Firstly, I really like the picture I took for this article. It looks balanced. Something that I’m finding more and more of, the longer I spend in the saddle. I’m pretty sure my phone is auto-editing the pictures, but that’s beside the point.
Sunday was blessed with a warm and sunny October afternoon. Nature made itself alive and vocal for us as we embarked on our 200-minute hack through the largest collection of trees in London.
While it doesn’t always feel like it, my patience is improving; Enza is making sure of that. At 30 years old, she’s certainly getting on a bit and has likely grown a bit stubborn in her age. Regardless, remembering to, and staying, calm in moments of frustration is something I am gladly improving on.
Fairly early into the ride we stopped at this cool little biker cafe for tea with a friend. Both Enza and Apollo did marvellously, even if there were some obnoxiously loud bikes there. We even had a little photoshoot with some other guests. I don’t have those ones, but here’s one of the gang.
After that we hacked up the yonder way to a little place you may have seen before. Strawberry Hill Pond. Don’t be disheartened if you’re not familiar with the name; I wasn’t either. But it happens to be the very place where the Belleteyn Festival from Netflix’s The Witcher was filmed. We’ll forgive it for being Henry Cavill-less.
Following some lovely, albeit ever so slightly blurry, photos, we trotted on and I got some much-needed and serenely mind-altering solo riding. There’s nothing quite like hearing the damp firestorm of British autumn leaves crunch and squish as you wander seamlessly through paths forged hundreds of years prior.
I could not help but be reminded, as the Epping beech trees surrounded me, of the world of moles and scenes like these that inspired one of my all-time favourite books, Duncton Wood. As the light chatter of the group that followed faded in and out of my focus, that unbridled sense of freedom that I yearned for felt real.
Before we ended, we wandered deep into the Great Monk Wood and were met with the grounds of tribal and community functions for the ancient Britons, the Trinovantes (of Essex) and the Catuvellauni (of Hertfordshire), who are believed to have lived here 2,500 years ago.
Overall this was the longest ride, I think ever in my life, and mu backside made sure I knew it. The biggest takeaway is that hacks are amazing fun and being calm is key to being a successful polo player. You cannot make good plays, decisions, or even ride a horse when you’re in an overly emotional state, but when you’re calm, it all starts to come together.
