Nostalgia trip

[2manyoranges]

A couple of threads in the last week has triggered some deep memories of past rides - the days which spontaneously come to mind when I start thinking about the very best moments from the past….

…a day in the late 80’s on a fast downhill bridleway on the South Downs, a bright and hot June day, with brilliant green grass as high as my knees, a green sea as far as the eye could see, and the bottom half of the bike just washing through it….

and then…

…setting up and marshalling the mid station at Houghton Down for the South Downs Randonee in the 90s…giving the riders safe passage across the A29, then packing up and passing all the tailenders into Eastbourne…and standing with Ant looking at the setting sun in the West, seeing a burning chunk of space debris falling through the clouds vertically, trailing flames and smoke...

 

[foz]

This happens to me too, I sometimes just get random memories of rides and places from decades ago...
Tell more about the space debris!?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Myself and Craig rode north from the abandoned gravel quarry following old motorcross trails across the counties. We climbed up and crossed over the Post Road, and then down the other side to a shaded creek where we lost the trail. Sunlight filtering down through the greenery, the distant traffic noise, the splash as I followed Craig's back tire down the rocky creek. There are about five minutes that are permanently burned into my brain, and when they come blasting back, I can remember every twig, every leaf, every rock, each insect's buzz. I still have the bike I was on. I wonder where Craig is nowadays, he got me into this whole thing and I haven't seen him since high school. Was that really in the last century?

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

those hot, damp summer days in the woods - raining all morning, hot sun in the afternoon under the cover of some majestic oaks.

Takes me straight back to marshalling one of the 'drops' at a race in the 90s. Slippy roots, many riders were going down; one managed to dislocate their shoulder, so we spent 45 mins trying to attend to him whilst sending the rest of the riders down the alternative root.

Good times

 

[2manyoranges]

This happens to me too, I sometimes just get random memories of rides and places from decades ago...
Tell more about the space debris!?

I’ve seen lots of ’shooting stars’ - ie meteors - the showers at Christmas and August - but this was different. Ant and I were welcoming in the back markers around 10pm, standing on the top of the Downs above Eastbourne, looking West. It had been a very warm and sunny day and the evening was balmy and still, with the sun reddening and descending to the horizon…the sky that amazing blue to deep purple you get as the sun goes down in the Summer. I suddenly saw something falling swiftly vertically a few kilometres away from us, you could perceive the flickering flame tail and white smoke trail…it fell from a huge height and then entered a shallow band of clouds, illuminating them red from inside, and then emerged from the bottom of the cloud and extinguished before it hit the ground.

I was transfixed - and as it had happened in just a second or so…said to Ant ‘…what???!??..did you see that…’ and he said ‘…YES! Astonishing……’.

We discussed it with quite a few people, and the conclusion was that it most likely was a piece of space junk or the remains of a disused satellite, not a meteor.

 

[pw_pw_la]

Just coming by to say I love this thread already.

And hope it continues.

 

[widowmaker]

My memories are usually accompanied with a scar or two

 

[MattiThundrrr]

My memories are usually accompanied with a scar or two

Haha that reminds me of the time TroyBoy went over the bars and couldn't get loose from his clips. Full scorpion, and me following too closely, slamming into his bike. Somehow his crank sprocket jammed into his hamstring, leaving little bloody toothmarks up the back of his leg. It was so hilarious!

Well, I was laughing at least...

 

[widowmaker]

Ouch