Do you just go for a ride?

[McNab]

Well, do you just look out the window and think "I'll go for a ride"?

I find I have to plan things well in advance. Check the weather, plan my route, programme the satnav and then that drains all the spontaneity out of things. I do occasionally just go, but then I always do the well worn routes around local areas that I know. I never just head off into the countryside with no idea where I am going to go and I feel I might be missing out.

So, do you throw caution to the wind and just jump on the bike and figure it out as you go or do you like to plan every little step?

[weeksy]

I only ever 'just go for a ride'

I don't ride with people, meet people, or have destinations in mind. I plan rides usually during the day between meetings/work. However my rides are rarely more than 90 mins which means i often end up on the same roads.

[The Spin Doctor]

50/50. I tend to check the weather but once I've decided on 'out', I may or may not have destination in mind, but I usually make the route up as I go along. Like y'day... a very random amble from NW London to Broadstairs. Once off the end of the Sidcup bypass it was random roads.

It's an antidote to the carefully planned routes I use when training.

[Noggin]

I only plan if I'm doing an A to B trip of going to a cafe for breakfast. But even then if the weather changes I'll change the route cos there are always 2 or 3 to get where I'm going!

I have never planned stops. I will use satnav if I'm going to a place that I've never been, but not for a random bimble


I used to love it when I got my first bike; finish work in the pub about 12:30, get on the bike to go home, 2 hours later, get home and go to bed! On a clear night with a good moon, the Mendips were proper fun - no traffic and most of the animals were asleep too


Out here, I have so many local roads to explore I would imagine it'll very much be the case of get up, suns out so get on the bike and go find a road I've not used. Or try to get to one of the monuments/castles that I've seen from the main road - they are always someway up the mountains, and I know there are roads to get to them, but need to go find out what roads go where!!

The most planning I can see me doing locally is snacks, bottle of water, shewee, phone and money

[MrLongbeard]

50/50
I was planning on popping over to Aberystwyth today, but it's raining over there, so I'll just have a wee hour out around the countryside instead today.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Like Weeksy, if I use a road bike it's just to go for a ride with no plan of where I'm going, and I usually end up doing a quite similar lap of Ipswich - Framlingham - A1120 to Stowupland - Needham Market - Stonham Tap - A1120 to Framsden - Helmingham - Ipswich or the reverse of thia

[Whysub]

Often. For over 20 years I had to commute 5 or 6 days a week, with only a few days in all those years by bus and train when the snow fell.

So it is now a matter of choice if I ride or not. And I either go out early morning or late afternoon/evening as over the last month it has been very hot here between 11 am and 4 pm. Too hot for a proper jacket and armoured trousers.

No particular route, but head for a town that I've not been to before (no more than two hours away) on what look like interesting roads. Get there, leisurely lunch and a walk around the town (bike clothing secured in panniers) before heading home later when the temperature has dropped a bit.

[tricol]

Pretty much. It's what I wanted motorbike ownership to be like. I've become a fair weather biker though, because I'm too proud to be cleaning a dirty bike that won't keep as well as it would if I road in all conditions.

But yes, most of my rides at this point have been decided in that way. I'd like to go today, but that little thing called work is getting in the way.....

[Trinity765]

I do occasionally go out just for a ride - more often when I have a new bike. I'll take the long way home from work or just head off in a general direction. If I have a loan bike, I'll do the same.

If I'm going away on my own I'll plan a route to where ever I'm going and then explore with my satnav ready to get me back to base.

I also meticulously plan group rides and tours where I know exactly where we'll be starting, stopping, distances between petrol stops etc.

[Skub]

I no longer need to use the bike for commuting and I don't use it for chores or having to be somewhere. Every mile I travel now is solely for my entertainment and pleasure. I've had enough of pretending to enjoy riding all year around,it doesn't teach you anything and fucks up your bike for good measure.

Bike trips for me are absolutely weather dependant,I don't ever want to ride in shitty conditions ever again. If I encounter a shower when I'm out,fair enough,as long as the majority of the time has dry roads.

Most of my riding is a maximum of maybe 5 hours and if it's a good day I'll just go where I fancy,sometimes familiar roads,or sometimes something different. I don't have a satnav,if I'm exploring I'll just go with the flow,then look for road signs when I'm wanting to head home. If I was looking for some place specifically,I'd use the organic method,just stop and ask someone.

The only planning I do is to leave early in the morning to enjoy quiet roads and not to be needing fuel when the petrol stations aren't open.

Due to ongoing family obligations,bike trips away anywhere are not possible,but if they were,then I'd probably plan a bit more for that.

[McNab]

Yeah, obviously gotta plan around work but I've got Friday off and I'm trying to decide if I need to plan a ride route to the most minute detail for the satnav or just make a note of a few village names and head off and hope to be able to follow road signs.

[Rockburner]

Well, do you just look out the window and think "I'll go for a ride"?

I find I have to plan things well in advance. Check the weather, plan my route, programme the satnav and then that drains all the spontaneity out of things. I do occasionally just go, but then I always do the well worn routes around local areas that I know. I never just head off into the countryside with no idea where I am going to go and I feel I might be missing out.

So, do you throw caution to the wind and just jump on the bike and figure it out as you go or do you like to plan every little step?

Occasionally.

Once I've got a garage, and the JAPton in that garage, I think I'll be doing it a lot more.
(but probably not very long trips, it's not that comfy, and has a tiny tank!)

[Rockburner]

Yeah, obviously gotta plan around work but I've got Friday off and I'm trying to decide if I need to plan a ride route to the most minute detail for the satnav or just make a note of a few village names and head off and hope to be able to follow road signs.

Just take random turnings for an hour, then figure out where you are and head home(ish) by solar navigation until you feel the need to genuinely check. .

[wheelnut]

I do tend to plan - I know the local area's goat tracks pretty well so am always looking for some new roads.

I'll use mapsource to look for some roads I haven't done before and drop the route on to the satnav and away I go. If I go out it does tend to be for the day so 250-300 miles or so.

[MrLongbeard]

Yeah, obviously gotta plan around work but I've got Friday off and I'm trying to decide if I need to plan a ride route to the most minute detail for the satnav or just make a note of a few village names and head off and hope to be able to follow road signs.

Sat Nav it to get you home after a couple of hours of random bimbling through random villages on random roads

[DefTrap]

One of the 'coming out of lockdown conditions' recently was that you weren't allowed > than 15k from your home 'without good reason' - so a rough scoping of the villages that popped up on the circumference, and then a happy couple of hours forcing myself to go down unexplored backroads.

[Skub]

One of the 'coming out of lockdown conditions' recently was that you weren't allowed > than 15k from your home 'without good reason' - so a rough scoping of the villages that popped up on the circumference, and then a happy couple of hours forcing myself to go down unexplored backroads.

15k miles isn't much of a limiter,I could live with that.

[Cousin Jack]

I rarely plan a ride, I just go. Often the direction of travel is dictated by the clouds, if it looks darker in the west I will go east. Living on a peninsula going north or south is a bit limiting,

[Scotsrich]

I try and go for a decent ride at least once a week with Mrs S on pillion.

Trouble is I struggle to go anywhere on roads I’m not used to.
The drawback to living in the same place all your life I suppose.

[David]

50/50
I was planning on popping over to Aberystwyth today, but it's raining over there, so I'll just have a wee hour out around the countryside instead today.

Phew....lucky escape!