Maintenance you aim to do will depend on the kind of conditions you’re riding in.

Daily

Give the bike a once-over about once a day.

• Check the tyres by hand and increase pressure if needed. Tyre pressure depends on the terrain and the tyre.
• Clean chain. Use an old rag held round the chain and turn the pedals backwards. For more persistent dirt you can use a brush.
• Lube chain. Make sure the chain is clean and dry then apply a small amount of lube to each link whilst slowly turning the cranks.
• Check headset for looseness. Put the front brake on and gently rock the bike back and forth. If there is sign that it is loose, if it is a threadless headset, loosen the stem bolts and tighten the headtube bolt to clamp the headset tighter. Don’t overtighten it. Then redo the stem bolts.
• Check wheels hubs for lateral movement
• Check wheels for trueness and spoke tension. Wheel trueing it beyond the scope of this article. Check out Sheldon Brown.
• Check tightness of rack fixtures and quick releases. Tighten up bolts / nuts / levers where needed.
• Check cranks aren’t loose by attempting to move them laterally. If there is looseness then tighten them up according to the cranks you have. Sheldon Brown article on the topic.
• Check brake cables for any damage and test the brakes work by holding them and pushing the bike back and forth (not sitting on it)

Weekly

• Check for general loose bolts & fittings affected by vibrations.

Monthly

• Rotate chain every 3000 miles depending on conditions. Check chain wear with a chain gauge if available (otherwise check excess lateral movement and visual wear).
• If you get the chance give the bike a proper wash with a bucket of slightly soapy water and a sponge working from the top down. Use a brush to agitate dirt and rinse down with cold water. Do not use a power washer ever as you push all the grease out and push dirt into where there should be grease.

If you get a puncture

• When you get a flat, make sure to remove the offending pointy thing from your tire. Run you hand around the inside of the tyre (be careful).

Thanks to Adam Rice, mattnz, Danniel Hicks, heltonbiker, JamesBradbury Photo credit

Moving to a foreign city - whether for work, study, lifestyle change or just for fun can be a daunting experience. However, to ensure that it reaps the greatest rewards and to make the transition as smooth as possible here are some tips and advice to help out from my own experience which I hope will be useful.

1. Accept invitations
2. Get a local sim card for use in an unlocked phone
3. Have a debit / credit card that doesn’t charge for getting money out and get a local bank account if you will be around for a while
4. Take someone local with you to look for accommodation to tell the best places and to avoid getting overcharged
5. Get on the local Couchsurfing (or alternative) meeting to meet locals who are open to meeting foreigns - there are many local city Facebook groups for a variety of purposes to that can lead to making helpful connections and friendships
6. Try and get as much exposure to the local language as possible by hanging out with locals
7. Take a backup battery for your phone
8. Check with taxi drivers the fare before getting in the taxi
9. Be aware of visa rules - e.g. how long you can stay on a tourist visa and what are the conditions for working if you plan to work
10. Get out of the city and see some of village life.

Lee Firman was the manager of the online footwear retailer “Feetus”. He contributed this article detailing his kit list following a Camino de Santiago route in Spain covering 350km, on tarmac roads, over 2 1/2 days, staying in hotels overnight. Over to Lee:

I used an audax bike rather than a racer with mudguards, rack and SPD clipless pedals on it. These were good on the bike but also allowed me to walk when not on the bike.

You might want to travel solo or with others. It can be difficult to find others who you know who are interested in doing the same kind of trip you had in mind. However, the Internet can be a great place to connect with others who want to do adventures and looking to buddy up. Travelling with a companion can give an extra sense of security and it can be more fun to share an experience.

These are the questions I asked a German explorer I met in Tbilisi who was travelling by horse.

• Where are you from?
• What is your job?
• What trips have you done before?
• What is the motivation for your trip?
• Why use a horse?
• How is travelling with an animal different?
• What languages do you speak?
• Describe briefly your average day?
• Where you do live and sleep now?
• What is your life philosophy 1 short paragraph?
• What is your most important object?
• If you could have one thing of your dreams what would it be?
• What message would you like to tell the world?
• What was the nicest unexpected experience you recently had?
• Did you have any troubles on your journey

What questions would you ask an explorer?

When out mountain biking, nothing is more important than ensuring your safety and the safety of others around you. The truth is, mountain biking is one of the most enjoyable activities in the world, but it can present several hazards above and beyond those of road cycling. If you’re ill equipped to foresee them, you could find yourself in harm’s way sooner than you think.

Below, we have listed seven points that you must always remember before heading out on a mountain biking adventure.

In the last couple of years I have used my Merrell Trail Glove 3 and Inov Trailroc 255 trainers and wrote long term reviews about them (linked above).

• The Merrell Trail Glove 3 have become a shoe I wear for walking.
• The Inov Trailroc 255 I use for crossfit and running.

Why I stopped running in the Merrell Trail Glove 3

I stopped running in the Merrell Trail Glove 3 because:

• I moved to a town and therefore are more likely to run on both tarmac and grass.

I run in the Inov Trailroc 255 because they offer:

This is a positive post reflecting on some experiences of working in a team to provide tours to tourists in Georgia.

Working together:

Communicating with a language barrier

You can be understood but it takes more effort. You don’t need an intermediary but it can help and another person involved can also add ideas and prevent the me vs you issue.

Difference in attitude

An incentive is not always needed to turn up but it can help whether that is money or passion. The the aspiration should be to provide a great service.

On the road, you pick up a few tricks. You are more vulnerable by yourself, in an unfamiliar place and you need to be able to trust and cooperate with people you meet and make do with what you have.

A few things that served me well on my travels.

Accept invitations more readily

Saying yes just opens you up to so many experiences.

Trust pretty much everyone (give benefit of the doubt)

Open up your heart to people and they will do the same for you.

Excerpt from RGS Expedition Handbook

35 WRITING FOR MAGAZINES Miranda Haines 06 RGS Expedition Handbk 4/3/04 3:54 pm Page 401SELLING YOUR PIECE Mind the gap: dealing with the media Strangely, and most editors moan about this, it has been very difficult to ?nd reliable professional expeditions to write a good, relevant, interesting piece that stands out from the pile.Undoubtedly, both sides are missing something here. It is always worth remembering that we both want the same thing: a good and visually exiting result in print that readers will enjoy and come back for more. So how do we get to this point? On the face of it, the gulf of misunderstanding between expeditions and publishing folk could not be wider.We sit in our safe offices with smug looks on our faces, avoiding your telephone calls, drinking lattes, and worrying about small things like spelling and printers.