Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
The Secret to Feeling Free Again (Video)
Dom Richard’s latest video offers a reflection on his first bikepacking trip. It asks the profound question, “What happens when you don’t chase your dreams?” Set along the picturesque English coast, it’s an insightful look at his journey through modern life. Watch the nine-minute video and find an introduction from Dom below…
Words, photos, and video by Dom Richard
I recently went on my first solo bikepacking trip. I’ve done day rides along the coast of England before, and they’ve always been great because the views make them worth it every time, so I figured the Purbeck Bimble route in Dorset would be a safe bet.
Like my previous video, I filmed almost everything using just a tripod and my Sony a7c (there are some shots in which I just held the camera as still as I could). Combined with it being the longest ride I have ever attempted, I knew I was in for a real challenge. When every shot requires you to unstrap your tripod from your bike, set it up, adjust your camera settings to match the light and your vision, ride past, and then pack up your equipment, you have to be selective about what you actually film. I made a rule: only stop if it looks truly unique. Otherwise, I would never make it to camp.
The problem was that everything looked unique. One moment I would be packing the tripod away after filming some cows drifting through the fog, and five minutes later, I’d be pulling it back out for a forest doing the same thing. An unreal visual I couldn’t catch on camera because I was committed to static shots was how, when riding through dense fog, the tops of trees often peeked through the fog as I rode towards them, almost like these large flying saucers appearing out of nowhere, before you finally got to see the trunk holding them up as you got closer.
The coastal section had me most excited (I love the sea), because I was banking on those views, but it was entirely swallowed by the dense fog for most of the ride. But honestly, I think that made it more special, not less. It wasn’t something I’d planned for, but riding through the fog ended up being the highlight of the whole trip. The thing with most of southern England is you often aren’t too far away from civilization, but the fog made me feel far away from anything else, like I was alone on another planet. A feeling I would never forget.
The video itself is about my obsessive personality going from different hobbies that I would pour everything into at the beginning and slowly realizing that each obsession wasn’t just a phase; it was a way of avoiding the one thing I actually wanted to do. It ends with me finally committing to that one thing I had been circling for years, and wondering whether, for the first time, a new obsession can just be an obsession.
For more from Dom, check out his YouTube channel.
Further Reading
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