Lots of great lanes riding in Herefordshire. Call me an old curmudgeon, but I do find it sad that these sorts of routes are being marketed primarily as a driving route, with a bullet point saying 'and you can do it by bike too if you want'. North Coast 500 and Wild Atlantic Way are primarily markete...

I bought a Lumix TZ 95 (I think, a couple of hundred quid anyway) and unless you were needing to use the extremes of the Zoom lens it was worse in every way compared to either my Huawei Mate 10 Pro or Samsung A71. I've recently bought a Samsung S21 Ultra. It's waterproof, has a proper 3x and 10x op...

Aye, Jack has it. For low light, my Pixel 6 is amazing. Astrophotography is a thing, with clear shots of stars and the milky way if that's your thing. Zoom lets it down, though again there is some clever use of microchip power to enhance the image quality. The only shots I'm not getting, and where ...

Yeah, I'd agree that a modern phone camera equals or beats almost all point and shoot cameras. Where phones aren't quite there yet is with zoom (phones have fixed lenses, any zoom feature is just a digital crop) and low light situations (phone cameras have quite small sensors). Phones are often much...

For a waterproof point and shoot, the Olympus Tough / TG series. Very durable. There are a number of "weather sealed" cameras out there. Weather sealed doesn't mean waterproof as in submersible, but should survive light spray, drizzle, dew etc. Canon G1X III is compact camera but has a big...

I feel that I really ought to share this with you - it's a direct message I've just received and in my mind, feels awfully like a veiled threat. Hi I know we have had an active discussion. Hopefully it has been a polite one. Please note Matt Robinson’s dematory comments against me and a magazine I ...

Nothing we do will change the views of the current govt who are the party of the rich and the landed gentry. I assume more militant ( unless it's mass action ) will just allow them and their billionaire friends who own the media to show us as lawless freeloaders etc ) We really need Scotland laws U...

I admire your diplomacy, Stu, have you ever considered a job in the Ukraine? They could use you right now. In my books about cycling in England and Wales I've always had a little bit that extols the pleasures of wild camping, gives a few practical tips and some suggestions for parts of the country t...

I have a Peak Designs Capture Clip like Jack's and it's absolutely brilliant. Just for clarity - I don't have a Capture Clip as I don't like wearing a backpack while riding. I am very tempted by one for when out walking with a backpack. I am a Luddite and just sling it over my back but am intereste...

Keeping the camera on your body is good as it reduces risk from vibrations to all the small motors and intricate bits of today's cameras. If you put it on the bike then lots of padding, or a degree of suspension will help. It's very good to have the camera easily accessible. You're much more likely ...

I'm a big fan of cycle.travel and Richard Fairhurst who makes it. It's a one-man-band operation. I talked with Richard at some length in this episode of The Bike Show podcast:

https://thebikeshow.net/planning-your-n ... adventure/

In the interests of completeness I'd like to put the Thermos Ultimate head-to-head with one of the Zojirushi models, which are the only other flask/insulated mugs seem as highly rated. But I don't have one. But I don't really see that there's any real world need for better performance than the Therm...

I did some home science with the kids, to assess the performance of our various insulated flasks. Thermos Ultimate comes out on top. As expected, the 900ml one performed better than the 500ml one. Surprise finding was the good performance by the old school glass-lined Thermos Mondial model, which is...

For everything that doesn't require an OS map, RideWithGPS is very good, the best of the bunch in my opinion. I've had some dealings with the people who run RideWithGPS and they've been really good, in responding to feature requests and generally open to ideas and engaging as fellow enthusiasts. If ...

I've been trying hard to find a workable replacement for Viewranger. One that allows: * provides OS base maps and allows bulk downloads to phone for use without a data connection or in Airplane mode. * provides other useful basemaps too, esp Open Street Map / Open Cycle Map * has snap-to-road GPX dr...

Fjern is a Sports Pursuit own brand, so the ‘savings’ offered on there should be taken with a pinch of salt. The quality is ok but not amazing. A montane prism at that price is much better value I’d say. Good to know, thanks. I'll keep to my BLS mantra. I'm sure the Nanopuff is good for another yea...

Thanks for the heads up. I've been on the look out for something to replace a very aged and slightly too big Patagonia NanoPuff. I also noticed a Fjern insulated jacket on sale at SportPursuit for £70. Something called Octa® Active Insulation. No idea how this compares to Primaloft. There seems to b...

We don’t ban picnics on the beach. Our community feels ownership and we gather to litter pick. Next week I’m doing a harbour clean via kayak. We accept that there will be transgressions but mobilise communities instead of moaning and banning. I’m quite inspired by how it works as locals feel the se...

Somewhat, but not completely, off topic: there used to be a tradition in respect of Dartmoor common land that if you could build a house in a day and fire going in the hearth by the time the sun went down, it was yours to keep as freeholder. The last instance of this happening was in 1835 and the co...

I'm sure much will depend upon the attitudes of the landowners and also the popularity of the route. Ultimately it could end up costing all involved considerable amounts of money. Possibly couldn't have happened at a worse time though ... feelings seem to be running quite high in many quarters. The...

What is most interesting to me about this route is that it contains several sections which are not currently classified as Rights of Way. This isn't just a few hundred metres of footpath, that you could choose to push your bike along, but sections of several miles such as the Tinner's Way between Ze...

Collect a variety of examples of perfectly rideable tracks that are either on access land or are footpaths but are not legally rideable by bike. Are you after ones in Wales, or will examples from England help? They need to be in Wales as it's a decision for Welsh ministers that will only apply in W...

I know the Trails for Wales campaign has been discussed here before. The working group that was sent away to chew over the difficult decisions has delivered its report and - disappointingly - they've fudged the difficult decisions, effectively passing them back to ministers at the Welsh Government. ...

The folding closed cell mats aren't bad at all. Decathlon do one for £14.99 Forclaz Trek 100. Very warm and the dimpled texture is more comfortable than ye olde roll up Karrimat. Light and indestructible, just a bit bulky.