My partner got one straight away because of the trade in deal. The price seems like a steal, and the blue colour looks great in the flesh, I’m quite jealous. The size is good, battery and camera are great, everything just works and it doesn’t seem to be missing anything. Seems like an easy recommendation and will probably be good for 5 years.

Meanwhile DJs who now only play electronic music have mixers and controllers festooned with more knobs and buttons than ever.

If anybody pays for BT Mobile  you might be able to get Discovery plus for free. It replaced the BT Sport app (amongst many others). You just have to activate it in the BT account, or get someone you know who uses BT mobile to do so and give you the password.

Can confirm the search function is useless but it does have all the cycling, watched a full replay of a CX race earlier with no ads.

I did this about 5 years ago, was on 25mm road tires and the whole forest route was rideable, there were a few loose bits but nothing too bad. Given the vast majority of the ride is lovely tarmac, faster road tires make sense. Saw some hardy looking shepherds and a great sunrise on the forest route, it was well worth doing, although it felt like it went on forever.

Bedoin (forest), Bedoin, Malaucene, Sault was what I did, and would recommend. The first bit of the Bedoin climb that you have to do twice is arguably the worst bit, so its good to get it out of the way, and before it gets really busy. The trees give you shade from the sun early on too, but nothing in the middle of the day. Make sure you stop for a decent lunch before the third ascent as that is the one that really hurts. Definitely save Sault until last, so you get the full wall of lavender experience when you descend, and the last climb back up is almost enjoyable.

I started just before sunrise, but remember thinking I should have started earlier still. 3 ways is absolutely enough, adding in the fourth is pretty unnecessary, which is exactly why you should do it. Enjoy.

The complete disappearance of any street trials riding scene probably doesn’t help. I got into trials and did it for years because other people were into it and you could always find people to ride with and learn from. It had its time, then everyone got a dual slalom bike or something, and that was it. Though Danny Mac would bring about a resurgence, but I can’t remember the last time I saw anyone actually out riding trials.

I’m grateful for all the skills I learnt, but doubt I’d bother learning them now, because yes I would feel a bit odd mincing about getting punctures on kerbs by myself.

I’ve done a few of these by knocking up something with a wonky NHS logo, printing out and signing with a random signature, then scanning back in. I doubt they have the time or means to check the authenticity of a certificate, and I’ve never had a problem. A friend did a particularly bad handwritten job with no logos on, and they just asked him to get another one.

I had the problem with the watch scrolling from the map screen to basic screens when navigating, was pretty annoying. Was solved in the end by turning off auto climb or one of the other auto options, and it now stays on the map screen.

Also just keeping it simple with the watch face.

Very reasonable in terms of distance, you have all day to cycle.

I ended up cycling a bit of that route along the Rhine near the Black Forest last year. It is reasonably well signposted, and you can’t get that lost as if you lose the river you’ve lost the path. There were a few muddy bits that weren’t ideal on a road bike with panniers, but mostly good surfaces. I was amazed by the sheer number and variety of people touring on that path on all manner of machines, so I guess it would be good for a first tour.

I did end up getting away from the river and Eurovelo route as after half a day of it I was pretty bored of riding along a river, it gets very same-y, riding the whole thing would be too much I think, especially as a lot of what borders the river is pretty industrial. Apart from near big towns a lot of the roads are quieter than the bike path, and you get to see some nice towns. I’d recommend trying to plan a route on quiet roads taking in some touristy towns, as they’ll have places to stay and things to see. By all means do a bit of the Rhine path, but I’d imagine it only gets more industrial as you get towards Rotterdam. Having said that the river was a great way into Strasbourg rather than being on the roads there.

I’ve also done some of the Eurovelo 17 route in the South, and remember it being nice but quite mosquito infested in places, as the water isn’t moving very fast there, but you might be lucky in May. Again a lot of the roads are quieter and prettier.

Don’t worry too much about being too ambitious, trains are always your friend if you’ve overstretched yourself or things go wrong, but please do give it a go, it’s great! Northern France/Belgium etc is quite flat and busy though, so I’d recommend getting a bit further south before starting your tour unless you’re set on doing coast to coast.

This is pretty handy

https://opentopomap.org/#map=13/46.42277/8.51801

Park on the north side of Preston park and it will be plenty safe and you can leave it for as long as you like for free. You can walk to most bits of Brighton or Hove easily, or get a bus/train/uber/taxi bikeshare bike.

Seems like Google trusted contacts is the perfect solution, thanks to whoever suggested that.

From a real world perspective, an oval chainring will help a bit in the dead zones of a singlespeed pedal stroke, which is the main benefit I’d say. Have made the switch on road and off road bikes and have always added a couple of teeth and it has felt about right. If you just want to make life a bit easier for yourself go with the same number of teeth.

Don’t write off rim brake bikes, you can get a carbon bike with Shimano 105 for 1k that will feel like a rocket ship and be more than adequate if you’re just going to be riding it in the sun occasionally. 105 is flawless and the rim brakes are impressive these days.

Alternatively add weight & versatility, but it takes away from one of the joys of a road bike, which is sheer speed.

We camped near Lake Aydat which was pretty nice, only a 10-15 mile ride to Clermont Ferrand.

Lots of nice riding round there. The highlight for me was riding up Puy de Dome. There is an access road running up next to the train to the top. You’re not supposed to ride up it but plenty do, you just have to get there close to sunrise before the train is running or too many people are around. Great views from the top, even if you don’t ride it its wroth getting the train up there.

Otherwise just ride anywhere around the chain of Auverne volcanoes and you’ll have a good, if hilly, time.

They are great for CX racing in the mud, fantastic grip as you’ve found out. Sadly that is all they are good for though as they will puncture or split at the sign of a rock/stone/sharp edge. For general riding you’ve bought the wrong rubber I’m afraid.

It’s worth pointing out that the MK1 doesn’t have wifi, so you’ll need to plug it into a computer to transfer images. Given how good basic photo editing is on phones these days, it’s worth getting a camera with wifi for easy transferring if you don’t want to plug it in all the time.

I’ve had the Mk2 & MK3. I’ve found I don’t use the viewfinder on the MK3 much (probably from not coming from a photographic background), although it is sometimes useful. The MK3 can have apps of sorts, making things like timelapses much easier, and the built in ND filter is great, but if I lost it I’d be happy with a MK2 if it’s a good amount cheaper.

I’ve found myself using it less, as my Samsung S8 takes such consistently good photos and is easier to carry around and take a quick photo, and the phone is a lot smarter so deals with some tricky lighting situations better. It is great going back to RX100 though, it takes a great picture and captures some things that a phone will never be able to.

Haven’t smoked for years and am pretty glad that’s the case.

The thing I do miss though is having a smoke and listening to an epic bit of music, and getting thoroughly lost and immersed in it.

Check with the Land Registry, it really doesn’t cost a lot. If the land isn’t registered it might be worth getting copies of the titles for all the properties adjoining the land, to see if they have any kind of rights over the land. If the property at the back isn’t registered either then the land might well be theirs.

If the land isn’t registered and you don’t have any clues as to who owns it, it can be very hard (and expensive) to figure out who owns the land, and they may not exist any more. As above if it is just going to be a liability then don’t worry about it too much, and don’t let it put you off. It is likely you’ll be able to claim it in the future if you want to.

I’ve cycled in most directions from most of the Channel Ferry ports. I really enjoyed St Malo out to Brittany. Rugged, quiet coastline, plenty of cheap campsites or easy bivvying opportunities. It gets hillier, and prettier, as you go East, and the coast and some of the towns on the other side are stunning. It’s a bit like riding in Cornwall (unsurprisingly) in that there are no mountains, but the undulations and punchy climbs take their toll, especailly when carrying all your stuff. There is a reason so many good cyclists come from Brittany (mostly Hinault, who they love).

The Loire is flatter and there really are campsites everywhere. You can’t move for amazing chateaus, although touring you won’t end up exploring many so its a bit of a waste. It does get busy in the summer and there is more traffic, and a few not so nice bits, mostly involving nuclear power stations. If you want good cycling I’d definitely aim for Brittany.

The St Malo ferry is much nicer than the Dieppe ferry (a recipe for sleep deprivation if ever there was one), and dumps you closer to better cycling, although its also more expensive.The jury is out on whether your bike is more likely to get nicked in Newhaven or Portsmouth.

Don’t get hung up on the Eurovelo routes, they’re often glorified canal towpaths. Stick to the smaller roads which are all pretty deserted in Brittany, aim for vaguely sticking to the coast or heading for interesting looking towns and you’ll have a great time.

I went from a Pompino to a Langster. Obviously you lose the off road abilities, but if you only ride on road its a much nicer ride and a fair bit lighter, but still has mounts for mudguards and bottle cages unlike proper track bike frames.

+1 for Shimano XC-5’s, done thousands of road and off road miles in them. Look good, plenty stiff enough and unexpectedly light. Seem to be wearing in, not wearing out.

50×16 for up to 75 mile hilly rides, would go 50×17 for 100 milers.

As above single speeding isn’t the same, climbing fixed is much nicer and easier somehow.

I find its the big/steep hills near the end of rides that will make your knees hurt, so front load the climbing where you can.

If you just want a straight line to each town then Google Maps is good, just start a new map (if you’re logged into Google go to Your Places>Maps then create a new map), and draw lines out.

If you’re going to be using Strava then you can use the multiple ride mapper to compile all your rides over a certain time period, looks pretty good when it has all compiled.

http://www.jonathanokeeffe.com/strava/map.php

Tried the Bolt and it is good and the maps are great for road riding, I didn’t really like the LED’s, but thats not a problem. When you realise your friends use the LED’s connected to show their power output its quite fun to watch how hard they are pushing whilst pretending not to be, although quite demoralising if they’re not trying hard and you are to keep up with themm.

Had no issues with my 520 though and for the most part using OSM maps works much better for off road navigation. If you ride around the same places a lot then its great, I’ve got the whole of the South East Region and London on mine. If you go to new places you have to download the maps in advance which is a bit of a faff, but the mapping is great for most of Europe.

Hopefully Garmin will up their software game or they won’t have many people buying new units, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

I also use Time Atac pedals on all bikes. The only downside is sometimes showing up to road rides or races with really muddy shoes, should probably have 2 pairs.

Time XC8’s seem to be the right balance of light weight, robustness and weight, with some cheaper Atac’s on the lesser bikes.

I got one yesterday, and am impressed. Warmed up very quickly, and makes a good coffee with an impressive crema. Slightly plastic-y in places, obviously it doesn’t have the heft or engineering of more expensive machines, but it makes good coffee, has a 3 year warranty and doesn’t look cheap sat on the worktop. Well worth the punt.

There is lots of research going on at the moment that suggests there is a link between low vitamin D levels, and an increased risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis.

It seems there are plenty of good reasons to take Vitamin D if you’re struggling for sunlight.

Recently got a Samsung s8 and have been very impressed. Came from Sony phones which were capable of taking very good shots, but mostly in good lighting conditions and holding them perfectly still. I’d end up taking lots of shots and usually a couple came out well. The Samsung gets it right nearly every time, and low light photos are unbelievably good.

I think there is a bit of a disconnect between things like DXOMark, and real world photography with a phone. Iphones have always seemed very good at getting shots right first time in challenging conditions, and Samsung seem to be there now too.

The Pixel 2 was tempting but I found the s8 a better size and I wasn’t ready to ditch the headphone jack, it clearly takes great pictures though.

Depends what you’re into.

Its hard to go wrong with the South Downs Way though. Ride up Dyke Road to Devil’s Dyke, then head East for as long as you fancy. Alfriston is a good turn around and has a great village store, or carry on to Eastbourne and get the train back to Brighton (check they’re running). Nothing particularly technical, but lots of climbing and great views, you’ll be knackered by the time you get there. Easy to follow but worth taking an OS map as there are a few easy to miss turns.

Duke of Yorks is the one.

Given that they work on such tight tolerances, its well worth getting a bike shop to ream and face your headtube before installing it. If you do that, you should never have to touch it again.

Shell Suits

The Singlespeed European Cross Championships will be held in Brighton (Stanmer Park), on 18/19th Feb next year. Thats a pretty good excuse to build one and practice your drinking skills if you live anywhere near.

Jonathan Dennis has won a few rounds of the London Cross League on a singlespeed, a lowly Pompino in fact, so if you’ve got the legs you can go well on one.

So where are the ships now? Do they show up on marine traffic shipping websites?

I’ve never been tempted to go into Blazing Saddles purely because of the kit their roadies wear. Some of the riders you meet at races are nice, some not so much, as you’d expect, but the kit was gopping.

Still sad to think you won’t see them around and the shop will be gone though, but like others have said there is no shortage of other local shops around, and quite a few have been springing up in slightly more prominent places like in Shoreham.

I’ve heard Freedom bikes in Brighton will probably be gone soon as well, which is another shop that would do a lot better in a different location.

I built a shed recently and learnt a few things.

It will take a lot longer than you think, you will make mistakes, but you’ll learn a lot. You’ll also develop rough manly hands for a while.

If you ask for trade prices at timber merchants you’ll usually get them.

Before you buy all the tools, ask your friends, as chances are some of them have done somthing similar, and now have a bunch of tools sitting somewhere getting dusty that you could use. The more types of saw you can borrow the better, and having more than one drill can save a lot of time, plus you can never have too many clamps.

I loved descending into Sault, emerging from the forest and hitting a wall of pungent lavender infused warm air. The Sault climb is probably the most enjoyable of the climbs as well, underrated.

Don’t be put off by the cyclists in Bedoin, lots of good places to eat. Best meal I had was a takeaway pizza from Pizzaria La Mamma, eaten in the square with a cold beer.

There is an off road route up most of Ventoux, but its rideable on a road bike. If you’re doing the main Bedoin-Ventoux climb, make sure you leave early as it gets brutally hot pretty quickly.

You can ride to pretty much any village near Ventoux and stumble across some amazing hidden gems, its a fantastic area. The signposted tourist cycle routes from Bedoin are easy but fantastic.

I tried doing it in a day with one bottle last year. Whilst there are easily enough taps to get you there, its also very easy for a full water bottle to jump out of your cage (you see a lot of them by the side of the trail). Having to ride the second half with no bottle was a ballache. If you’re worried about water, maybe carry a second bottle in another cage, but keep it empty and use it if you have to.

There are a few taps and turns on downhills, so if one of you has a garmin, get the route onto that and it’ll make life a lot easier.

You might just have to click on the ride button, then save (instead of resume) and it’ll save the ride to file.

If you’re riding it on road and you’ve got a gear on it large enough to go fast, you won’t want to be leg braking with it, but a front brake is still enough, especially if its a disk.

Pompino with a disc fork, or Pompetamine, is perfect. Lots of clearance and mounts and really nice to ride on the road. I actually prefer riding mine to my fancy road bike, and I don’t mind leaving it outside the pub.

It took me a while to love fixed riding, especially down steep hills, but stick with it and you won’t go back. The flywheel effect really helps up hills compared to singlespeed, and it makes you strong and smoothes out your pedalling style as well.

Don’t let the hipsters put you off, old farts have been riding fixed forever, for a reason.