Riding through the countryside the other weekend, through the fog as it burns off in the morning sun, past the hundreds of birds as they take flight, and through main streets of small country towns that time has forgotten. Do car drivers see this? Do they feel the towns they pass through? Or are they simply observers, looking through a framed view of the world they are passing by?

Why is it that when driving we look at the map for the shortest most economical route to our destination?  We don’t we just go for a drive anymore. What happened to the Sunday drive when dad would pile the family into the car and just go for a drive. The destination wasn’t important because we were out driving.  Maybe because cars were interesting and had character.  Cars have become boring, a means of transport, an appliance.  They are a device to move you for A to B.

From my experience bike riders aren’t like that.  It is about going for the ride, exploring new roads, taking the back roads. The destination is nothing more than a point to head towards and often the excuse for the ride.

I will sometimes stop and wonder, what is this place?

Like the abandoned railway siding, still pretending trains pass by.

Or stood in amazement at painted Holden utes on the side of a dirt road, some 3km off the main road.

Or just stopped to take in the surroundings.

Now I need to go for a ride.  I wonder where I should go. Does it matter?…