Woody had my bike in his shop for some warranty work. I picked it up Friday and went for a solo ride on his fine trails. He gave me quick directions - stick to the orange loop (mostly clear, mostly arrowed), avoid the pink loop.
I was enjoying my first ride of the season. Lost the trail a couple of times, but back-tracked and picked it up. Then I lost the trail and must not have back-tracked the same way. No more arrows, no real trail, dense bush in all directions. Rode around for a while, hoping for an arrow or obvious trail. None.
So I checked for cell service and phoned Woody. That’s the yellow marker on map/first photo, 1.2 km from the shop (as the crow flies). But not much he could do except tell me to look for a north-south trail. So I carried on riding in search of way out.
Eventually I gave up on riding, parked, and walked increasingly far from bike in different directions, looking for clues. 47 minutes after phoning Woody, I found an arrow (red marker on map, second photo). Scouted a bit more to be sure, made my way back to bike (I was very careful about noting landmarks when I could no longer see bike!) and rode out. After following marked trails for a while, I arrived at a closed gate on a dirt road.
I was pretty tired by this point, so just called Woody for quickest route back to shop. “Stay put, I’ll be right there”. A few minutes later, Woody roared up and guided me back. Thank you!
This is a good reminder that it is easy to get lost in the woods
.
I was enjoying my first ride of the season. Lost the trail a couple of times, but back-tracked and picked it up. Then I lost the trail and must not have back-tracked the same way. No more arrows, no real trail, dense bush in all directions. Rode around for a while, hoping for an arrow or obvious trail. None.
So I checked for cell service and phoned Woody. That’s the yellow marker on map/first photo, 1.2 km from the shop (as the crow flies). But not much he could do except tell me to look for a north-south trail. So I carried on riding in search of way out.
Eventually I gave up on riding, parked, and walked increasingly far from bike in different directions, looking for clues. 47 minutes after phoning Woody, I found an arrow (red marker on map, second photo). Scouted a bit more to be sure, made my way back to bike (I was very careful about noting landmarks when I could no longer see bike!) and rode out. After following marked trails for a while, I arrived at a closed gate on a dirt road.
I was pretty tired by this point, so just called Woody for quickest route back to shop. “Stay put, I’ll be right there”. A few minutes later, Woody roared up and guided me back. Thank you!
This is a good reminder that it is easy to get lost in the woods
.
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