4| Contents CONTENTS

7. Editorial We’ve all lost a glove, or a shoe before haven’t we? Let’s remember those that are lost forever…

8. Lest We forget Benji looks at the history of our rights of way network and the trails hidden under our noses.

18. Skye It’s not just a long way away. Skye is a world away – but a world worth riding.

26. Blame the Dog Mike Ferrentino mines the rich vein of internet forum knowitalls…

28. Singletrack Weekender Did you miss the best event of the year? We didn’t…

30. Column – Philip Diprose Philip is excited about bread and butter rides; home baked, local rides with friends.

33. Bike Test – New School Ti Four Ti bikes designed for UK riding from Lynskey, Ragley, Van Nicholas and Whyte.

44. IMBA UK - Trans-Cambrian Way Chipps rides the 100 mile, cross-Wales route over three days. Great riding and big scenery all to yourself.

52. Through the Grinder More bikes tested in the wet/dry/wet UK weather.

64. Interview – Dom Mason of Upgrade Bikes He’s one of the reasons that jump bikes look so good these days.

70. Column – Faye Stewart What are the rules about trail diplomacy where you live? Faye knows hers.

72. Long Term Test Bikes Here’s the result of half a year of testing and tweaking our own bikes.

80. Fitness – Race Fast! Matt Hart gives out top tips for riding and racing fast, whatever your level of fitness.

85. Grouptest – GPS Units Geoff Johnson shows you your options when it comes to electronic navigation.

94. Finding nirvana in the Picos Mountains Two guys, two bikes, two bivvy bags and some Spanish mountains to explore. The two Jons go big in Spain’s Picos mountains.

100. Cycle 2009 Our favourite cycle show of the year returns bigger and better. We’ll be there.

102. Column – Ed Oxley Ed’s gone and lost a trail. In a small way, it was his fault for assuming it would always be there. You probably have trails like this one.

104. Propaganda We’ve got spanky new tees for you to look good in.

106. Competition Win a 2010(!) bike from Trek! A Trek 6300 to be precise.

108. Socks! They’re always getting shredded or lost, so why not get inspiration for some new ones from our selection.

110. Scenes Chipps rides with the Dangerous (mostly) Dads of Prestwich, Manchester. Three hours of urban singletrack.

112. Subscribe to Singletrack And get a free hipflask in time for winter!

116. Route Guide – Eastern Cairngorms The Queen owns Balmoral House there. She abviously knows a thing or two about great mountain riding.

127. Outro It’s been a good month for silly pictures…