[Closed] Night rides in the woods - sh1tting oneself

Thanks all, this is exactly the thread I needed to read whilst contemplating my commute home in the dark across Dartmoor... 😯

I absolutely love solo night riding particularly in woods or out on Salisbury Plain.

The only thing I do is tell my better half where I'm likely to be if she doesn't see me by the morning!!

contemplating my commute home in the dark across Dartmoor...

Stick to the roads 😈

Stevied - funny you should mention Bruce Campbell...i watched the Evil Dead last night....and have a night ride planned with my friends tomorrow...should be fun scaring the crap out of some of them...

mccraque - sure it wasnt this guy?
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And the odd very close fox call which sometimes sound very like a woman screaming.

was wild camping on Dartmoor once. We had our two dogs with us in the tent and in the middle of the night the four of us were woken by some screaming/shrieking that sounded not of this world. it circled the tent and went on for ages with us of just hoping it would stop. Our two cocker spaniels were less than impressed and were bricking it as much as the Mrs and me were. eventually we plugged up the courage and looked out of the tent door to see a pair of eyes glowing in the dark.

Now imagine, middle of dartmoor, Hound of the Baskervilles in your mind, glowing eyes staring back at you and you hear this only a few meters from the tent!

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Got the heebie Jeebies last week when out on an over night to scout a good place to take a newbie this weekend! Normally don't get spooked!!

Heart rate back down to normal now. Just!!

I've spent a lot of time sleeping outdoors ever since I was a nipper, living in some wild places and I have spent months and months at a time under canvas, but I can still manage to creep myself out night riding alone.. When you're camped up and 'tuned in' to the noises going on around you, it's easy to work out roughly what's going on in the surrounding area and it's nice to listen to the sounds of the wildlife coming and going.. When you're riding though, the only sounds you hear are the rushing wind and rain and tyres crunching.... and the occasional bear crashing through the undergrowth alongside you

I was forced into night riding out of necessity after my first son was born as I had little other time to ride.. Lustleigh Cleave and Houndtor woods were on my doorstep and that is some ancient woodland shrouded in myth and legend..
It's quite techy up there and I didn't want to come a cropper, so I had to take it very steady and ride well within my limits which is the very last thing you want to do when you've convinced yourself you're being stalked by some moorland beast..

I'm not too troubled by the irrational fear of monsters at the local trail centre, with scrotes being more of a concern (although herds of deer can still get the heart racing) and I don't mind a bimble around Woodbury Common occasionally, although it's definitely more the fear of falling off and hurting myself in the cold and dark that worries me most these days

I thought it was just me that is scared of the dark.

Always expect to see the Groke from the Moomins when out at night.
Bloody kids tele. 😯

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I was out on a solo ride last night and spent most of the ride convinced I was going to happen upon murderers disposing a body 😯

You'll know when the Groke is coming to get you because the air temperature suddenly drops. That's when you need to worry.

😉 @ Goldigger.....

Your kids may love it.... but they have`nt watched American Werewolf in London,

Have they!!!!!

Not like i did when it was "FIRST" boradcast on the BBC

Aged 12 !!!!! 😯

I s**t myself ! (well allmost) 😳

Last part of ride heading home on some open ground after coming out of Epping forest a few yrs back had the obligatory "what's that noise behind me...is it a monster or maniac" moment. Then the moment of clarity "of course it's neither you numpty" just kept riding but hey ho the noise actually got louder took a quick look behind me SHIT a ****ing pit bull is about to latch onto my leg ...Sprint like a mad man !
Got away without injury but didn't see an owner anywhere ?

Northwind - Member

It can be pretty creepy sometimes. Depends on your choice of woods too, some dank black pine forests are creepy enough in daylight.

As far as getting mugged/raped/murdered, though, just view it from the side of the murderer- they're not going to hang around in a forest all night on the off chance someone rides a bike past, you'll never get any murdering done that way. So it's probably pretty safe. Unless one of your riding buddies is a murderer in which case...

That's what we want you to thing......I mean they, they want you to think....damn! 👿

I read somewhere that if you're scared of mad axemen simply take an axe with you on your ride

What are the chances of there being [i]two [/i]axe-wielding maniacs in the same place at the same time 😉

night time ride got cancelled the other night but its on for tonight!!

some of my mates are absolutely bricking it....hahaha!!

Slighty off topic but still about bricking it the dark. I also sea kayak and from time to time paddle into sea caves on the kayak. Some of these caves can be huge and get so dark you really cant see anything. You cant tell the sea from the cave walls. Then when you least expect it a 150Kg seal launches it self into the water right next to you in the inky darkness, well you hope its a seal and not a monster.if you want an idea of how big these caves are and how dark they get have a look at the video below. No seal in this one as i bottled it and came back out before getting to the end of the cave. the cave starts at about 4 mins in

mduncombe - have you ever watched The Descent? 😉