Life In The Saddle

The Isle of Wight is a paradise for cycling with a family. Quiet country lanes, beautiful sea views, great food stops, and plentiful family-friendly accommodation; there are all the components for the perfect family cycling tour. In this blog post, I have put together a route for a three day family cycling tour on the Isle of Wight, with two overnight stops. The route is a point-to-point ride across the Island from west to east, to make the most of the views and opportunities to explore. I have designed the route to be ridden car-free, catching the train to Lymington Pier and the Wightlink Lymington-Yarmouth ferry  over to the Island; then returning on the Wightlink Fast Cat from Ryde Pier Head to Portsmouth Harbour Station , where you could catch a train home. Day 1: Yarmouth, The Needles and Tapnell Farm Starting out from Yarmouth, you make your way onto the Yarmouth-Freshwater cycle track; a traffic-free path that runs alongside the tidal River Yar estuary. Ease yoursel...

Osprey has an earned reputation as one of the best backpacking brands in the world, with their innovative designs and lightweight but durable packs being used in some of the extreme adventures and by many everyday outdoor enthusiasts. As a result, when they announced their launch into the world of bikepacking bags I was immediately interested; if their on-bike luggage options are as good as their hiking bags then they will certainly make a great impression. Osprey already has an extensive mountain biking backpack collection, with a dedicated department focussing on bike-specific designs; so, it was a logical step to launch the Escapist collection to target the bike adventure market and the growing bikepacking community. I was sent Osprey’s new Escapist Bikepacking Frame Bag to test, and over the last month it has been put through its paces on my Kona Private Jake gravel/cyclocross bike, with some very positive results… New Escapist Bikepacking Bag Range All the on-bike bags in ...