Hi can a complete novice like me join you some time ?
P38.... what tyres have you got on it, and how preciouse are you about the carpets and paintwork?
We can always do with an 'experimental penguine' to stick down a trail and find the holes before we drive into them.........
Dont worry, we can haul you out backwards........ well, as long as you have a hook on the back.......
Jesting aside; how much of a newbie are you? Lanes in the area are 'thin' which means quite a bit of black-top twixt short tracks, and when you find them, they can be 'contentiouse' as in running into the back of a posh housing estate or through some-ones retirement cottage garden; and possibly deliberately blocked or hard to 'read' on the ground; they can be so under used as to be almost undriveable from over-growth, or so over used as to be a mud-bath, or any combination of!
This sort of laning is very different to the stuff you read about in the mags; which is more typically provincial 'long trails' which are usually fairly well marked, quiet well used, so known to be passeable, easy to follow on the ground, and of a length that lets you feel you have actually done something 'special'.
Its much more of a lottery, or paper-chase; you drive a lot of black top to where a trail may be found, and the challenge is in identifying it on the ground, assessing if its driveable, then trying to folow it, if it looks worth attempting........ and after lots of preparation and assessement; you spend about ten minutes actually driving the soft-surface.... before spending an hour trying to do another one........
Big grin factor, in the joy of 'discovery' and often knowing that you AREN'T in the middle of no-where; but it can be very frustrating if the 'targets' you have lined up for the outing dont prove fruitfull.....
For a newbie, the frustration and let down from so much effort to drive so little, can be very dissapointing, and it can seem a lot of difficult and hard work, pouring over maps, looking at hedges and ruts, and not a lot of waggling shift levers......
And to be honest, 'Path-Finding' is something that I'm a relative newbie at as well....... done the long trails; and given good routes, even lead groups; but taking it to the next level, and doing the exploratory driving is something I'm still trying to 'learn' myself.
But got to start some-where...... and I do need a 'recovery-buddy' to do it...... which is why I'm constantly nagging Girtie there!
Your call, really; what are you up for?
If you want an easy intro; then maybe better to join a couple of runs in the Peaks or North Wales, where you'll get a lot of unsurfaced roads in a day. If you just want to have a 'crack' at some local lanes, and see what they are like, then maybe better to wait till some-one has a full 'run' in teh district planned, plotted and ready to lead.
But if you fancy diving in and having a crack at a bit of path-finding, then, yeah; I have a few tracks that could be worth investigating, I'd welcome a Rec-Bud for.....