Looking Forward to the Ride....

I look forward to my rides....even after all the miles that I have ridden this year I don't get bored with getting on one of my bikes and going for a ride. 
It makes no difference whether it's a short 30 mile spin around the Purbeck hills or a more complete ride further afield taking in both the coast as well as some of the great routes we have further inland...

I am positive that if I had to drive around my favourite routes everyday instead of cycling them I would soon get fed up with the whole thing and yet that is effectively what so many people do each day as they drive to work. 
In my view one of the reasons for this is the way that when you are cycling you see everything from a different and more relaxed perspective.....Riding along you actually seem to become part of the  scenery that you are passing through and not just a person on a journey looking out at the scenery through a window......
There is also a real joy in searching out and discovering new areas and routes that you haven't tried before. 

This past week on a couple of my rides I have been trying to search out a new route north out of town.....If I just want to go for a ride I will normally just head west for the Studland ferry and then out to the Purbeck hills....
My route for that is the quickest way that I can escape from the town and traffic and out into the countryside...but whenever I wish to attend a Backpackers club weekend,  it normally seems to take place north of Bournemouth and that means about 8 miles of car saturated local roads to negotiate before I hit the country lanes.

This isn't so much a problem if I am just out on a ride,  but if I am on my touring bike loaded with panniers and kit for a camping trip, the vehicle jammed and often narrow roads around town don't make for a smooth and enjoyable ride, hence my search for alternative routes.

Cycling around the area has allowed me to connect with parts of the locality that I didn't even know existed. 
I have found buildings and places of real interest that if I had been in a car or even a bus I would never have found. 

I have still not found my perfect northerly escape route yet, but just riding my bike along routes not ridden before has made for a really enjoyable week of local exploration and I have still managed to ride my favourite Purbeck routes as well.....