffee, watching the sunrise over the Ribble Valley from the warmth of my sleeping bag. Home is a special place & adventure is a special feeling, especially the satisfaction of this simple midweek winter microadventure.

I could’ve stayed home, read a book & drank a beer that night – Instead I did the same thing outside, atop a hill & scratched the adventure itch. Setting off back to the office, this midweek winter microadventure had put a smile on my face & left me feeling completely reinvigorated. It’s the simple things in life.