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An hour and twenty minutes from home, just a couple of miles from the coast, you’ll find a single sloping field, maybe four or five football pitches in length, overlooked and surrounded by lush green fields with hedged boundaries and scattered woodland. In the distance probably the steepest lane I've seen in Cornwall rises up and off into the distance, leading to St Maybn, whose church stands tall on the hills above. The field draws you into some woodland at the bottom corner, and standing tall, holding the centre stage over it all is a huge electricity pylon, buzzing with current along the lines that stretch North and South. This is the field of dreams, this field is full of fun. From the top to the bottom, the landowner and his team of merry trail builders have built a bike park, 200 yards off the A39, 'the Atlantic Highway', and they built a park that never fails to bring a smile to your face. If you ever get a chance the The Ride Companion Podcast it's a good listen and recently they were discussing the scale of Bike Parks, using a tiering system. Old Hill is certainly not a tier one park, that would be Bike Park Wales, Revs (sadly closing down) or Dyfi, with the elevation, huge trail networks, cafes, and an uplift service. Tier Two might include have Dirt Farm in Wales or possibly even Woodies here in Cornwall with an uplift and push up, but less trails, and lower elevation. I'd personaly place Old Hill Bike Park in Tier three alongside Rogate or Windhill. By no means an indication of poorer quality; it's simply that there is no uplift, and why would they need one. These bike park have a few of things in common, they’re low elevation, they're easily accessible, superb value for money, and built for maximum fun. Old Hill Bike Park is always such a friendly place, as are all bike parks. I do believe that the smaller bike parks, the push up parks are sociable hot spots. Because of the scale your can watch others ride, and when your strolling back, you're often chatting to toher riders, comparing notes. Old Hill has something for everyone, and I mean, all ages and all abilities. The park welcomes everyone, and the riders encourage everyone. Like minded people can progress at their own pace with no need to feel intimidated by big jumps because there is a line suited for all occasions. Blue lines with gentle rollers, fun turns, and table top jumps that are super low consequence. The red lines get a little larger and more challenging and there are two black lines, one with some wooden features thrown in, and the bigger black jump line. On the day we rode the wind was from the West which is not ideal, and the air was full of mizzle but that didn't stop us. The new additions to the bottom lines were really the only viable options and we sessioned them all day long, with the wind at our back this line was a crowd favourite. We spent most of our four and half hours working on consistency. No tricks, of which I have none anyway, no fancy riding, just consistently riding the line without casing (landing short), and landing smoothly. Whilst my son built his confidence back up, I was focusing on my body position, my head especially. I have a tendency to look down and not ahead when I’m jumping and this then affects my set up for the next jump because I often case the landing. But I’ll fix that, I’ll progress, and my son will progress, in fact when you look at many of the riders at OLd Hill, i think that is the common bond, they’ll all there to progress, and we’re lucky enough to have places like Old Hill Bike Park in Cornwall. Note. I know, I know!!! We should be wearing full face crash helmets. WE were the only ones stupid enough to have open face helmets on. Jago has grown out of his and although I had mine I would have felt like a bad dad if I'd worn mine, and my Jago didn't. But if there is any defence, we were both happi;y within our comfort zone and Jago has not really ridden much this past year, so hasn't needed one. ut now we've been again, I'm ordering him a full face. If you're also wondering where the other Field of Dreams is, well that would be The Track at Portreath.   
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As the first week passes of 2023, our van has created a few big questions in our first world life. Do we need one? Is it too expensive to run? Do we use it enough? Should I sell it? My van is a Ford Transit, eight years old, black, low mileage, partly developed in the back with a bench seat, currently a raised bed and garage space for bikes. We are currently on version two (photos show version one) and there is no cooking station now. It's never had fancy tiles, or contempory splash backs, no reclaimed oak work tops, no solar panels and electric plumbing, no fancy wood paneling, integrated LED lighting systems, and it's certainly not off-grid. There are no shop bought messages of love and peace stuck to the wall, or odes to beach life to be seen. What it does have is a map of Cornwall covering a large mark on the ply, and behind the 9mm ply wall is loft insulation, and on the 6mm ceiling much of the same. I’ve been told this will sweat and make the van damp, but it didn't before, so not too fussed about that. We did not sign up to 'Van Life' during lockdown as we own a house, and we're not looking for free camping everywhere, but instead if we do go away, we'll help out the local campsite once in a while. I am not asking my wife to put on a thong, lie on the bed and look out of the back doors over a beautiful beach, capturing a stunning sunset, and trying to convince the world of social media that van life is amazing, because we know from experience it’s not that great. I know that actually you still have to go to toilet in a two foot high chemical toilet whilst the curtains are closed, and your partner has to stand outside in the rain whilst you do you morning ablutions; and when you're done put it back under your bench seat until you find somewhere to safely empty it. Or like some van lifers we’ve seen in Cornwall, park up and do their business over the other side of a wall or behind a hedge, letting others discover the mess when their dog rolls in it. I must add that I speak from experience here, all bar the thong clad photo, I have had to wash my dog off but have also utilised the odd bush or two, but this was 20 years ago so I'm sure it's gone now. This was a time when #vanlife was not even a thing, it was just a thing, if that makes sense. In fact I’m not sure if hashtags were even being used, social media certainly wasn’t, and free camping was called finding a layby or a car park, before they got too exclusive and extortionate. Anyway, our Van is what my wife likes to call a 'day van'. A simple fix, to simple functional needs. Occasionally I have spent a couple of nights in ‘it’, and I say 'it’ as the van is ‘non gender’. We’ve not decided whether it is a ‘he or her’ yet. Our van is used as and when we need it. Some days filled with bikes, some days boards. I've used it for weekend work and stayed overnight to finish the work the next day. I’ve travelled to compete in weekend Enduro events in North Devon and Somerset, and Mountain bike events in Sussex, and enjoyed every minute. It’s been great to spend time staying in the van whilst visiting my Mum and family, but it’s been mainly used as a daily commute. What it hasn’t been used for is any adventures with myself and my wife. In two years we have not really utilised this van together and this led us to doubt whether we needed a van at all. Recent work, although common to vehicles since computers were added to motoring, found a fault with a sensor that led to a £500 bill for a £40 part. Fuel costs have gone mental, and even our local beach has restricted vehicles over five metres in the summer, so we can’t even hang out there for the day, and I suppose these factors have forced us to simply stay at home. Take into account my wife also works on a Saturday morning, we have managed to find all the excuses to not go away, and use the van for what we actually bought it for. Therefore we decided to sell the van. We spent a week talking about getting a smaller van, something more manageable, something more practical, maybe something newer, maybe a car instead, and obviously my mind far exceeded the budget. I was looking at vehicles way beyond the realms of financial possibilities, when the budget was what the van was worth, not more. We began looking around and even sat in a couple at the local dealer, but nearly fainted a few times at the cost of vans now, so dreamt a little more. This process did not last long. Searching for a vehicle is a frustrating process and I find it an incredibly boring one too, especially when you know that the one you already have is exactly what you need, and you’ll be unlikely to find anything better, at anywhere near the price of what our current van is worth, which is still ‘good money’. After a week, we’ve given up looking. Instead we sat down, closed the vehicle browsing websites, took stock of what we have and came to a simple conclusion. There were two solid reasons for making us feel like we should sell the van. Firstly, it's quite an expensive commuter vehicle. In my opinion transits are meant for motorway driving, delivering and logistics, and fuel consumption is so much better on long straight runs, not the winding roads of West Cornwall and the 25 mile a day work run. Secondly we didn’t use it as much as we should, for the reasons we bought it, to get away and have some mini adventures. The solutions. Firstly, get a small commuter moped and save £100 a month. Secondly, keep the van, put the racks on it for boards, finish the inside, and start having some weekend adventures. Simple. That discussion and solution took five minutes. Here’s to 2023 and some weekend adventures.    |
AuthorHi, I'm Russ Pierre, a Cyclist, Surfer and outdoor enthusiast. Please join me as I have some fun on my adventures and write about all the stuff that makes me tick. Archives
October 2023
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