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Chipps and friends talk about an essential rite of passage for any mountain biker: the road trip.
I didn't have MTB mates when I was growing up so peak road trip activity for me was when I was riding BMX.
We used to drive all over the UK looking for skateparks, wallrides, gaps and ledges. We never had any money so booked accommodation was out of the question. We had a diesel Ford Escort which we used to run on vegetable oil for about 36p a litre.
We slept on ramps, beaches, under hedges. I had a traumatic bout of diarrhoea in Brighton once when we had nowhere lined up to stay. That was a miserable 24 hours of isolation, lurking around in the woods clutching my toilet paper.
Quite often we'd head for the local skatepark, meet the local riders and end up on a tour of the local spots. Usually your hosts would want to show you a good time so we'd end up at a club, gig or house party.
All this was before YouTube and social media. None of us even had a camera. There's no photos or videos from this time which is a shame but I do have some pretty vivid memories.
I'd dearly love to do more MTB road trips but I struggle to get people out now that everyone is married with kids. Lots of my trips now are solo or with a small group and with a 4 year old boy at home and child 2 on the way, the Premier Inn is the thing I look forward to the most. 12 hours alone in a dark, quiet room with a massive bed is bliss.
Lots of young dirtbags are still out there living the dream. Alpine resorts are full of them. I always eye them up enviously as I ride back to my plush hotel, knowing I'll be back at work next week and they'll probably still be parked up banging out laps all day long.