Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming

I’m not at work today, but this is kind of my day job. I’ve just messaged you.

In decreasing order of importance to encourage more people to cycle to work:

Secure cycle storage with sheffield stands that can accommodate a wide variety of bikes (there’s a TfL document on what good storage looks like and why). By secure, I mean hard for people who don’t work there to get into, ideally well lit and dry. That storage placed close to the entrance to the office so people can actually find it and don’t have to wander round in the dark to get to/from it. It’s always nice to have a “lock rail” to discourage people from leaving their d-lock on the racks.

I wouldn’t worry about charging infrastructure. Most offices come equipped with lots of sockets, and the average commute is unlikely to flatten an e-bike battery.

Safe routes from the entrance to the cycle storage.

Changing and storage space. Somewhere for people to safely put their riding gear to dry during the day and know it’s going to be there when they come back. Enough of it that you don’t worry about there being space for them when they arrive. Good drying facilities are nice, but can be expensive. Showers are also good, but can be pin to get installed.

Good signage that tells people where the facilities are. You’d be amazed how many people don’t knwo what facilities they actually have at work. And, seeing signs to the storage encourages people to try it for the first time.

Route maps for how to get to your site from a variety of common places. Not knowing how to get to work safely by bike is a big obstacle for people.

Pool cycles are a nice to have but they can be very expensive, a pain to look after and poorly used.

Those are my initial recommendations

I’ve not found the Head angle steep. But (a) I live in the south downs, so there’s only so steep the terrain gets, (b) my comparison is an 8 year old bike so anything modern is going to be slack as.

I got an Escarpe amp about a month ago kit was on a very special offer). I’m really liking how it rides, compared to my 2014 stumpy. The top end version has matched calipers and the suspension upgrade. I think they all work well.

Mostly I’m here to thank Benji for answering the question that’s been bugging me: what on earth is that Port under the top tube for? Well, now I know.

Though I suspect I won’t be getting much use out of live valve on the rs shock…

Thanks everyone. A slight scheduling fubar means we’re probably going Sunday morning.

Hangover/tiredness probably dictates being closer to the scenic end of the gnarmageddon scale. So that tweak to the waymarked route might be bang on.

Fab, thank you

@kayak23 & @onewheelgood I saw those routes, but couldn’t tell if they were any good, or just created to say they’d got some mtb trails. Good to hear from a local that they’re not a complete waste of time.

My wife has never been to the Malverns before, so (assuming the weather’s not godawful) it would be nice for her to get the view from the tops. How would you recommend fitting the ridge into that loop?

We’re coming up from Hampshire. FoD is a long way out of our way.

I’ll take a wee look at Wyre Forest. Just had a look, looks interesting but we’re coming up from the south so it’s quite a diversion.

Thanks for the tip though.

It sounds like there’s a lot of things that aren’t viewed kindly in the Malverns.

Welcome to the gang. You’re going to love it.

I can’t recommend the ortlieb panniers highly enough. They’re brilliant. And bombproof. Most days I get away with 1, today I was doing an event so needed both to carry the extra stuff. Mine have a wee mesh bit that I throw my phone in.

Mudguards. Seriously, full commuter mudguards are great for keeping gank off you and your stuff.

I’ve got a topeak mountain morph under the down tube. It’s in a plaggy bag to keep the last of the mud off.

I made my own bottle toolkit with a cheap water bottle, a tube, some tubeless poo sticks, a multi tool, split links and a pair of nitrile gloves. Works a treat.

Can we have tldr for every review? It’s great.

I’m a rep on our Local Access Forum, working closely with the council’s Countryside Department who maintain Rights of Way and look after the Definitive Map Modification Orders.

Both the Forum and the Council have been pushing DEFRA for clarity since the deadline was set. It’s never been clear whether the deadline was submission of the application or for the council to resolve them. Given that the council has something like a 3 year backlog on DMMOs (there are three people for the whole county) and are fairly normal in that, this lack of clarity has a significant impact on what the deadline means. And they’ve had something in the order of a threefold increase in applications over the last couple of years.

My guess is that this is a tacit admission from DEFRA that the situation is a mess and open to all sorts of challenges. removal of the deadline takes some pressure off councils.

On the landowners’ right to apply, that’s always been there in the DMMO process. It’s one of the things we see most often. So, it remains to be seen what this actually entails.

Understood. That seems a bit odd, but it is DEFRA.

Thanks for the reply.

@Hannah Dobson this is great news. Do you have a link to a DEFRA source on this? For sharing, not because I don’t believe it.

While there is undoubted value in local advocacy and the face to face interaction they can have with landowners, there is very much a role for a national group.

For example, some work I did with MoD a while back. They insisted on only speaking to the “national body” for mounting biking. In their minds, that meant BC. Nothing I could say about how there isn’t one would dissuade them from that, or persuade them to engage with local groups.

On the subject of other user groups, I sit on our Local Access Forum as off road cycling rep, alongside ramblers and equestrians. Our interests align more often than they diverge. And all of us bemoan how the network, access and planning leave us feeling excluded and ignored. I think any notion that horse riders and, to a lesser extent, ramblers enjoy a significantly better situation than us is misguided.

Where we do differ, is that they are members of national organisations that support and promote their work. If mountain bikers were willing to pay for such a thing, I think we might make significant advances.

My wife pre ordered an Evol back in May. Due for delivery mid July. Just before the delivery date, she got an email saying “actually mid October as we can’t get the shock” which somewhat dents our holiday in early October plan.

Delivery dates are good, but only when they’re accurate.

Having said that, I’ve got a camino al, and it’s great as was Alpkit’s service. So, I’d still recommend Sonder.

I had a really good experience experience with Ride It last year. Six jerseys done for work in a variety of sleeve lengths

https://www.rideitclothing.com/

Give Ally a shout

The council almost certainly have a reporting tool online. Don’t hold your breath w as iting for things to get done. As people have said, Row officers are overstretched.

Regarding the extinguishment, the landowner will Nedd to make a request for a Definitive Map Modification Order (dmmo) for changes to row. Try to get hold of that. The other thing to do is get hold of the county’s local access forum. That’s filled with people like me who are good at badgering the council over things like this.

When it was on Netflix, the Christmas special was added as the last episode in series 2.the didn’t call it that, we only realised part way through.

Thanks @robbo1234biking

I’ll take a wee look at that.

After much to-ing and fro-ing I pressed go this afternoon on an order from Ride-It.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

Thanks to everyone for their recommendations.

Tangentionally related but picked this up on Facebook this morning from the South Central Ambulance Service:

@Yetiman: Cheers for that.

I’ve sent off email enquiries to the companies here. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.

Thanks for everyone’s input.

@ Yetiman: I’ve heard tell of TCJ’s quality not being great recently. Is there any truth in that?

Flare are definitely now on my list as well. Cheers for the recommendation smashit.

All interruptions are good. I’ve been slowly going through the advocacy files over the last six months or so. They’re really helpful for someone new to the game.

Keep up the good work

Caspian: you’ve got mail

I don’t know whether this is part of my remit or not. I’ll see what I can help with.

I have heard nothing about it. This is the first I’ve heard, I’ll ask around and see if any of the other advocates around the place have heard anything. Am I right in thinking that you’re talking about the dirt jumps in the trees between the P&R and the roundabout?
If I’m honest, I know very little about them, being more of a “wheels on the ground” kind of rider. What is the current status of the trails regarding permissions and management? That kind of thing is important.

Not automatically.
As a palaeo-ecologist I am not necessarily opposed. those woods are relatively young (being beech and, therefore, unlikely to be more than 1-200 years old). It’s worth remembering that trees don’t necessarily equal good from an ecology point of view, especially in the South Downs. So, from the photos it’s difficult to tell whether it represents a significant ecological resource (and is at the outer limits of my knowledge). It is therefore, difficult for me to form an opinion.
As a rider and access advocate, I’m am predisposed to oppose anything that removes riding opportunities in the area. Obviously, these trails have a very particular audience, and one that I am not personally part of and is not represented by any of the major bodies, but that does not limit their value to those who do ride there. As such, I would oppose any plans to remove the resource.

In a word: no. HCAF is a statutory body and organisations in the area have a statutory duty to listen to our advice. They do not have a statutory duty to follow that advice.
As with all things access advocacy-related the devil is in the detail. Have any alternative venues for the trails been suggested?
Do you want to give me a shout off-list and we can talk about this in more detail out of the public eye?

I managed to have a chat with the Map Review Officer this week and asked him about this. He admitted that he has no idea whether it’s possible but has forwarded it on to someone in their technical team who will definitely know. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll put it up here.

Morning all,

Sorry about the radio silence over the last few months, real life has been somewhat challenging and everyone’s gaze has been focussed on the north of the county.

However, I do have something to report.

It’s about the very exciting issue of path clearance and hedge cutting. I know.

Every year the Countryside Service maintain the long-distance paths in the county, making sure they are clear for everyone. They also ask EVERY PARISH COUNCIL to identify their 5 key paths for clearing. There are funds and resources available to make that those paths are kept clear of vegetation for the summer.

Why am I telling you this? Because 1st February is the deadline for the parish councils to tell the Countryside Service which paths they want to be kept clear.

So, if there is a path that you use a lot and gets overgrown, now is the time to start telling your parish council about it and lobbying to get it onto their list of five.

Good luck, here’s to a slightly nettle and bramble free summer.

Quick bump for this one.

Nick says that they’re holding this “informal consultation” phase open until the end of the month. The aim at this stage is to find out what people want and to get any good ideas in so they can incorporate them into the improvement plan.

The “formal consultation” phase will begin in the new year. That will be asking for comments on a draft document.

So, if you want your ideas incorporated, now is the time to offer comments.

Slowster,

I’m not as familiar with the Wiltshire map as I could be. I’ll head off and have a look at it. Given that this is all done with GIS and CMS, I can’t see that it would be incredibly difficult to implement. I’ll have a wee chat with the RoW people at the next meeting.

Slowster,

Last things first. I agree with you in regards to byway surveying. This could be an opportunity for different users to get together and understand each other better. It could also be a way of increasing the capacity of HCC to get the survey done. There is also the possibility of engaging with user groups to get repairs done.

However, the issue with volunteers (as always, and I’ve been on both sides of the table) is reliance on people who are giving up their spare time. There is often enthusiasm but there is a lack of accountability. When volunteers are good, they tend to be very good. When they’re not so good… Consistency, training and monitoring would be the key, as would effective guidance.

All of this is still up for debate as it seems that HCC are still at an early stage of putting this together.

Andy

Hi Andy,

This all sounds very positive, have you had any dealing with the MoD yet? There are ongoing issues between the MTB Community and MoD in the areas around Farnborough and Aldershot so Caesars Camp, Tunnel Hill, PorridgePot Hill etc.

another Andy

Andy,

We’re off to Longmoor tomorrow for a liaison meeting with MoD & DIO. It’s my first time in the meeting. I’ve been brought up to speed, by various parties, on the general state of play but I’m no expert. I’m in touch with Simon at TAG about the best line of approach for tomorrow. If you’ve got anything specific you’d like me to bring up, or anything to add to the somewhat problematic attitude of DIO , I’m more than happy to hear it.

Feel free to message me f you’d prefer that.

have just been reading about byways management in the latest LAF papers and it sounds a great idea. Certainly there’s some that could do with repair work but guessing there’s no chance of that happening?

Sorry for the slow response on this one.

There was a long discussion about this at the last forum meeting. Essentially, the council’s plan is to maintain byways in the state they currently are as far as possible. From a mountain biking point of view there’s a delicate balance to be struck between fixing byways that are knackered and neutering the ones that are interesting or fun. Either way, HCC doesn’t really have the cash to go upgrading anything much.

There are a lot of BOATs in Hampshire and there are a lot of off-road users who have various impacts on the ground. So they are formulating a plan that allows them to identify the ones that are in danger of deteriorating and putting plans in place to deal with them. I’m working from memory now, but it goes something like this:

There’s a traffic light scheme where green is fine, amber is keep an eye on it and red is act.

The actions they are looking at are voluntary restrictions (eg not driving on them in the winter when they are soft and easily damaged), repair work where they are dangerous and, finally Traffic Regulation Orders where they close them because they are too expensive to fix. I paraphrase but that’s basically what they are looking at.

As with all these things, the devil is in the detail. They are wondering whether the survey work can be done by volunteers, they are also still trying to decide how prescriptive the guidance needs to be for the surveying.

So there’s a certain amount of “watch this space” but the essence is that Highways and ROW departments are looking to be more proactive (rather than waiting for things to break) and more focussed in their responses (so they get the best result for their time and money), which is a good thing.

Sorry, that turned out longer than I expected.

Apologies for the radio silence recently: real life has a habit of doing that to you.

We’ve got our quarterly liaison meeting with MOD and DIO on Wednesday this week, does anyone have anything I should be aware of or that they would like me to take to the meeting?

I am aware of the issues at Longmoor and the excellent advocacy work being done by TAG, but are there other issues on MOD land in the county that need brought to my attention.

Cheers

Andy

HCC budget consultation
Not strictly mtb related but probably important.

Hampshire County Council are skint. Thus they are consulting on how best to balance their budgets. It may be an exercise in claiming “these cuts are what the voter asked for so don’t blame us” but equally, you can bet that those services we rely on to keep paths open will be in the firing line.

The consultation is here

Fly Tipping Strategy

Hampshire has a new draft fly-tipping strategy out. I haven’t read it yet, but it may be useful when it comes to reporting fly-tipping along trails.

You can find the document here

Please don’t think that the new forest NPA are in any way not championing cycling

Point taken. I’ve always difficult to untangle who is responsible for what in the Forest, it seems more complicated than most NPs. Thus, I may have unfairly maligned the NPA, based on the actions of other parties.

Good luck.

Countryside access forum website

For those who are really interested, or merely very bored, here is the web page for the Countryside Access Forum complete with minutes of past meetings.
I haven’t seen the minutes for the June meeting, but if there’s something in the agenda you are really interested in, then I can tell you what happened.

https://www.hants.gov.uk/landplanningandenvironment/countryside/hcaf