Guardian article

[HopeValleyPaul]

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/ ... SApp_Other

Some of the comments are worth a read. Apparently bikes damage the ground and wild camping is illegal in England. Who knew?!

[Ray Young]

Apparently bikes damage the ground !

I can't believe that after twenty something years of mountain biking in this country some people are still saying we cause erosion. A path or trail is nothing more than a line of erosion anyway and guess who laid that line down first........walkers.

[mountainbaker]

Never read the comments. Oh, I'm on a forum, doh!

[Bearbonesnorm]

Lets be honest, it's simply another publishers PR exercise ... a rehash of what usually gets printed in the Telegraph on a fairly regular basis. Sooner or later they'll realise that bikepacking's rubbish and the only people worth preaching to are the converted.

[Matt]

I did Bikepacking for a few years and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I've recently picked up on the West Coast craze for Bagskating. All you need is a good quality black bin bag and a skateboard. The bag acts as a sail, helping to pull you (on the skateboard) up mountainsides, hills and valley inclines, and slow you on descents. Had a great Bagskate recently across Snowdonia!
Worst experience was a gust of wind on a cliff in Devon, which caught the bag and dragged me over the edge. Fortunately, I've also a lot of skydiving, so I was able to use the bag as a parachute / wingsuit. I drifted out to sea and ended up being picked up by a trawler. They had just caught some lobsters, and cooked some for me on the boat as we headed back to port. One fisherman had a small accordion and started singing sea chanties. We all joined in. Another had a bottle of Capt Morgan rum, and passed it around, with the boat swaying its way into harbour as the sun set golden in the west.
Bagskating is supergreat, but look out for those hangovers in the morning!