The post which caught my attention yesterday spoke of arranging a jaunt around Pitlochry, an old stomping ground of mine. The thought of a bunch of yattering weekend warriors clattering around those tranquil hills dressed in their techno-clothing astride a variety of dazzle painted frames adorned with tastefully anodized bolts made me shudder.
Why do you have to ride together? It's visually obscene. Can't you do things for yourself? Find your own routes? Use a map? Why bumble around in a group, no doubt pissing off every walker/climber/hill runner you come across? Where is the adventure in following someone elses wheel?
I feel mtber's in groups larger than four should be banned. Read the riot act. Charged with sedition. Anything, but let loose on the natural environment.
If you can't use a map and travel a recognised route without the company of a horde of like-minded individuals, perhaps you should hang around Glentress or your local park, somewhere you'd feel more comfortable, more secure, surrounded by others who think and dress as you, less in need of 'support'.
And before you ask, yes I've done a near identical route many times by myself or with a friend on my dark green Kona, dressed in jeans and a Barbour. I also managed to stop and chat with most walkers I met yet still enjoy a hard ride. Even when it rained all day and half of Ben Vrackie was stuck in cloud I didn't get lost or die from hypothermia. So it can be done.
Nanny State herd mentality. 1 Adventurous spirit. 0