Could you leave all of your electronic gadgets behind on a ride? No GPS, no Strava, no phone. How about three rides in a row? Chipps takes on the challenge.

WORDS CHIPPS

PHOTOGRAPHY CHIPPS AND CREDITED

How many of us ride bikes to escape the daily grind, only to find our precious hours punctuated by texts from co-workers7Or we see thesun come out and light up a beautifulsection of trail, but we can't stop totake in the view as this is the middle of'Big Bob's Bobble' on Strava and we'resure there's a PR in the offing. Or wedo stop to photograph the view butfail to also actually appreciate it withour eyeballs at the time.

So much for that digital disconnect on the trails; with phonesand GPS units, Go Pros, power andheart rate monitors, many of us findourselves in the presence of more battery-powered tech on bike rides'in nature' than we do at work. Butdid that ride really happen if we didn'tStrava it7And did that beautifulpatch of sunlight even happen unlessyou snapped a blurry phone photoof it?

That constant connection with the digital world at the expense ofthe natural one is something thatbothers Ryan Leech. Ryan is along-time professional trials rider,turned skills coach and mountain bikelifestyle tutor. In between publishingcourses on his RLC Hub skillswebsite, he also runs Transcend MTBwhich offers a more philosophicalapproach to riding bikes and gettingthe most out of your experience.It was an email from thiswebsite that caught my attention:it challenged the reader to go ona 'Digital-Free Ride-Reset'. Threeconsecutive rides without any digitaldistractions. "No devices, no apps,no notifications. Just you, yourbike, and the trail in nature. It mightfeel uncomfortable at first, butthat's where the magic happens. Bystepping away from the noise (before,during and after your ride), you openyourself up to a riding experiencethat's more connected, more present,and infinitely more rewarding."

How har can it be?

That sounded like a doable challenge. After all, it's not like I always have to have a GPS with me, or a GoPro. I wear a wind-up watch and I only use a heart rate monitor on the road bike if I remember. I only use Strava to track mileage • and I'm sure I don't check my phone for messages all the time ... 

Though, saying that, I often ride with headphones on solo rides and I love to take photos on rides. Perhaps this wouldn't be so easy.

• Yeah, right...

• Also yeah, right...

To join me on this digital detox, I enlisted James Vincent and Mark Alker of this parish. They, I figured, also shared that uneasy 'I can quit any time I want, I just don't want to' daily dependence on phones, apps and checking emails JUSt in case . .'.