Pedals at dawn: an early morning gravel bike ride in the New Forest

It’s tempting to hibernate at this time of year, but cycling the national park’s off-road trails is the perfect winter tonic

We meet in the forest in the dark. Though dawn is breaking, the evergreen trees all around us, a mix of old-growth conifers, giant redwoods and Douglas firs, are so tall and dense that they steadfastly block out the light.

Getting out of bed early to exercise in winter is never easy – it feels as if you’re being dragged from the womb – but as we pedal off and see the first rays of sunshine, golden, slanted lines cutting through the mist on the trail ahead, it already feels like the right call. We have the forest completely to ourselves; the only sounds are birdsong and the crunch of our tyres on the stony track.