On the road bike leading a group in northeast Hertfordshire on Sunday – bit chilly but lovely quiet country lanes. Out on the MTB for bridleways and byways of southeast Hertfordshire – trails dry, Broxbourne Woods looking lovely.

Ah, I felt the cobweb like things brushing over me in the woods but I didn’t realise what they were. I think they are Winter Moth caterpillars. https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/winter-moth

I like my lock-on Ergon GA2 Fat Grips: http://www.ergon-bike.com/en/article-ga2-fat.html Cost about 23 quid. I wear them without gloves.

Similar to Stronglifts (posted above) – Learn the core barbell exercises with Starting Strength: Squat, Deadlift, Press, Bench and Power Clean. https://www.shabu.co/ It’s the training programme I use, but I haven’t used the app.

I had a problem with toe overlap with a Condor Fratello, which I eventually sold. No problems with my Cannondale CAADX, Pinarello Stelvio, or my fixie (an old Charlton frame). All size 58cm frames (size 46 shoes). A slight toe overlap where you slightly clip a mudguard I don’t have a problem with, but the Condor had a large toe overlap with 23mm tyres and no mudguard. Nearly put me over the bars on occasion. Measure the distance from centre of bottom bracket to centre of front dropouts (front centre measurement?) to check for clearance.

Elstead Loop: one of the Ride Surrey Hills routes. Train from London Waterloo to Godalming.

Guide to watching it online here: http://www.cyclingfans.com/paris-roubaix/live

Many years ago I rode from Cardiff to Reading. Some sections of the the A4 are relatively quiet as the M4 takes the brunt of the traffic. The stretch between Chippenham and Newbury isn’t too bad. Making use of some of the quieter A and B roads gets you across country quicker where diverting to the minor roads and Sustrans routes would take a very long time, unless of course you have lots of time to spare.

My suggestion: From the Severn Bridge take the minor and B roads to Yate then Chippenham. Then A4 to Newbury. This is the route I took. You could work out a few detours on parallel minor roads.

The south east of England is densely populated and seemingly full of drivers rushing about. If you can get over to Guilford from Newbury avoiding the busy roads you can join the Downs Link trail which is a disused railway line that will take you all the way to the south coast at Shoreham-by-Sea. I’ve not ridden this but it will get you through a lot of otherwise heavily traffic roads.

If you take the Downs Link all the way to the coast it is just a matter of picking the quieter routes either along or near to the coast. This would be quite hilly. Alternatively you could come off in the Low Weald near Henfield. From here you could head east along the northern edge of the South Downs National Park, which is a bit flatter and maybe quieter.

Also from Guildford – if you are feeling adventurous – you could take the on- and off-road North Downs Way cycle route all the way to Dover. https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/north-downs-way-new-gpx-route. Parts of this would be very slow going.

I’ve also used the A20 between Maidstone and Folkestone. Because it is parallel to the M20 it is relatively quiet. Then there is a B road between Folkestone and Dover which isn’t too bad.

The Halfords shop may be able to tell what other stores have it in stock. If it is not too far away you could try it for size.

I bought a Voodoo Bizango from Halfords/CycleRepublic a couple of years ago. It was good to ride it around the shop first. I’ve been happy with it. I’ve only changed the saddle and grips.

Is it 20% off the £800 price tag?

Stick with the Spesh bike. You’d be wasting money selling it and getting the Voodoo. Any entry level MTB is gonna feel a bit of a lump to someone who’s mostly ridden a road bike. There’s nothing wrong with the Voodoo it’s just not going to be a better bike. The voodoo is a different bike because it has slightly smaller wheels and will feel different but it is not going to be any quicker. In theory a 29er like the Spesh will roll a bit faster but won’t be as agile as a 27.5 bike. In theory. I ride a Voodoo Bizango 29er (previous model with 2x front crank) and it’s a great bike and of course it feels heavy compared with my road bike. Save your money. Ride the bike you have. Keep it clean, maintain it properly. And when you break it, get a better, lighter bike. Happy riding.

If the weather is warm and dry then just a light summer sleeping bag or blanket on a Thermarest type mat is all you really need. I’ve spent many a night touring with a tent and sometimes didn’t set it up and just slept on the mat and inside the bag. If you can do without a tent you can do without a bivvy as well as long as the weather is dry and reasonably warm. I’d say the sleeping mat is the most important, then a sleeping bag or blanket, then a survival bag to cover you if there’s a chance of some rain. The only trouble is you can find yourself waking up with a dog licking your face – which is what happened to me when I slept on a beach in Italy.

I agree with @Qwerty about stiff soled shoes. I use Dominators for autumn and spring rides on road and on rough stuff where I will be riding almost all of the time. They are great shoes (on my third pair in 20 years) but for anything more than occasional trots on foot the soles are going to be wrecked. Most of the more challenging off-road riding I now do with Five Ten Freeriders with big DMR flat pedals. I got two pairs of Freeriders, one like the Dominators with no mesh for colder, wetter days and one pair with mesh vents for warmer weather. There’s good grip on the pedals and walking is ok. I also use a cheap pair of Karrimor lace-up walking shoes (£35) for some rides.

Back pockets usually for day rides on- and off-road. Osprey Raptor 10 back pack for longer off-road rides if I’m carrying lunch and/or overnight YHA stuff. Also use back pack if I’m leading off-road ride so I can carry first aid kit. Use a saddlebag for short tours.

@TrailWagger

What are you expecting to jam in there that could possibly lock the front wheel with such force that it would flip an 80kg adult over the bars?

I’ve been flipped over the bars once with a jammed front wheel. Riding along a muddy track I picked up some small stones and twigs which jammed a mudguard (with no safety release) and I did a slow cartwheel. Unhurt, just embarrassing. But I’d be cautious about getting mud, twigs and gravel jammed under the fork crown. It’s unlikely, but not impossible.

I would be very careful about the front. No less than 3mm clearance just in case you pick up something that could jam in there and send you over the bars. So a 28mm tyre would probably be a bit risky. How much pressure do you run? Many roadies have them too high. If your current tyres measure up to 27mm wide you could, depending on how much you weigh, run them at around 75-80 psi on the front (less if you weigh less than 75kg) and about 85psi on the rear. At 80kg I run 23s 95/100, 25s 85/90, 28s 80/85, 32s 60/65 and 35s 40/45.

You have a few options. Either a hilly/mountainous ride north or north east or a rolling ride to the west. My choice would be to head west through the Vale of Glamorgan. Maybe a circular route north of the A48 turn south to Llantwitt Major or Ogmore then head back riding parallel to the coast through Llancarfan, Wenvoe.

Maybe this route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29060847

Or my route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/11562267

Lots of quiet lanes in the Vale of Glamorgan. Rolling Welsh lowlands.

Leave car at convenient train station in Essex. Get train to London, ride across town to London Waterloo, then train to Winchester. Return by train from Eastbourne to London, then train out of London back to Essex. Along SDW there are train stations near the route every 25 miles or so if you have to cut it short. You might find it cheaper to buy a £30 Network Card which will give you 1/3 off off-peak travel for yourself and three friends. Check trains at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Just back from Tanners Hatch YHA. With all the rain over the past week I decided not to take the bike and instead have a walk and get a feel for the place. When it’s drier I’ll be back to explore the trails. Photo of copse to the north as seen from Tanners Hatch YHA this morning.

Thanks for the info guys. I’ll give it a go. I was gonna take the Maxxis DHR off the rear and put an Ardent on – but I think I need all the grip I can get. I presume the bridleways would be easier going? Rather than the byways, which are open to motors and ppl green laning chewing it up?

Thanks for the warnings about the slippery green chalk. I’ll be avoiding anything remotely technical.

Thanks for the tip about the Oaktree Routes Off-Road maps, they look like good value. I’ve got an online account for OS Maps and I’ve just bought a 1.25,000 sheet of the Ranmore and Box Hill area.

I’ve located the following areas to try from your suggestions.

Ranmore Common
Mickleham Down & Box Hill
Holmbury & Pitch Hills
Greensand Way/Leith Hill
Route 22
North Downs Way

I also see there’s a bridleway going from near the centre of Leatherhead under the A246 and all the way to Tanners Hatch. It’s about a 6k ride with 5k on the bridleway https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29243758 Should be fun with a loaded saddle bag. Later in the year I’ll be looking to do the NDW as featured here https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/north-downs-way-riding-in-the-shadow-of-the-rat-race/ but over several days.