Beaten Trail

This morning when I looked out of my window, everything was bathed in gold. I haven't seen the dawn like this for a while, since the grey months I suppose. Along with the overflowing greenery on the way to Robertsbridge, and the warmth of this past weekend, I think we can safely assume that spring has finally sprung. Of course, being May Day yesterday, the Jack-in-the-Green festival was on here in Hastings. Although I've gone and watched it in previous years, I missed it this year. I wonder why...

Could it be because of the awesome May Day Rally? Damn. Again I really could have done with a camera! For those who don't know, the May Day Rally/Run has thousands and thousands of motorbikes ride into Hastings on the May Day bank holiday. This year there must have been more than there have ever been. I've been down to the seafront on May Day before and seen the bikes lined up, but yesterday they were everywhere.

The car parks were, of course, full. But, not content with that, there were motorcycles on every bit of pavement and on the side of every road. There were bikes parked in between lanes of traffic on the seafront; there was double parking, triple parking, and even quadruple parking. No where was safe. Arriving at Rock-a-Nore, we only just managed to find a place that was semi-legal to leave our bikes in. Even then we had to squeeze up.

There were bikes of all shapes and sizes (although it seems one in five bikes was a Suzuki GSXR), with numerous custom features, paint jobs, and accessories. There were plenty of Ninjas, Hornets, Goldwings, various Harley Davidson models, a few Z750s and Z1000s, CBRs, Hayabusas, and B-Kings... but not one Versys! Well, apart from mine. But apart from mine I didn't see one!

Mostly though, it was a great day. Much riding and admiring motorcycles, the noise and the smell and the atmosphere... it was fantastic. I was absolutely shattered from it, I can only imagine what the bikers from London and further afield must feel like at work this morning.

Other than that, I spent the weekend in a wood near Netherfield. And I'm definitely going to spend more time in it this coming weekend. I managed to dump my jacket and helmet in my bike's panniers, leaving me with only a backpack and the clothes I was wearing to slow me down. I took a waterskin and a canteen with me (I get thirsty pretty quickly), and some sandwiches in a backpack. The weather was fine and the warm sunlight was accompanied by a cool and refreshing breeze. As I left the worn and beaten trail I found myself following deer tracks. Eventually the forest floor was nothing but deer tracks. I chose one set and followed them through the undergrowth until the trees became so dense that I was forced to continue on my hands and knees. As I emerged from the foliage onto a path I found myself a hundred feet from a very dark coloured deer which stood for a moment before bolting into the trees.

There were valleys in the woods that were so verdant, so green with life, that I had to sit down to soak up my surroundings. I only saw one other person in the woods all day and he made enough noise to frighten off everything in the area, so I hid under a fallen spruce until he'd gone. When I continued my journey through the trees I practically stumbled into a herd of deer which took flight into the thicker woodland. I tried to count how many there were but lost track at around ten. I didn't see any stags though, but I'd be surprised to learn that there aren't any in the area.