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Been There, Got The T-Shirt
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Well hello there. I’m back. I’ve had a couple of weeks away to visit my husband. Which makes it sound a little like he’s in prison, but he is in fact in the USA. Moab, actually. So, yeah, you can probably be a bit jealous. Sorrynotsorry. For what it’s worth, this might be the perfect time of year to visit Moab (unless your dream is to ride the Whole Enchilada, which doesn’t open until 1st July). It’s not yet hot, so you can be outside doing things all day long without getting heatstroke. The sun is often in the sky. The mountains are covered in snow. Hotel rooms are less than half the price they will be in July. And for those who think that they’re not sure their arms are up to a whole week of riding Moab chunk and rock: the gravel riding is excellent (And you can do it all day because it's not yet hot).
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If you were to decide to go on a holiday to Moab, one activity you won’t see on the suggested itineraries is ‘Storage Unit Treasure Hunt’. This being not-really-a-holiday for me, but instead more like life-in-a-different-location, one of my days was taken up with organising (and attempting to reduce the contents of) my husband’s storage unit and wardrobe. Please could nobody ever give him another T-shirt? Or indeed, any clothes at all. Except underpants. I think it would be entirely possible for him to wear a different and clean T-shirt every day for a month or more without doing any laundry, but that to wear clean pants every day he’d have to do a wash twice a week. Bi-weekly, as the Americans might say. But they also use ‘bi-weekly’ instead of ‘fortnightly’. How can they be so imprecise about a term that could be critical to the cleanliness of underpants, yet so precise about the positional location of ‘eye-glasses’, which I have never felt at risk of placing elsewhere? Anyway, I fear the laundry habits of the lone male may be best left un-thoughtabout*.
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The above T-shirt calculations do not include the Historically Significant T-Shirts. These have been removed from daily wear but saved for posterity. One of the major achievements of the exploration of the storage unit was to consolidate this collection into ‘just’ two suitcases. I did actually have to sit on them to get them to shut. I didn’t attempt to count them, but I would be surprised if there are less than 300.
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It turns out that ‘been there, got the T-shirt’ is an actual thing for those with interesting lives. Bike shops of yore, bike brands, bike teams. Trade shows, races, product launches. Bike polo world championships from before the advent of Wikipedia. Snowboard brands from when the sport was new. Suspension products from when full bounce was new. Those two suitcases are an archive of activities, like a photo album in cotton and screen prints. Like photos, they’re hard to throw away. Should they even be thrown away? They’re certainly harder to display than a shoebox of 4x6 images. And, even if you did have a huge blank wall and a whole load of perspex, do you display the front, or the back?
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Some of the T-shirts are very worn, moved to the archive perhaps only as their historical significance became clearer - once they’d reached an actual historical age. Would it have been better for their deterioration to have continued, through the full T-shirt lifecycle to garage rag? By saving them and allowing them to accrue further years of life, do they acquire greater reverence than they’re truly due? Is junk masquerading as antique?
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Would losing them all (hey, my luggage has yet to make it to my house, location currently unknown - whole suitcases do go missing) be a loss? Would history be erased? Many are from before the internet, so the locations and times they evoke are unlikely to sit in a digital archive. Does a digital record have the same weight - or permanence - as something real, in cotton, or on paper?
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This is a wormhole too deep for one so addled with jetlag. But what I do know is that without being there or doing that, there would be no T-shirts. It’s the being and doing that matter. Whether there and that is the hills and a bike ride, school and prize giving, a stadium and concert, a hospital and a birth, a pub and a chat - it’s the being and doing that matters. Get out and be there. T-shirts are optional.
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* I have been in the land of invented words and facts, live with it
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A word from our sponsors: Forestry England
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Where are you planning to ride this year?
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Did you know, Forestry England has over 60 of the best mountain biking and cycling trails in the country, from Kielder Forest in Northumberland to Cardinham Woods in Cornwall. They grade their trails from Green to Double Black, helping you to ride the trails best suited to your level.
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Why not try…
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Over 100km of cycling and mountain bike trails including the technical 21-mile Red Route and more family-friendly Jubilee Trail.
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The site has 14 thrilling downhill trails, two cross country trails, and a range of gentler cycle routes for those just looking to enjoy the surroundings.
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Cannock Chase boasts incredible routes through the forest, from the moderate but great fun Perry’s Trail to the challenging cross country Monkey Trail. There’s something for every rider here.
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Grizedale has a variety of gravel tracks for those new to riding, while the North Face MTB Trail and Black MTB Trail are perfect for more experienced riders.
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A go-to for riders who love the site’s 13km Singletrack Trail across 2000 acres of the forest, as well as the 9km family trail for those just getting started with riding.
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Haldon Forest Park now boasts mountain bike trails for all levels, including the popular Discovery Trail, perfect for beginners, all the way to the challenging Ridge Ride Trail.
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Ready to take on the 2025 challenge of riding them all?
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Ride them all as a Forestry England member
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For only £94 per year per household, a Forestry England national membership makes riding the best trails in the country super easy and cost effective. Whether you’re sticking to one or two forests or really going for it this year, it really is the essential membership for riders.
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Fresh Goods Friday
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It is Friday. It is kind of lunchtime ish. It's almost the weekend. Which probably means it is almost time to ride bikes.
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The confusingly-named 130mm-travel Merida One Twenty is essentially more at the XC end of the trail bike spectrum.
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