Giving it time

all love a good trip, don't we? Open roads; freedom to roam; finding new places; new roads; getting to know your bike; and beers with mates at the end of the day. But having been on a lifetime of trips – with and without others – I’d say the truth is less clear-cut. We probably all love the idea of a bike trip. The reality is more like Day 1 excitement turning into Day 2 bike niggles (is that a slow puncture?) to Day 3 irritations with your fellow travellers or the weather. This then wanes into Day 4’s repacking frustrations and ‘I miss my bed’ moments, which finally leads to a last-day mad rush home (witness the ritual of riders rushing to get off the ferry first). Once home, of course, the trip retold is transformed from an exercise in endurance to one of man