Jack Thurston

It's been four years since the last Lost Lanes book came out. The new one has more rides, more photos, more pages. Because Scotland is, well, mòr. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Open now for pre-orders of signed copies and you can have a flick through some of the 296 pages here: lostlanes.co.uk/product/lost...

Glad I wore a foraging basket on my ride today

You can see this megalith on Ride No. 17 in Lost Lanes North

On the Southern Uplands Way in Dumfries & Galloway, approaching White Laggan bothy. I recce'd this gravel track as part of a loop from Newton Stewart but it didn't make it into the book. I think it's part of the new @cyclinguk.bsky.social Gallovidian Gravel route. #fingerpostfriday

Rock and roller Manfred Mann rocking the cape and rolling the Moulton Happy #BicycleBirthday, Manfred! October 21, 1940

This on virtual v real-world experiences from the ever-excellent John Burn-Murdoch’s latest FT column. Not sure if Zwift is a guaranteed 6/10 though.

At some point, with all this AI malarkey, they will have to turn the entire internet off, at least for a bit. It'll feel a bit like a covid lockdown and that time when that volcano erupted in Iceland and all the flights stopped.

What kind of person *watches* podcasts? Don’t you have cooking / washing up / laundry / gardening / DIY / commuting to work / looking out the window to do?

Its international Repair Day! Look after one of your wonderful appliances today. Give it a rub and a pat. Our report on how repairing your washing machine will save you money and reduce the tsunami of waste is here: materialfocus.org.uk/report-and-r...

Also true. Audax has an average speed limit between controls of 30 km/h.

Things were much closer a century ago. The longest Tour de France ever was in 1926 (5,745km). The maximum time allowance for a ride of this distance this under audax rules is around 600 hours, or just under 25 days. The 1926 race took 28 days, though 11 of those were rest days.

Here's a fun, if niche, cycling fact. If you were to ride the Tour de France at official audax / randonneur pace, you'd need to complete the 3,400ish km within 300 hours, or 12.5 days, for your ride to be validated. The Tour de France itself is raced over 23 days.

How to pay for parking.

As part of a bigger feature I've just written for the Cycling UK magazine, I delved into the niche world of bike lights with user-swappable rechargeable batteries. It makes a lot of sense, but there aren't many to choose from. Do you use one? Any recommendations? (I've seen the range from Fenix)

Any @audaxuk.bsky.social nutters considering riding all three stages of next year's Tour de France grand départ in an audax stylee? 800km including connections between stage finishes and the next day's start.

Taking a closer look at the route for Stage 3 of next year's Tour de France and there's a rare opportunity to catch the race pass from in two locations that are connected by a good gravel forestry road.

The next time I wear a pair of cycling bib shorts I’m gonna style it like this with a nice tailored white shirt 🔥

They’re both carrying the same number of people - and probably the same amount of cargo.

Japan follows Spain, Wales, Greece and Norway in setting a national urban/village default of 30km/h. Road Safety professionals argue for nations to either set 30km/h as a national urban/village default or allow cities/administrations to set it themselves.

It takes years of training to perfect this manoeuvre. #WorldBollardAssociation

Musician Marc Bolan finds the Jeepster for his love: a Bickerton folding bicycle Happy #BicycleBirthday, Marc! September 30 ((1947-1977)

Do you stock up on bike parts that you fear might go out of production? If so, what's in your bike prepping cache?

Don't miss this! FREE. UCL at it's best: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/in-person-...

Back when I wrote Lost Lanes North, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was free to enter if you arrived by bike (or on foot or public transport). If you arrived by car, you had to pay a parking fee. Today, car parking is free, and all visitors pay the same entry fee.

Helpfully my two favorite facts fit into one screenshot: (1) The name means *exactly* what you think it means (2) They had to make a special place name sign out of solid rock because it kept getting stolen

For a moment I thought this was heralding a backlash against indexed gears

"I began walking gingerly backwards." From the Cyclists Touring Club Gazette (UK) ca. 1920s or 1930s 🎨Reg Gammon

Great ad! Which bike-related stuff defies the grim reaper? (I am writing a feature on this very subject so may well quote you)

Fair to say my kids love meeting a cleaning robot in the supermarket, but these delivery robots are a menace to visually impaired pedestrians www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZWU...

Cargo bike folk! I’m organising a cargo bike show & tell stall at our town’s autumn fair next month. Any suggestions on any great materials we might exhibit alongside actual bikes? Or where I might find some?

As it happens I’m writing a magazine feature on bike gear (incl clothing) that just lasts. Or that is backed by a good repair service or a range of spare parts. What are your top tips?

New sock day! I don’t know any company that stands by their products like Darn Tough. Most lifetime warranties exclude ‘normal wear and tear’ but if you wear out these sock they’ll send a new pair, as I can confirm. Also insanely comfortable.

What's potentially even better than this amazing sweater and this amazing sweater photo, is that it may be a very pre-007 Roger Moore, who - more than one source claims - was known as "The Big Knit" for all the sweater modeling he did.

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders was part of a fun-loving bicycle gang as a teenager in Akron, Ohio, called the Road Spiders. As a tribute, Hynde later had a jacket made up referencing the gang, which she wore in the music video for the 1981 song Day After Day.

First the bike industry, now Scotch whisky facing tough times. I’m doing my best to help both - but fear it may not be enough.

Fails on all sorts of modern accessibility standards but blimey, car-free Vieux Nice is stunning. What I’d give to live there for a year.

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival Happy #BicycleBirthday, Alfred! August 13 (1899-1980)

I wish Wales had something like Scottish Water's excellent public drinking water refill stations - we really need it with all this hot weather www.scottishwater.co.uk/your-home/ca...

I’m set to do a long bike ride in the UK in early September. I bet it rains every single day. But happy to take one for the team.

Heavy pall of smoke from a big wildfire drifting down the Usk Valley. Pretty bad air quality in Abergavenny but I imagine really unpleasant in and around Crickhowell. Been burning for a couple of days now.

Not to detract from the effect of global climate change but I’d like to hear more about local land management too - eg in SW France the drainage of coastal marshland & planting vast commercial pine monocultures. Likewise drainage of Britain’s peat uplands for grazing & forestry.

I don’t understand.

I think this gets to the heart of the matter. Just the right amount of machine and just the right amount of body, perfectly in balance.

Wishing everyone setting out on the Dunwich Dynamo tonight a sensational ride, in the deepest sense of the word. Wish I was there, it’s a great night for it. Warm, clear skies and a decent tailwind.

Unusually for the UK, there are some very good melons available right now. Just thought I’d let you know.

Teenager injured WHILE SITTING ON BENCH in hit and run in 10mph Royal Victoria Park in Bath 😫 Do we need to shift our campaigning from safe streets to safe benches and parks?! www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/news/2026/07...

Considering ditching the Spotify account in favour of my own - previously bought - music plus NTS / internet radio. Seems a lot of work to set up (CD, vinyl conversion) but potentially a more satisfying & durable experience. Any top tips?

Idly exploring gravel trails in Liguria on Google maps, and come face to face with these menacing bunkers, which immediately make me think of @tomisitt.bsky.social