WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY JAMES VINCENT
They say knowledge is power. I say knowledge plays its part, but it helps to get lucky from time to time. I’m off to the Mendips, and Chipps has taken great delight in telling me that “last time I was there it was comedically [sic] wet and muddy, but hey, you might get a sunny frosty day when everything’s solid…” Emails about the ride bounce back and forth containing such gems as “not sure when you were thinking of but you probably know it doesn’t hold up well in the winter?”, and “I don’t think the trails will be dry until May…”.
Brilliant. Just brilliant. After the greatest summer I can remember, where dry, dusty trails stretched as far as the eye could see, it’s now the middle of December, summer is but a distant memory, and I’m in the South West of England tasked with shooting a Classic Ride on trails that don’t hold up in the wet. Splendid.