Bongo Twisty

A close-up selfie of a man wearing two stacked metal colanders on his head.

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

During today’s partial eclipse. It was a good one. Darkening of the skies, a perceptible drop in temperature and quiet all around.

Man Ray

Plant Ray

Colander Ray

If you could have one magical power or super power, what would you choose and what would you use it for?

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This post is my response to the Blaugust2026 group project for August 10th. I may be a day late but with the application of my chosen super power I don’t think that matters much.

Just over a week ago I finished reading the Gone series of books by Michael Grant. The main characters in the stories develop powers. These included light-blasting hands, telekinesis, gravity cancellation, incredible strength, healing, and super speed. Each power had benefits but also magnified a flaw, exposed a vulnerability, or was connected to a malevolent entity. There was a drawback or cost to each respective character for the power they gained.

Thinking about the group project question the challenge was in coming up with a superpower that did not carry that kind of cost. Something that wouldn’t corrupt, be weaponised, turned inward or damage me for having it.

Initially I considered the power to end all suffering. I could do better than that though. Adopting a deficit based superpower would be a missed opportunity and unbecoming of someone who works in health and social care. Besides you could argue that suffering is necessary to feel fully alive. Eradicating all suffering risks cancelling out other positive experiences, emotions and feelings. I wouldn’t want to strip those things away. Life without discomfort might become stagnant, stunted and one dimensional. No heads without tails. Yin and yang.

How about controlling the climate? Not thinking big enough with that. It’s also another deficit based superpower. A power to fix something that is wrong. To compensate for something that’s missing.

I have instead settled on the ability to make it so that every living creature on Earth has sustainable living conditions. Food, water, shelter, clean air, viable habitat. All of it, permanently, simply by willing it so. A strengths based approach.

I’d only have to use it once and then it would be done. No human, animal or plant would ever die of thirst or hunger or exposure again. The climate would be ideal. Ecosystems would thrive in symbiosis.

There would be an end to suffering that serves no purpose and comes about simply because conditions are inadequate. Get that sorted and a lot of preventable misery would disappear while what makes life meaningful remains

There would be just one act with global effect. No ongoing management, governance or other such burdens. I would just make it so.

Failing that I put my faith in Alan and Lucy¹…

Lucy Over Lancashire (Remastered 2017) [single] by Paul Rooney

…and all I know about mysel’ is from what Alan’s told me, he’s chief sprite, there’s a lot of us sprites, he said, spread over Lancashire, air sprites, water sprites, marlocking like mad…you are now listening to this record, and it’s a very special record, I’ll tell you t’ story behind it after I’ve introduced mysel’, or mysel’ according to Alan, everything I know’s told to me by Alan, and Alan said I were one of t’ ‘sprites of th’ air’, a boggart, a skriker, but airborne, and without a body, no substance, only a voice, a ceaseless voice, but whatever I am, there must be more than one o’ me, though I can’t see anyone, and I can’t see Alan, there’s just a faint ginger shape occasionally, ‘at must be Alan I presume, a carrot coloured contour in t’ darkness, or t’ dark redness, it’s more of a deep red gloom everywhere, all around me, and all I know about mysel’ is from what Alan’s told me, he’s chief sprite, there’s a lot of us sprites, he said, spread over Lancashire, air sprites, water sprites, marlocking like mad, doing t’ work of th’ evil one, Satan that is, we’ve been here for centuries, and I’ve been all over, until recently I were inside a pair of Puma trainers hanging on a telephone wire over a bus stop on th’ A666 near Darwen, Alan told me this, I were hanging over t’ land, my voice merging with t’ bleeding busy bombinating buzz on t’ telephone wire above me, I were damned to carry on whining inside t’ shoes, haunting t’ trainers, ‘at’s what Alan told me, positively possessing pendulous Puma pumps I were, and I told mysel’ stories to keep me going, I were never silent, I would have liked to be silent, but I couldn’t be silent, so I told t’ stories Alan had told me, I don’t know any others, to keep me going as I were hanging there in those rotten old trainers, stinking to high heaven they were, though I couldn’t smell them, suffering Jesus, they would have stunk, if I could have smelled them, and it were a great view I had up there, apparently, or it would have been if I could’ve seen it, a view over Pendle Hill in Lancashire, chosen place is Pendle, and t’ rest of Lancs, part of northern England ‘at’s touched by evil, it’s all over t’ shop, so Alan informed me, Lancashire were always thought to be one of t’ ‘dark corners of t’ land’, a superstitious place, witches and Popery, but they’re not stupid, t’ Lancastrians, it’s not that, they’re just used to weirdness, and they still believe in Satan, Dark Lord, they don’t support him, but they believe in him, and no wonder, he’s chosen to base his business operations in their land, their Rose Red land, do you gawm?, it all makes sense once tha thinks about it.

Devil’s branding and marketing strategy involves associating himself with t’ colour red, colour of magic, raspiest ruddy raspberry red, and Lancashire is t’ Red Rose County, red rose ‘at were garlanded around t’ gardens of Babylon, and one of t’ big football teams in Lancs, who play in red, even call themselves Red Devils, and if its numbers tha wants, th’ A666 highway runs reet through t’ county up to Pendle, so tha can’t get more obvious than that, if tha wants Satanic associations, Satanic with a capital S, and what’s more, there were something else, valleys around Pendle, yes, where a few of t’ local witches were caught a few years ago, ‘at’s where t’ whole plan were kicked off, some of th’ other witches got together, for a bit of revenge and merry mischief, they were known for merriment, Lancs witches, and they put a spell on t’ small scale weaving industry in those valleys, and their spell meant small industry gradually transformed into t’ great Satanic cotton mills of th’ Industrial Revolution, t’ heart of t’ fearful fiery furnace of th’ Industrial World, and so t’ whole of t’ global capitalist machine all grew out of those Lancashire valleys, triggered by t’ work of t’ witches, working for t’ Devil himself, Dark One himself, capital D, capital O, De’il were a weaver as well you know, it’s all down to him, t’ end of t’ world through global warming and ecological catastrophe caused by mass consumption and industrial expansion, it’s all part of his plan, his extreme x-certificate exercise, disaster movie stuff, brewed up in some cauldrons in Pendle, ‘at’s why Merxx and Angles, first thinkers of global capitalism, ‘at’s why they were in Manchester a while back, they needed to be at t’ beating heart of t’ bubonic barbarous beast, to predict how it would evolve, how t’ paroxysm would come, how t’ beast would be defeated by its own contradictions, it’s a nice thought, can’t see it mysel’, its not part of t’ plan anyway, ‘at’s what Alan tells me, the plan of Owd Scrat, Dark Lord, capital D capital L, for world domination through global industrial capitalism, it all started off with those cotton weaving wily witches in Lancashire, then t’ mills arrived, which got bigger and bigger, t’ mills needed cheaper and cheaper cotton, so th’ African slave trade were built up through t’ Lancashire port of Liverpool by Liverpool merchants to provide cheap labour to pick cotton in America, ‘at were all Satan’s idea, and t’ cotton mill workers in Lancashire themselves were practically chained to their large, looming looms, small childer worked in a hell on earth, in deafening noise and sweltering heat, and believe it or not, at one point t’ mill workers, white slaves, showed support for Lincoln’s American Civil War forces trying to abolish slave trade in t’ US, forces ‘at were blockading t’ slaving south, even though their blockade had led to a shortage o’ cotton, the Cotton Famine, the Panic it were called, bobbins were idle, and the Lancashire workers had to dree and were clemmin’ for years, it were terrible for ‘em, but mill workers still supported blockade, an example of t’ selfless solidarity o’ slaves with slaves, Lancashire workers were fighting back, trying to foil t’ Devil’s plan, and slavery were abolished in t’ cotton fields of America, a setback for Satan, but t’ wage slavery carried on in t’ Lancashire mills, then later in t’ twentieth century, workers were brought over from t’ Asian sub-continent to slave for t’ wages, until they too were thrown out o’ work, and they were stuck there, in t’ mill towns, hassled by t’ BNP, far right party who’s leader stood for election in Lancashire, where else?, all part of t’ plan, keeping t’ kitschey county Dark, with a capital D, and Alan told me all this, when he emerged out of t’ red mist, or his shape loomed, I should say, there were no emerging, if only there were emerging, but there’s only ever looming, looming redness, and gingerness.

I were going to tell you about this record weren’t I, well I am doing, sort of, so stick with me, it will all become clear, what were I going to say?, there’s another looming shape, that were it, as well as Alan, another skrikey whine, th’ voice must be a mate of Alan’s, they both must be part of t’ sprite committee ‘at’s responsible for me, or they could be t’ same person, as t’other one is ginger as well, any road, Alan said ‘at t’other one were his assistant, so they must be two folks after all, he told me that Mick, Mick Bucknall is t’other one’s name, had a pop group called Impy Red, there’s colour red again, he hung out with t’ Red Devil footballers a lot, and Mick’s musical group were really famous, Alan said, Satan can sort all that out no problem, chart success, all t’ rest, t’ music world is under t’ Big S’s thumb, always has been, selling souls, Devil’s music and all ‘at jazz, and Mick once tried to work with reggae producer Lee Scratch Berry, he asked Lee to produce one of his records, because Jamaican dub music is a threat to t’ Dark Forces, capital D and F, Alan told me this as well, there’s something about dippy dubby drops in t’ deep dub mixes, moments when all th’ instruments drop-out into an abyss of silence, with snare shots echoeing across t’ void, these moments suck up evil like a black hole, and t’ dubby bass, deep deep deep de deep dub bass absorbs and slows down t’ evil energy, so Mick wanted to discover t’ secret of t’ dub, to learn how it conquers Darkness, he even started a record label putting out dub records, so he could tame and then destroy t’ dub, but Lee suspected something, he wouldn’t get involved with mad mawkin masticating micturer Mick up to his rigs, he knew, all t’ dub folk know, about Lancashire as heart of Babylon, ‘at’s how Jamaican dub music found its way back to Lancashire, because t’ music ‘at came out of Caribbean slavery tried to undermine t’ beast from within, he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity, it makes sense, dub is a farrantly righteous music, so t’ dub got into t’ red county and invaded th’ airwaves, a Radio Lancashire programme called Up On t’ Wire started to play t’ dub music, it tried to turn t’ terrible tide, and t’ programme started broadcasting in t’ 1980s from a studio a few miles away from Pendle hill, it got t’ dub on th’ air, it tried to drown out sprites like me, drowning out diabolical voices of t’ Lancashire air, and Lee Berry appeared live on t’ programme, he stayed in Clitheroe near Pendle while he were there, he supported th’ effort, and because of all this the Great Sprites Panic happened, and all t’ sprites started wasting away, th’ evil sucked out of them, I needed to tak’ refuge in th’ hanging trainers, I were losing ability to sprite, but Alan heard of t’ dub threat, he had to stop it, so he went on t’ radio, sprites do that a lot, it’s easy, we are a bit like radio waves, voices on th’ air, that’s all we are, so he went on t’ radio, as Alan Keswick, he started a late night phone-in show on Red Rose Radio, and he were crabbed and croat, he savagely abused anyone who went onto t’ programme, th’ air were clarty with fraps and wild ravings, sorest madness of t’ world, he spat bilious bloody black bile of Satan out onto th’ airways, trying to reclaim t’ Lancashire air for t’ Darkness, tha could hear t’ barking of th’ hounds of hell themselves in t’ background as he broke off for t’ ad breaks, and in Revelations thirteen all of this is prophesied, ‘a ginger man will blacken and reclaim th’ air over t’ red land with evil words’, it says, or words to that general effect, if any man have an ear let him hear I say, and in Revelations thirteen, if you put together every sixth word from the start of the verse, what do you get? Lancashire radio wrath.

I was going to tell you about this record weren’t I, I’m coming to that, and anyway, Alan often played a song on his show called Helter Skelter, by a pop group from Liverpool, as often as he could, a record famous for t’ hidden messages ‘at only Keswick himself could interpret, and he also played ‘at other Lancashire group, t’ Fallen, who were named after Lucifer and his mates who descended from heaven into th’ abyss, but both these groups were only half Dark, so to speak, t’ Fallen were half evil as a result of a botched possession attempt by Mick Bucknall himself, Mick were a music fanzine writer and used to pester t’ lead singer of t’ Fallen for interviews, he were really trying to influence t’ Fallen towards t’ Dark Side, which he only half achieved, and from then on all of t’ Fallen’s records contained a bit of Darkness, their gigs and records were big bilious bleeding battles between t’ Darkness and t’ Light, like Lancashire itself, and some writing on one of t’ Fallen’s single covers summed up conflict of forces, it contained this peach of a pleading prophecy: ‘I urge t’ finder of this master tape never to unleash it on humanity! – Ah! Already th’ evil Deit-y Ri-Kol is clawing at my brain! – If it is unleashed – The Fall is here, th’ ectoplasm exorcised and Humanity Can Either Eat That Grenade Or Face t’ Second Dark Age’, meaning t’ next one after th’ industrial age I presume, when Satan has his very vicious victorious victory, th’ only way out is to blow tha head off, I guess ‘at’s what it all means, singer Mark E, the E is th’ evil bit obviously, embodied t’ Dark/Light dichotomy within himself, a useless hexen priest, re-living t’ witch trials, he could practice many half Dark Arts, always looked a bit deawldy, and could croon like an angel, ‘at last bit’s not true, but there were another thing, to do with Bibles, its gone, well anyway, there were one time, yes, t’ Fallen accidentally supported Christian Irish band U3, and th’ original support band dropped out, obviously cursed by t’ mighty mithering Mark E, and t’ U3 fans, who know a red mist when they see one, chanted ‘Satanists! Satanists!’ at t’ Fallen and threw Bibles at t’ band, they threw big black brassy Bibles at them, and what’s more t’ Fallen once wrote a song in celebration of t’ radio shows o’ Alan Keswick, and Alan were very tak’n with this, he told me so, he told me all of this, I’m just repeating what he’s said, and he said t’ song were a B side called ‘Lucifer over Lancashire’.

It didn’t work out, Alan on th’ airways, he were tak’n off th’ air, defeated by t’ forces of dub, but Alan had an alternative plan, and here’s where this record comes in, it’s based on another prophecy, a prophecy about ‘a red disc ‘at will restore t’ Dark Force over t’ red country’, and so Alan told me I had been selected out of thousands of sprites for t’ job, he sen it were assignment in spryting I’d been waiting for all these years, even though I didn’t want assignments, I just wanted to stop, but I were damned to carry on, I’ve said this before, and any road, he wanted me to go to a pressing plant and tak’ occult possession of a red coloured vinyl record, he said I would be able to leave my pumps behind and live in t’ disc, it had to be vinyl, tha can’t possess CDs, not enough texture to them or something, and outmoded technological forms have more scope for subversion, Alan said, th’ revolutionary possibilities o’ t’ discarded and overlooked, is how he put it, and I would live in t’ shiny red grooves, if tha could call it living, though I had to agree it would be better than t’ trainers, I couldn’t deny that, and it would be a dub record, playing t’ dub folk at their own game, in their own lair, my revolving red ranting record would be broadcast on th’ Up On t’ Wire programme itself, it would destroy t’ dub from within, it would finally defeat t’ dub challenge to Satan’s plan, t’ great plan cooked up in t’ big black bubbling cauldrons of Satan’s own county, and old Lucifer will reign over Lancashire once more, his agents Alan and Mick by his side, ready for t’ day of victory, and now it’s too late for thee, because this is th’ record, tha’ll be listening to it now, tha only has to listen, ‘at’s all it tak’s to be damned, tha cannot escape now, tha’s damned, is thee, well and truly, but I can’t keep this up, tha were damned already, if truth be told, and I don’t believe what Alan’s told me, its nowt to do with this record, or me, or Alan, or Satan, it would be better for thee, wouldn’t it, if only pointy bearded fork tailed red blokes, or old crones, or DJs, or ginger singers, if darkness only came from them, it would be so easy, but it isn’t, you know that don’t you?, I’m sorry about all this, it’s the way things go, I’m not doing my job am I?, I think I’ve failed my mission, I’m just glad to get out of those trainers, after all those years, and get onto a record, a big red vinyl spinning record, with a big red shiny cover, and I bet tha would have done just t’ same as me, if tha were in my shoes, so to speak.

Here’s th’ end of my record, run off groove is coming up, where t’ needle slips across t’ shiny red vinyl and lifts up, and there’s silence, silence for thee, but not silence for me, if only it were silence for me, I’m still whining on in t’ grooves don’t forget, still damned to carry on, inside these grooves, inside your head, at least I’m not inside trainers, at least it’s not that, but I still have to carry on, ‘at’s th’ thing, carry on ranting away forever, think of that, think of what that word forever means.

Alan said it were a very long time.

Thanks to “One Deck Pete” over at Weeds Up to My Knees for the heads up on this tune. ↩︎

audax: Chipseal 200km DiY

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Oh my gosh. Out yesterday on my bike to complete a 200km. I have been doing a least one long ride each month for the past couple of years. Occasionally much longer. I did not enjoy yesterdays ride at all. That is quite unusual.

Something felt different not even 50km into the ride. It was more of an effort than normal. At first I thought this was down to not having ridden any miles for ten days. Not so sure about that now. If anything I would have thought having fresh legs would help.

It briefly crossed my mind when I selected the route that when I last rode it the going got tough in places. Kind of shrugged that off. I guess because it was a faded memory I minimised the potential of a repeat. Turns out that was a mistake.

While the first 50km felt more effort than usual it was the following 100k that was really problematic. I started to feel it between 90 - 100km. Not even half way. The ride had become a slog. An unscheduled stop at that point for water and an energy drink brought it home to me.

Contemplating what lies ahead.

The prospect of another 100km felt daunting. If there had of been an easy way out I probably would have taken it. Not felt like that on a ride for a very long time.

Other than just not feeling particularly fit and strong there was two main factors that negatively impacted the experience. It was pretty hot. +30° at times and muggy. That would not have been so bad except I was dressed for milder weather. When I left home there’d been a smattering of rain and it felt pretty cool. I should have known better. I did not take my cap of until much later on. Stupid of me since it made an immediate difference when I eventually did. The other reason was out of my control. The road surface was appalling.

Between about 60km to 160km it was truly horrible. It’s a an issue I have often come across on audax routes which I have adapted from a calendar event. When planning these routes organisers plan the control points then have to take the shortest practicable distance between them. In Kent that frequently means following A roads or busier B roads.

There’s a few things wrong with this. They are often not very scenic or interesting roads to ride on. You get the traffic which is not necessarily heavy but does tend to travel at the speed limit of the road or faster. Worst of all though is the surface.

Chances are if you don’t ride long distances on a bike or have some special interest in road surfaces chipseal may not mean much if anything at all to you. Maybe though you’ve sometimes noticed an increase in road noise while driving. It could be chipseal you’re travelling on.

Chipseal looks like this

Riding a bike on chipseal is not nice. It increases the rolling resistance. You go slower for the same or more effort than on smoother tarmac. It sends vibration up into the bike. I feel this mostly in my hands and feet. It wears them out and after a while gets proper uncomfortable. It becomes worse depending on the age and ultimately the condition of the road.

Budgetary Contraints

Quality Control

Quite often utility supplies (water, gas, electric) run along these roads so consequently they get dug up a lot. This then creates frequent patch repairs of which there seems to be very little quality control of.

Patch Repair

So I had close to 100km of this. I was fed up. When I got a flat I welcomed the respite from riding. It was a tube failure rather than a puncture. At the time I would not have minded if the spare tube did not inflate as that would have given me a legitimate reason to bail on the ride and call spouse for a lift home. My mood deflated as the tube inflated. That’s a rare thing to happen.

As it goes the worst of it was nearly over. After another 10km or so I was into the country lanes and the surface had markedly improved. I was still hot and tired. Most of the climbing was in the last 50km but at least I was no longer on chipseal.

I’ve been thinking today more about calendar events. I had been planning on doing some next year to qualify for PBP. This would be instead of getting the SR award from my usual DiY rides. Not sure I want to do any in Kent and I am reluctent to drive anywhere just to go for a ride. I was also thinking do I really want to even do PBP in Autumn. It’s bound to be boiling. I’d rather do that kind of distance in April, May, September or October. Just thinking things over for the time being. Give it time and it will all be just a memory.

What Photography is For

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I have just been looking through some pictures I took yesterday. I came back with a good few from an afternoon session down in Hastings at the Hidden Beach Festival.

We’d gone along to catch a few hours of Aba Shanti’s set. I’d been hoping to come away with some decent photos of Aba behind the controls, of Aba looking out into the crowd, of people dancing, of people enjoying themselves and being together. None of the pictures I looked at this morning did that.

They were mostly poorly composed snapshots. None of them conveyed any feeling. What was missing is any sense of connection. Not so much a physical or social connection between me and the subject but more so human. If anything at all the pictures convey emotional detachment. Images created by an impassive observer.

What this implies and how I engaged with the experience feels a bit off. It gives me food for thought though. Having it come to my awareness it’s now something I shall be mindful of in future and experiment with. Easier said than done but it’s worth reflecting on and trying new things out.

When Aba’s session ended we bought some food and sat down to eat. There was some kids playing near by. This was my best photo of the day -

Teaching Photography #2: What Photography Is For

What they’re trying to do is communicate something. Make the viewer see or feel or understand something they wouldn’t otherwise. That’s what separates photography from pure documentation. Showing what was there is only the start; what it meant, how it felt, why it mattered; that’s the actual work.

Things I Use

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I read today a piece about digital cameras and wired headphones making a bit of a comeback. It’s not news. I’ve read about this a few times over the past few years. What comes around and all that. However, it struck a chord with me since some of this stuff I have never fully moved away from or have still got tucked away in a draw somewhere until I am minded to have a play or finally get rid of it in one way or another. I was thinking about taking a few pics and writing a post about some of this stuff. Though better of it and decided to do one of those “Things I Use” I’ve seen on other people’s blogs. Probably better as a page for updating. I’ll get round to that another time.

Some of this stuff I am very happy with. Some of it could be better and will be swapped out if and when I find a good alternative.

Cycling

Surly LH Disc Trucker
Pinacle Dolomite
Hammerhead Karoo Bike Computer

The Surly is a reliable, heavy workhorse. Comfortable but slow. The Pinacle is a bit lighter and probably better suited to Audax rides but it’s not quite as comfy to ride. Both have a nine speed chain set for durability. A triple on the surly. Compact double on the Pinacle. Both have TRP Spire Mechanical disk brakes. Powerful enough for me and easy to service and/or repair.

The Karoo is perfect for me. Maps and navigation are excellent. More display field options than I shall ever need. Superb battery life. Highly recommended.

Writing

Sublime Text
Standard Notes
Libre Office
Hugo Blog

The first three I have been using for years. Hugo for the last year. I’m happy with them all. Good enough as they are. Extendable/configurable according to need.

Digital Background Services

Proton (Mail, Calendar, Pass, VPN, Drive, Lumo 2.0 AI assistant)
GitHub
Codeberg
Codefloe

I’ve been all in with Proton for a good while now. Not entirely happy with all my eggs in one basket but so far so good. Github as I did not know any better. Lining up Codeberg and Codefloe as replacement candidates but in the meantime am using all three.

Socials / Communication

Signal
Mastodon
Samsung Galaxy s23

Signal as a messaging app because all the others are either thieving personal data, are terrible companies, or so niche no one I know will use them. Samsung because I have not got a Linux phone yet.

Browsers

Libre Wolf
Vivaldi

I feel a bit more comfortable with Libre Wolf in terms of of transparency. Vivaldi has all the bells and whistles but I can’t get over some of the code being technically closed source. I understand their reasoning but still.

Music

JBL 305P MkII
Focusrite Scarlett Solo 4th Gen Audio Interface
Strawberry Music Player
Navidrome
MAJORITY MP3 Player - 16 GB
Cheap wired headphones from TKMAX
Edifier W820NB Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Stereo Headphones

Happy with all of that other than Strawberry. Sometimes the sound goes a bit off. Probably something to do with back end settings I don’t understand. Loathe to give it up though so I persevere.

Reading

Calibre
Xteink X4 Pocket eReader

Both of these are great.

Laptops

Entroware Proteus
Dell XP 13
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 15D (Navidrome server)

The Entroware and Dell are more than good enough for what I use them for (aside from the sound card for playing music hence the Focusrite interface and JBL 305P MkII studio monitors). The Lenovo was lying around doing nothing so I put it to good use. It’s old and low spec but good enough to use as a Navidrome Server.

OS

Debian 13 (stable)
Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS (Navidrome)

Ubuntu on my laptops for over ten years until switching to Debian early 2026. Ubuntu created a smooth and easy exit from Windows. It was a good introduction to Linux. We’ve both changed. The time felt right to go.

Photography

Fujifilm X-T4
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 16-80mm f4 R OIS WR
Fujifilm Fujinon XF 35mm f1.4
digiKam
GIMP

It will be some time before my abilities get anywhere near to the capabilities of the kit and software I use.

Bandcamp Friday - Violinbwoy meets Laboratorium Pieśni

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Bandcamp Friday - 7th August 2026. I only just remembered to to get this one in the nick of time with a little over a hour to go on.

This is Violinbwoy’s take on a Belarusian traditional song. A beautiful interpretation by Laboratorium Pieśni remixed for sound system play by Violinbwoy in his laboratory. A tune gathering the ancient spirits - from that time to this time… play it loud and feel the vibrations!

LIONSCHOICEV04 - Violinbwoy meets Laboratorium Pieśni - Pieśń IV by Lion's Den

I’m a big fan of dub steppas and modern takes on traditional cultural sounds. The Rootsman is another producer that puts out some great tunes with a similar kind of treatment. Well worth a listen.

Principles Encouraged. Pragmatism Tolerated?

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I have spent just over a decade on Git Hub. I’m a hobbyist. Very little if anything I’ve had on there has been of benefit to anyone other than myself. Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub in 2019 did not pass me by. I turned a blind eye. I think it’s fair to say my patronage is of no benefit to Microsoft.

Since spring 2025 I’ve used Git Hub to host and publish my Hugo blog. I’m getting something for nothing. That sits well with me since it’s Microsoft. It still feels a bit off though since I’m the type to shun big corp by default for all the usual reasons.

Earlier this year I decided to make the effort to migrate my repos to a service with principles more aligned with my own. I chose Codeberg. The migration process was quick and easy since I was using Git Hub as little more than a back up facility for everything other than the blog. I was a bit wary about moving it and having to set up a different workflow for publishing so put that job on my list of things to do.

Even though I created the workflow with the use of an LLM it took a while before I set about the task to create one that would work with Codeberg pages. Once I started it did not take long to come up with something that worked as intended. Before throwing in the towel with Git Hub it seemed sensible to test things out for a while with Codeberg. I set up a dual push work flow and to this day my blog is mirrored and published on both platforms.

Then the democratic decision was made. Codeberg members voted to support a motion that served to "prohibit LLM-extrusions" i.e code that has been squeezed out of an LLM.

As is often the way I found myself close to the edge. My shortcodes, partials, layouts, webmention script, CI/CD pipelines, and bash scripts were all developed with LLM prompting. The guidelines indicate this as something that "…might no longer be welcome on Codeberg." However, they also say, "…you don’t need to move right away, but there might be other places that better fit your needs".

On the plus side I direct the LLM what to code, review outputs, test, and iterate. My blog has a genuine use case and is of value to me. It’s a real blog, it’s not a generated repo farm. It’s not autonomous, there are no agents writing commits without my involvement. More than 99% of the writing and images are created by me. Resource usage is probably modest in absolute terms.

I think I may be in the zone Codeberg describes as “discouraged but tolerated.” However, if Codeberg tightens enforcement, the repo for my blog could be flagged because some of the code bears the hallmarks of LLM generation (consistent structure, verbose comments explaining obvious things etc).

With this in mind I have mitigated the risk of being booted off the platform but in doing so have perhaps also increased my exposure to it. I now have a triple deployment approach and added Codefloe into the mix. Codefloe don’t share the same position as Codeberg about code written with or by LLMs.

So my blog is now hosted and published on three platforms.

Platform	Domain	Role	Custom domain
Git Hub Pages	bongotwisty.blog	Primary	Yes (configured in GitHub repo settings)
Codeberg Pages	bongotwisty.codeberg.page	Mirror / backup	No (uses default Codeberg Pages URL)
Codefloe Pages	bongo-twisty.bongotwisty.codefloe.page	Contingency	No (uses default Codefloe Pages URL)

All three pipelines build from the same main branch on push. The built in redundancy seems pretty cool to me. It’s way over the top for a personal blog with very few if any regular visitors but it keeps me entertained.

I know that Codeberg and Codefloe both need donations. I’m happy to contribute.

IndiWeb Carnival: August 2026 - Purpose

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A bit of background in case you’re wondering IndiWeb Carnival.

The month’s (August 2026) topic is “purpose” and is hosted by Chris Shaw at uncountable thoughts.

Purpose

A single word that evokes many different interpretations.

It can apply to yourself, an organisation, club, community or even humanity itself. Is it fixed for all time, or does it change and adapt to the surrounding environment?

Is it important for others to know the purpose, or can it just be shared among the people with a direct stake or influence on it?

Why even have a purpose defined at all? Would anything be different if it wasn’t?

Do wildlife have a purpose, beyond the biological processes that drive particular behaviours in each moment? Or, is it a uniquely human construct to separate us from other life on earth?

My immediate thought was about meaning and then wondering why that came to mind.

Shared characteristics maybe?

Intrinsic or extrinsic: does purpose originate within or arrive from outside; does meaning follow the same path?
Imposed or owned: the difference between assignment and choice. Can we own our meaning when purpose has been assigned?
Shared or isolated: purpose alone versus purpose held in common. Does shared purpose generate shared meaning?
Shaped by experience: what we’ve lived influences our aims.
Arising from need: sometimes purpose fills a gap.
Existing subjectively and/or objectively: is it ours or for others to define? Do they share the same owner?

The presence or absence of either may lead to positive or negative emotions. A sense of belonging and value, or an aimless sense of being.

Is purpose essential for life to feel meaningful? Does meaning create purpose? Without either we risk becoming a rudderless vessel steered by the values, wishes and needs of others. Even if purpose and meaning are meant to serve ourselves or others, allowing others to set our heading is a poor way to achieve that.

Purpose can be attributed to us but there’s a catch. If our purpose is prescribed does that not signify the purpose is only for others in instances where our agreement is not forthcoming? If that’s true it’s illustrative of a distinction between function and purpose.

I believe we all create, choose or inherit what becomes meaningful to us. In a similar way we attribute purpose to ourselves, others, and even biological systems. A kidney filters blood as a function. Any purpose in that is projected onto it by us. I am struggling to think of any meaning or purpose that is actually hardwired into our being.

If purpose is something we project onto functional systems, then the question becomes whether that projection changes when the system becomes sufficiently complex.

An LLM’s function is mechanical in predicting the next token. Yet some might argue that helpfulness emerges from that alone at sufficient complexity. Ask an LLM its purpose and its instructions and training will provide the answer. It has no stake in that attribution.

But if purpose requires originating goals rather than deriving them from training or experience, then no amount of complexity will achieve it in and of itself. The same holds for us.

Our goals arise from biological inheritance, lived experience, and cause and effect. If that’s the case, we are no more exempt than an LLM is from its training. Behaviour may lead us to believe that our purpose is truly ours, but believing isn’t evidence.

Deny purpose to AI on grounds of missing consciousness, and you face the same denial applied to yourself. Biological systems are also functional. Where exactly does emergence stop being projection and become something else?

Accept purpose for AI, and you accept emergence as real across functional systems, including ourselves. They may simply be two sides of the same coin.

The more I think about this, the harder it becomes to distinguish between discovering purpose and creating it. Perhaps that only matters if we believe we stand outside the forces that shaped us. If our aims stem from biology, experience, relationships and circumstance, then purpose may be neither found nor chosen but is continuously taking shape from what we are and what we encounter.

The same question applies to artificial systems. If we deny purpose to AI because it does not originate its own goals, we are left explaining how we do. If we accept purpose as something that can manifest from sophisticated systems, then we may need to accept the same explanation for ourselves. Either way, the question becomes less about purpose and more about whether free will exists at all.

Perhaps purpose and meaning are vehicles for an illusion of agency. A means of expression. A way to signal agreement, a desire to belong, to contribute to something greater than oneself, or to extend beyond the boundaries of a single entity. Whether that agency is real or only perceived, the effects are much the same. Purpose guides choices, meaning shapes experience.

Blaugust 2026 Group Project - Tell Us About Your Very First Blog

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

For Blaugust2026 I have anchored to this page published by Krikket on her blog Nerd Girl Thoughts for reminders and ideas on ways to participate. Very helpful when I am feeling inclined to dismiss every idea I have because (insert any reason that comes to mind).

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

The first blog I created was in 2000 and on a site called Cosgrove Capers. The name was taken from the block of flats in Hackney that we lived in at the time - Cosgrove House.

The aim was to keep a digital scrap book and share news with family and friends about the first year of our oldest sons life. I think it’s fair to say any interest in what I posted back then was mostly mine. Nothing much has changed.

There was weekly updates, snap shots and a few audio files. Without knowing it “Oscar’s Page” was very much a weblog and the site I suppose what might now be called a digital garden. It was created and hosted on a service called Homestead.

Over time I added stuff about getting married. I created a project called Drawstrings. We asked everyone we invited to our wedding to complete some ‘amusing’ profile questions. These were compiled into an album that was shared with everyone at a pre wedding party. The idea was to have our respective extended families be part of a shared project to help get to know one another a bit. I was thinking that a wedding and reception where people were not total strangers would be a good thing. It worked out pretty well.

Cosgrove Capers

I found some of the old html files a while back and retrieved some of what I wrote and saved them here for posterity. I also still have the Drawstrings album and harboured the intention to scan and add the pages to whatever iteration of a site/blog I have had online for way too many years. One day I will get round to doing that.

I Have Read Far More Since Getting My XTEINK Device

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

You can find loads of reviews. Mine is mostly the title of this post.

I have the X4. It was delivered on the 25th June. I have just finished reading a series of six books (Gone - series 1). Looking forward to getting stuck into another one. That would not have happened without the X4. It’s made reading regularly very low effort. That suits me. I would miss having it.

I use it with the forest green magnetic case and when needed the magnetic reading light.

Flashed the inx firmware to it on delivery day. It took a few goes before I had it successfully installed. Not had a need to tinker further with it.

The X4 has turned out to be my best buy of 2026 to date. Well pleased.

Welcome to Blaugust 2026.

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What is Blaugust?

I had a go last year. Surprised myself and posted something most days. I never gave much thought to what benefit it had beyond the satisfaction of seeing the list of posts I published in August grow. The “community” aspect of it passed me by. Making connections online can feel a bit clunky like I am simply going through the motions. Whether it does again this year remains to be seen.

Just remembering now a book I read last year, “Sorry I’m late…. I didn’t want to come.” An autobiographical account of the author’s (Jessica Pan) efforts / experiments with doing things differently over the course of one year to overcome some unwanted outcomes of being introverted. A very funny book and full of ideas to play with.

In the “Crowd Control” chapter Jessica recounts advice she received about “radiating charisma”. Asking an open ended question, listening to someones answer, then showing how much you care about their response by asking a meaningfully follow up question like how did they feel about the thing they shared, what was it like, what appealed to them about it. Respond to their answer by validating their feelings.

Sounds a bit mechanical. Jessica notes without genuine interest it’s inauthentic and perceived as such. Going through the motions.

During Blaugust I shall be on the look out for people who write things I find interesting. Our attention is the most valuable thing we have to give. Best not to waste it.

In the mean time…

audax: ACME Grand - West to the Sea 1000

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The 21st Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur is taking place in 2027. When I completed the 2019 event, the support, encouragement and general goodwill of spectators along the route was what stuck with me the most. The challenge of riding the distance (1200km) in under 90hrs and all the rolling hills along the way became little more than a fading memory.

I quite fancy having another go at it next year. There’s 8000 places but I’m pretty sure it will be oversubscribed. The earliest pre-registration opens on January 16th 2027 for those that have completed a 1000+km BRM (Brevet des Randonneurs Mondiaux) in 2026.

A 1000+km ride is a significant undertaking for me. One a year is quite enough. It’s not only the distance but how much climbing there is along the way and the limited time to complete the ride. Put all these together and invariably I’m riding through at least one night and trying to manage the effects of sleep deprivation. All the same I was up for the challenge so entered the ACME Grand: West to the Sea 1000 to set my way towards PBP 2027.

ACME Grand: West to the Sea — 1000km Audax. Four days from Witham: north then through the Midlands, west into mid-Wales and the Welsh coast, then to and through South Wales before heading back up into the Midlands through the English countryside and back to Witham.

Départ

Since I live in Kent and the ride started in Witham near Chelmsford at 10.00 am on a Thursday I got the train up to Chelmsford the night before and stayed the night there. Rode the 17km over to the départ at Battesford Court in the morning. Arrived at around 9.40 am feeling fresh. Brevet card collected then nothing much else to do other than hang around chatting with a few of the others taking part.

Steve Abraham with Peter Treviss at Battesford Court before the départ.

We rolled off without fanfare at 10.00 am. I resisted any inkling to match the pace of those who set off faster than me (most people). If there is one thing I have learned over the years that is to ride your own ride. As much as there is benefit in cycling with others that’s negated at best if you need to push yourself to keep up. My bike is pretty heavy and optimised for comfort and durability rather than speed. There’s no way I am going to keep up with those on lighter machines so no point in trying. On a long ride like this varying times off the bike and degrees of faffing are a good leveller in any case. Another important point is that audax events are non-competitive. The only goal is to complete the route within the time given — in this case 75 hours.

Regardless I did catch up with a few people for at least a short time on the way to the first control in Haddenham.

Roger followed on by Spence and April somewhere along the 90km from Witham to Haddenham

We were riding into the wind entire way towards Haddenham. It was not all bad though since it helped with not overheating on what became a pretty hot day. The following section towards Barton-le-Clay was mostly with the breeze behind us. It was slow going for me due to the heat and from this point on I was riding on my own for pretty much the rest of the route. I caught up with some people again at a couple more controls but on each occassion they mostly all left before me or quickly passed me later on the road.

I reached the third control in Towcester at just gone 9.30 pm. Most people I had spoken to were aiming to reach the fourth at Strensham services where they had booked a room for a sleep / shower stop. I was taking a different approach. No rooms booked along the way. I was not too bothered about getting to Strensham before stopping. I left Towcester at 10.00 pm and decided to ride on for just a couple more hours.

Sleeping Arrangements

I had my sleeping gear packed on the bike and looked out for suitable places to lay it out on the way round. Riding through the night is something I really do enjoy. The air often tends to be still. The roads are empty. Passing through sleeping towns and villages in the early hours of the morning gives me a feeling that I am doing something a bit special. At the same time though it messes with my body clock and has in the past had an adverse effect on my general constitution. For this reason I planned to stop riding while it was still dark and be back on the road just before dawn. Since the ride was in July it started to get light between four and five am.

Sleep stop, Tadmarton

Graveyards as you might expect are quiet and attract few if any visitors during the night. Ideal for setting down a sleeping mat and getting a few hours rest in. The first night was at the 250km mark in St Nicholas’s Church graveyard in Tadmarton for around four hours from midnight. The second at around 500km in the graveyard of St Michael’s Church at Felinfach near Lampeter. That time I slept for close to five and a half hours.

Hereford and the Welsh Hills

The ride into Strensham on Friday morning went well. I arrived in time to quickly catch up with a number of those that had stayed there overnight. Made the most of the facilities before setting out again towards Hay-on-Wye. This was not a section I particularly enjoyed. The route followed the A438 and A4103 for close to 45km into, past, and then out of Hereford. Nasty roads. Poorly maintained chip and seal surface sending vibrations to the feet and hands. Busy and fast traffic. One of the drawbacks of calendar events is having to following the shortest distance between controls. Depending where those controls are avoiding roads like this is difficult. Not my thing at all.

However, Hay-on-Wye is a lovely little town. I caught up with Steve Abraham there and enjoyed chatting with him while filling up on food and drink and packing supplies for the longest and hillest stretch of the ride into and across the Cambrian Mountains and onto Aberaeron by the west coast.

After just an hour or so back on the bike I very suddenly got an overwhelming case of the dozzies. I carried on for a bit before deciding I had time enough for an unscheduled lie down. It was around 2.30 pm and hot. I spotted some shaded woodland just off the road. I laid out my sleeping mat, set my alarm for 90 minutes and got some shut eye. On the road again just after 4.00 pm. The temperature had now dropped and I was feeling much more with it. Spotted Spence and April at a garage a few miles up the road and thought to check in with them both. They’d also succumbed to the heat and had a hour’s lie down to. April was suffering a bit with calf and knee pain. Their plan was to ride through the night and get a couple of hours in a hotel they’d booked in Port Talbot. I wished them well and set off on my way.

Spence and April

The route slowly but surely made it’s way to the Abergwesyn Valley nestled in the Cambrian Mountains. A beautiful place to ride a bike. This for me was the highlight of the ride. Surrounded by scenic views and riding along well maintained country lanes. That the Devils Staircase lay ahead and the subseqent ramps over the following 10 - 12 km took nothing away from the pleasure in being in this part of Wales. I rode them all and loved it.

The Devils Staircase, Abergwesyn Road

Abergwesyn Valley

The Devils Staircase, Abergwesyn Road

I left Hay-on-Wye at 1.15 pm. The control cutoff at Aberaeron was just past 10.00 pm. 9 hours to cover 102 km should be more than enough no matter the hills. What with my unscheduled sleep stop and slow pace on the climbs time was though getting on. Fortuantly as is the case with hills they balance out and my pace was enhanced by all the descents including for the last 12 km into Aberaeron. I got there close to 9.30 pm. Had a pizza by the sea front before setting out again with the intention to ride till midnight.

I never quite made it for that long. After about half an hour’s riding I spotted a churchyard in Felinfach near Lampeter and decided to get my head down for the night. It was around 10.45 pm. Set my alarm for 4.00 am and got some sleep.

Off again by 4.40 am. 95 km to Port Talbot. It was another hilly one. 1,314m in total. Nice enough roads until Port Talbot when it all became a bit grim. I stopped for five minutes to buy an energy drink for the control receipt at just before 10.00 am before heading off again towards Barry. More busy and poorly surfaced roads for much of the way.

Waking Up in Barry

It was when I got to Barry at just before 1.30pm on the Saturday that the consequence of my somnambulist indulgence hit me. I was now close to 5 hours behind schedule with near enough 440km to go. Woops! Could have planned that better. The only way I was going to finish in time now was to ride continuously through to the end.

It felt a daunting prospect but possible. I doggedly set to it with determined focus.

South Wales and a Long Evening

The stretch from Barry to Chepstow was mostly horrible. Flat but into the wind for much of the way. Nasty A roads and via ugly industrial wastelands of South Wales. If I had more time I would have appreciated the desolate steel works I passed by. Since I did not, I was simply pushing hard to get past the busy and noisy dual carriageway I needed to follow for what seemed far too long.

The next stage up to Pershore was lovely. Very hilly but through some beautiful countryside and woods along well maintained minor A roads and country lanes. Towards the end, at Upton upon Severn the whole town was closed to motor traffic. There was a Blues Festival going on. Loads of people milling about in the street holding drinks and munching street food. It felt a bit surreal to be there navigating my way through an inebriated crowd at around 9.00pm, me on a mission having been cycling since 4.30am and with still a very long way to go. I was though totally locked in and got through quickly and without incident.

Petrol Stations and Pizza

I arrived at a petrol station in Pershore at around a quarter to ten. The lights were on but the door was locked and no attendant to be seen. I was not in the mood for this and sorry to say got a bit impatient. Knocking on the door, calling out for the attendant was only the half of it. After what seemed much too long but probably only about ten minutes the young attendant appeared looking somewhat sheepish, unlocked the door and apologised for his absence. To make matters worse the coffee machine was not working. I left there still feeling a bit annoyed. This was not a bad thing since the annoyance was converted to cycling energy and in no time at all I was up to speed and making good progress once more.

Pizza was on my mind. I’d been craving another one since before Pershore. Riding through Banbury on the way to Towcester I saw a place I could get one. It was heaving with people, many of whom seemed drunk and were making a right din. Another odd interlude to my ride through the night. I got my order and sat down to eat it, oblivious to while being slightly amused by the commotion surrounding me.

Towcester control was a quick five minute break for a pint of milk and a receipt at an all night garage. Onward into daybreak and St Neots.

The Final Push

I was now struggling to stay awake and was doing whatever I could to keep my eyes open. Counting telegraph poles, spelling out signs, singing and talking to myself. Anything to stave off drifting off to sleep. I dosed up with a large Americano plus a double espresso shot at St Neots before the penultimate stage towards Buntingford.

At each of the controls from Chepstow onwards I’d steadily been making back the time I’d spent sleeping on the first couple of nights. About an hour each time. But by the time I got to Buntingford at 09:44 on Sunday morning I was still 20 minutes outside the control’s closing time. The last stretch back to Witham was just a tad under 62km. I had at most 3hrs 11m to cover the distance and make up that deficit. Under normal circumstances that would pretty much be a sure thing. However, at the end of a 1000km audax, and having been cycling for close to 32hrs without sleep over the last 400km and goodness knows how much elevation, it was by no means in the bag.

As these things go it was on this stage that my GPS headset decided to get confused. Twice it lost track and needed to reload the route. On the third occasion I decided to stop, turn it off and on again. Thankfully that resolved the issue.

Soon after that and for the first time since Barry two others passed me on their way back to Witham. Pete and John. I was so happy to see them. They were riding as though out on a Sunday club run in a similar way to when I last saw them back just after the first control. There was no way I could keep up and it was with a bit of a heavy heart I saw them race away ahead of me. All I could do now was push on as best I could. The natural anaesthetics that had got me through to this point seemed to have also reached their limit. My legs were fine but my feet and hands were now feeling every bump and vibration along the way. The headset’s ETA was slowly getting closer and closer to the 1.00pm cutoff time. I finally entered Witham High Street just gone 12:45 and rolled into the arrivée at Battesford Court at 12:47. I’d made it.

By the Numbers

In total I rode 1068km with 10,689m elevation in 74hrs 47m — 13.5kmph overall including stops. The last 553km was after the final sleep stop I had I had in Felinfach. Total moving time was 52hrs 23m at a moving average of 20.4kmph. Total sleep over the four days was about 10–11 hours. My first time ever to win the accolade of lanterne rouge. Being the last to finish and with just thirteen minutes before the cut off time felt pretty good to me. PBP next year seems manageable after that.

Stage-by-Stage Breakdown (Recorded GPS Data)

Stage	Route	Dist (km)	Elev (m)	Time	Speed (kph)	Power (W)	Arrived
1	Witham → Haddenham	90.2	769	3:47	23.8	175	14:09 Thu
2	Haddenham → Barton-le-Clay	75.7	391	3:19	22.8	165	18:18 Thu
3	Barton → Towcester	58.2	498	2:49	20.6	146	21:33 Thu
4*	Towcester → Strensham	97.3	976	4:28	21.8	~155	07:19 Fri
5	Strensham → Hay-on-Wye	79.8	856	4:09	19.2	134	12:31 Fri
6	Hay → Aberaeron	103.0	1,572	5:57	17.3	120	21:39 Fri
7*	Aberaeron → Port Talbot	106.2	1,314	5:30	19.3	135	09:56 Sat
8	Port Talbot → Barry	51.0	535	2:43	18.7	131	13:19 Sat
9	Barry → Chepstow	59.5	306	2:34	23.0	168	16:55 Sat
10	Chepstow → Pershore	80.9	1,038	4:13	19.1	134	21:43 Sat
11	Pershore → Towcester	92.2	976	4:43	19.5	136	03:27 Sun
12	Towcester → St Neots	65.7	496	3:12	20.4	144	07:09 Sun
13	St Neots → Buntingford	46.6	374	2:05	22.2	160	09:44 Sun
14	Buntingford → Witham	61.8	588	2:54	21.3	152	12:47 Sun
	Total	1,068.1	10,689	52:23	20.4	~147	74:47

Stage 4 was split by the sleep stop at Tadmarton and stage 7 the sleep stop at Felinfach.

A Few Pictures from Along the Way

My completed brevet card.

Steve Abraham with Peter Treviss at Battesford Court before the départ.

Tom Jackson (nearest the gully) on the way to Haddenham

Sunflowers, Shillington

Sleep stop, Tadmarton

Early morning sun, Puddlicott Lane, Gloucestershire

Near Brailes, Warwickshire

In the heart of the Malvern Hills, Herefordshire.

The Devils Staircase, Abergwesyn Road

Abergwesyn Valley

The Devils Staircase, Abergwesyn Road

Aberaeron

Breakfast near Llandeilo

Newport Transporter Bridge

Looking down over Lea, Herefordshire

...and the living is easy

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Summer Time, Higham

Oh look! It’s another one for the collection. I love em’ all.

Sea Snail and Friends, St Margarets at Cliffe

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sea Snail, St Margarets at Cliffe

Sea Snails Friends, St Margarets at Cliffe

I had a feeling I’d find a fresh one at this spot in St Margaret’s at Cliffe. The last time I passed by it was during Easter

Easter, St Margarets at Cliffe

Loads more in the collection.

Tea and Cake

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tea and Cake, Shorne Village

Cup of tea dear? Happy to find this one while out on my bike this morning. Another one for the collection.

A list of blogs and/or posts I think are great.

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Inspired by Jedda here’s an occasionally updated list of blogs and/or posts I’ve enjoyed reading.

A hat tip and thanks to people who took the time to write and publish what they did.

I think it’s also possible to learn something about a person by what they like to read so think there’s an element of ‘getting to know me’ in sharing this.

photoni.st by a 40 something software engineer looking 50 right in the eye. I’ve kind of binged on his posts over the last few days. A great find. Amongst many gems is a series of posts which explain the approach he took in helping his 12 year old niece learn about photography. I have a few decades on his niece but I reckon I can learn a lot from the series.
Your Indispensable Value in the AI Era by Lars Faye. You don’t have to look hard to find comments about outsourcing the cognitive load of a task to an LLM and how that diminishes learning and growth. Lars looks beyond that dull observation and builds on an idea Brit Cruise shared in the AI Paradox that, “In a world where the cost of answers is dropping to zero, the value of the question becomes everything.” I am reassured by this and could not agree more.
Building a Home NAS from Mostly Spare Parts by Max Glenister. I’m close to inspired. This may be a project I shall embark on sometime later this year.
A thing we should acknowledge about AI by Matthew Haughey. The section about using Claude (LLM) had me nodding along in recognition. As I read the part about seeking help I was anticipating it would lead to a reflection on why learning was better than just doing what an LLM suggests. It surprised me that it did not. I have no qualms about using an LLM to guide me. If I am interested in what I am doing I often end up learning something by doing so anyway.
10,000 press-ups in a year update: first of 2026 by Skryblans who was inpired by 10000 Pushups by Jason Gilmore. A few years back I did the 100 press up challenge. From just a few to 100 consecutive press ups in six weeks. I was amazed I did it. Not done many since then. I’m feeling inspired by Skryblans. I’m gonna’ give it a go starting today; 01/03/2025
Mechanical Watch by Bartosz Ciechanowski. The depth of detail and skill that’s gone into this post to explain the inner workings of the mechanical watch is a marvel to behold. I had no prior interest in mechanical watches before coming across this post. I read it to the end playing with all the masterfully created graphics as I did. This was of learning about things on screen really works for me. Go take a look.
When Love Thy Neighbor Is a Cry of Resistance by Rebecca Solnit. Oh my. So good to read. Such a refreshing take on what’s going on around the world. A powerful message of strength, hope and love that is grounded in the interconnection between all living things. So pleased to have come across Rebecca’s writing.
The Darkness You Choose, The Darkness that Chooses You by Prickly Oxheart. This post prompted me to experiment with fasting. All sorts of good things came from that. The author has not posted anything since October. Their last post about acceptance kind of suggests they won’t.
Your Life is the Sum Total of 2,000 Mondays by JA Westenberg. I happen to like Mondays. JA Westenberg writes very eloquently and in detail about their chosen subjects - tech, humans, and philosophy.

Digital Dugnad

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Digital Dugnad

Dump Big Tech

Make the Switch

Make the switch. The Digital Dugnad campaign highlights four actions you can take -

Switch your browser.
Switch your search engine.
Move your email.
Change where you store your files.

I’d suggest a fifth - dump MS and/or Apple and switch to a Linux distribution.

The campaign suggests that each one takes minutes. That’s very misleading. Releasing your emails and downloading files and pictures from big tech is a bloody nightmare. That’s by design but one you will eventually wake from. Uploading all that stuff to your chosen new home is tedious. Not sure if there is a quick and easy way to change login emails. I never found one and had hundreds of sites where this applied. Prioritised the important ones and made my way through the others as and when I needed to. Many just got neglected since I no longer visited the sites where they applied.

Switching to Linux was the low hanging fruit for me. Maybe start with that for a quick win.

I mostly did all this a good few years ago. No regrets. GitHub is the last place that MS has a hold on me. Migrated all my repos to Codeberg including this site in the last month or so. Still using GitHub pages for hosting until I feel more confident about using Codeberg to do the same. Nearly there.

I added 'TownSquare' to my blog

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Your website but inhabited. The web is full of content but empty of people. TownSquare brings a little presence back. Visitors can see each other, say a few words, and share the same space. No accounts. No algorithms. Just the present.

That’s the pitch on TownSquare, which is where I got the base code for the widget towards the bottom of this page.

The widget was created by Cauê Napier who released it free of charge for all to use. Thank you Cauê.

I liked it straight away. Closest I will ever come to being an XKCD character.

Since Cauê offered a hosted version that’s the one I chose. It looked so easy. It was not quite as simple to add to my blog as the “three small steps” described here. Fair to say it took way longer than a “minute”. That’s not Cauê’s fault. More so down to my cobbled together modified version of the Hugo Simple theme.

Every time the widget loaded my entire site took on the widgets default colour scheme. It’s a nice enough scheme but is not what I wanted to happen. It took me a while to work out why.

Turns out that the widget’s stylesheet set CSS variables on the page’s root element as well as its own container, which was overwriting my site’s colour theme entirely. The fix was to load the widget and immediately override its colour variables inline so they resolved in the right order while also re-asserting my own site palette at the bottom of my custom CSS to protect it permanently. I added the widget to both the home page and the bottom of every post using Hugo’s partial system in a single template file. The final bit was syncing dark mode. My blog toggle works by adding a class to the page body but the widget expects its own data attribute. A little bit of JavaScript was needed to watch for the toggle and keep both aligned.

It was a bit of a challenge but I’m sure it will be easier that that for most people. All the same I’m delighted to be on the TownSquare Map and happy to add a signpost to anyone else’s site who may like a “neighbour”. Just let me know via a webmention or Letterbird.

AI blog question challenge

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Rishabh P. Sharma posed the AI blog question challenge. Rishabh writes about being an “AI Hater”. It seems strange to me to have such intense feelings about AI. I guess that makes me “neutral” by Rishabh’s measure. I think pragmatist is perhaps more accurate.

How was your first experience with AI models?
I was feeling bored during Christmas 2019 and started learning to code (Python). By December 2022 I was working on an app to automate a staff allocation task. This was an optimisation problem. A problem where you’re trying to find the best combination from a large set of options. To help solve it I used the PuLP module to work with mixed integer linear equations (MILP). Sounds confusing? It did to me. To expedite the development process I used ChatGPT to help with writing the equations. It did very well. Not perfect of course but a massive help. From that point on I have continued to explore the utility of Large Language Models (LLMs) at home and at work.

Do you use AI or are you completely against using it?
I use LLMs for a wide range of tasks - research, coding, learning, initial drafts, search, maths problems, formatting, summarising… LLMs can be a very good assistant to have so long as you give them clear instructions, rein them in, “supervise” and fact check their work. There’s a sweet spot to be found knowing where my judgement ends and the LLMs output can be trusted. This shifts as models improve, outcomes matter, and where my domain expertise lies.

There is a fair bit written about the atrophying of skills through cognitive offloading to LLMs. My personal experience suggests to me that’s true. It’s a trade off. There are some things I need to do that are mundane or which I am not especially interested in. I am willing to outsource my thinking and the effort on those things for the time back and head space for other stuff I am more interested in doing. Conversely I have learned and found out how to do things much quicker by using LLMs that I would have by searching up answers or finding and scanning through the right text books.

Do you have any preference among different models, for example Claude vs ChatGPT? If yes, how do you choose?
I use Perplexity so can choose between half a dozen different models plus a few other features to get things done. I find Claude Sonnet 4.6 handles most things well with or without “thinking” enabled and depending on the task in hand.

What aspect of AI models do you like and what do you not like?
I like that they are not human. By that I mean I can ask as many questions and follow up questions as I need and will always get a response I can use or build on. I read a blog post that made the point, “…when you have an infinite answer machine, your ability to ask good questions becomes infinitely more valuable”. Give it a read. I could not agree more with the proposition. A rinse and repeat cycle of iteration to get output I can use.

However, LLMs are not all equal. At work we are restricted to using MS Co-Pilot. MS have a remarkable ability to degrade pretty much everything they are involved with. Co-Pilot is a good example of that. Sycophantic confident incompetence. You end up second guessing all its output and having to verify everything. Potential time-savings quickly vanish.

On that note the influence big tech corporations have on the advancement of AI is probably the most regrettable. I guess that’s the paradox which is most difficult to reconcile. Without it the technology may never have seen the light of day. With it the need to make returns on investment colours the implementation of it.

How do you feel about AI generated images? Does it annoy you if someone uses them in a blog post?
AI generated images seem as formulaic as AI generated text when it comes straight off the bat. If that’s your bag though and serves your purpose all power to your elbow. Annoy me? Err… no. If I got annoyed about that I’d have a word with myself.

The internet is flooded with AI slop now, full of generated text, images, audio and videos. How do you filter it from authentic human creation? Do you have a strategy?
Attention is all you need. I choose what I pay attention to. I know how to use a remote on my TV, tune in a radio, and use the internet. If I come across something that interests or entertains me I will stick with it. If it does not I move on. The question whether something is AI generated or “…from authentic human creation” is not the deciding factor.

Are you hopeful for a better future with A.I. or a dystopian one?
I vacillate between the two. A.I. will contribute to rather than cause either of the two. I can be as a prone to badly predicting the future as the next person. Blinkered by what I know. Unaware of that which I do not. Let’s keep an eye on the baby as we pour the bathwater out.

Bread

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

We visited my sister at the weekend and left with her unwanted “Russell Hobbs Breadman Ultimate”. My sister got it from a friend of our mum. It’s pretty big for a kitchen counter top which is why my sister did not want it any more. We have the space for it on a table in our lean to so for the time being I am an artisan bread maker.

Plain White Loaf

Cheddar Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Loaf

Very pleased with the results. It is so easy. Just followed the instructions and presto - both loaves came out way better than I expected. Very tasty. Loads more recipes to have a go at.

audax: Folkstone 200 (v3) DiY

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Continuing with the effort to complete another series of RRtY, I was out yesterday riding the lanes, hills and valleys of Kent from Medway down to Folkstone and back again. Having ridden all those miles in Germany during May, a few things struck me on yesterday’s ride.

We have a lot of hedgerows in Kent. The landscape is varied. Road surfaces are generally quite poor. The first two are worth celebrating. The third was a literal pain in the arse. I finished the ride feeling a bit more sore after 200k than after the 2,000‑plus I did on mainland Europe. Can’t have it all, I guess. If it was a choice between smooth paved surfaces or the landscape and hedgerows, I would choose the latter.

I love riding my bike around Kent. So good to have the North Downs to explore. I don’t mind the hills one bit. I kind of like them, as it goes. I just drop down into my lowest gear and pedal slowly up them without straining myself. I go for bike rides rather than training rides.

Riding for miles on the flat does not appeal much to me. I appreciate the variety Kent has to offer on that front. The views are great. Sometimes you can see for miles, and sometimes no further than the next bend in the road or the brow of the hill you’re climbing. Bendy hedgerow‑lined country lanes are the best.

I’ve done this ride a few times now. Each time it gets tweaked a bit. I’m very happy with most of the route now. The last bit that skirts round the edge of Sittingbourne is a bit rubbish, though. To avoid that, I’ve created v4. Instead of heading into Faversham at Selling, I head through the North Downs, make my way towards Hollingbourne, drop down to the Pilgrims Way, then back to Chatham via a sharp climb up Lidsing Road at around 192 km. A sting in the tail. Overall, it adds another 200 m or so of climbing to an already hilly ride.

It seems that pretty much every ride I do around Kent works out at around 100–110 m per 10 km. Comparing that with the European rides, which averaged about 32 m per 10 km, it makes sense how I managed the 200‑plus kilometre days fully loaded without too much of a struggle. The flattest and longest day was the last: 271 km with only 275 m of elevation. I’d have done that much climbing in Kent in less than 30 km. The European kilometres seem impressive on paper, but it’s the Kent rides, with rough surfaces, short sharp climbs and bendy hedgerows, that feel like the kind of cycling I really enjoy.

Postbox Toppers of the Future

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Delighted to see that the yarnbomber who regularly adorned this postbox before its recent conversion to a “post box of the future” has rolled with it and moved with the times.

Space: Higham

If you like these check out this gallery for a load more.

Dunkirk - Berlin - Dunkirk

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Dunkirk to Berlin via Belgium and the Netherlands. Different route there and back. I remember big open fields of crops; long straight roads; avenues of trees; canal/riverside cycle paths; woodlands; small villages with an intro and outro of frame rattling, bone shaking cobble stones. Great provision pretty much most of the way for cyclists. That’s the infrastructure and the way other road users notice and treat cyclists. It felt to me that cycling was welcomed and encouraged as a legitimate form of transport as opposed to being seen as a nuisance on the roads in England.

Despite being loaded up with two panniers, camping gear, saddle bag and a handlebar box, this was not a tour. There was no planned sight seeing. It was an out and back, head down, get the miles in sort of ride. 2,112 km with 6,782 m of climbing on mainland Europe. Not too shabby for a ten day excursion. Adding in the distance cycled from home to Dover then home again, the total was around 2,232 km.

Day	Date	Ride	Location	Distance (km)	Elevation (m)	Time	Avg speed (kph)	Avg power (W)	Link
01	14/5/2026	DBD Day 01	Loon-Plage, Hauts-de-France	214.2	376	10:27	20.5	144	Ride
02	15/5/2026	DBD Day 02	Sint-Job-in-’t-Goor, Vlaams Gewest	210.4	413	9:25	22.3	161	Ride
03	16/5/2026	DBD Day 03	Diepenheim, Overijssel	208.4	466	9:22	22.2	160	Ride
04	17/5/2026	DBD Day 04	Stuhr, Niedersachsen	174.2	717	8:07	21.4	153	Ride
05	18/5/2026	DBD Day 05 - Himbergen, Niedersachsen	Himbergen, Niedersachsen	213.0	475	9:56	21.4	153	Ride
06	19/5/2026	DBD Day 06 - Schönwalde-Glien, Brandenburg	Schönwalde-Glien, Brandenburg	209.1	762	10:38	19.7	138	Ride
07	20/5/2026	DBD Day 07	Hohe Börde, Sachsen-Anhalt	136.7	920	8:14	16.6	115	Ride
08	21/5/2026	DBD Day 08 - Bad Gandersheim, Niedersachsen	Bad Gandersheim, Niedersachsen	230.6	1,605	12:01	19.2	134	Ride
09	22/5/2026	DBD Day 09 - Fröndenberg/Ruhr, Nordrhein-Westfalen	Fröndenberg/Ruhr, Nordrhein-Westfalen	243.7	773	12:04	20.2	142	Ride
10	23/5/2026	DBD Day 10 - Pelt, Vlaanderen	Neerpelt, Vlaams Gewest	271.7	275	13:58	19.4	136	Ride
Total / Avg	14/5/2026–23/5/2026	10 rides	—	2,112.0	6,782	106:12	19.9	143.6	—

I set off with my friend Dave. We rode together on the outward journey. How often do any of us spend so much time in close proximity with another person for five continuous days? Five days of prolonged physical effort and sleeping rough is a good test of any friendship. We got on well enough. Reciprocated compromise and accommodating each others ways helped a lot. I enjoyed the company. Dave decided to stop over with friends for a couple of nights when we got to Berlin. I chose to keep going. I think it was the right decision for both of us. Another five days together may have been too much.

Sleeping rough / wild camping - whatever you call it that’s what we did. Overall this worked out very well with no problems at all. I had a small one man tent. Dave made do with a tarp and bivy. Most nights we pitched up within a few meters of the road/path we were were riding on. Arriving late and leaving early meant our presence was hardly ever noticed. The furthest pitch was probably no more than 200 meters or so from the route. I spent one night in a campsite on the way back. I never planned to do so. It was just there on a corner and I really needed a shower. That was the shortest days ride for me at 132 km. I arrived at around 6.30 pm. Reception was closed. I pitched my tent in a small field for late arrivals. This was right next to the wash block. Had a shower then washed and dried my clothes. Used the facilities to boil water. Had soup and noodles, a chat and a beer with someone staying over in a camper van before bedding down for the night. Set off again at 7.30 am which was before reception opened. I would have paid but in the event there was no one around I could pay for the nights stay.

Kindness of strangers - a free beer in Germany and France. A free meal and drinks in Dunkirk. On my part I helped a stranded motorist and his wife get going again having run out of petrol and cash to fill up. It may have been a scam. I gave them the benefit of doubt. They gave me a ‘gold’ ring in return.

Two things I really enjoy about any long ride are road side food stops and giving myself over to the effort to the exclusion of all else. For me there is definitely something meditative about this. Focus and traction. It’s a relaxing way to spend time. Nothing to do other than ride a bike and attend to basic physical needs for ten days straight. It’s a good space for me to be in. A bit of a reset.

I took some quick snaps but not many. I didn’t notice any dramatic scenery or much else that seemed particularly interesting. That’s not to say it was not there. I was simply not looking for or seeing it. A matter of attention I guess which was mostly directed on the 30 meters in front of me.

The weather when we set off was just 4 degrees above freezing. For the first few days we were both layered up and wearing gloves. It got warmer as time passed by. The journey back I was down to short sleeves and applying sun cream. It rained a bit but nothing prolonged.

Next time I may travel lighter. I carried a lot of stuff I did not use or could have done without. Next time I will take a bit more time exploring where I can ride that’s a bit more interesting in terms of landscape and scenery. I don’t mind hills, I like roads that curve and bend, variety is good. Berlin and more specifically Brandenburg Gate served well as a target but the journey there and back did not feel inspiring to me in the way my ride to Cape Wrath and the West Coast of Ireland did. Since I chose to simply ride through towns and cities on the way I never made anything of what interest these places offered. Not something to change but rather to be aware of.

I was really pleased to have completed the ten stages in ten days. I never set out to do so but once I had the bit between my teeth it became something I aimed for. Eight of the ten days were in excess of 200 km. The longest day, which was also the last, was 271 km. Happy to say that neither I nor my bike had any mechanical problems along the way. Pressure points were okay. My hands were the only thing that got a bit sore. Been back just over a week now. Took a few days lying around to recover but all good now. My weight did not change a bit. Guess I must have got a few things right this time round.

Soup and noodles on the way down to Dover via the North Downs.

The first nights pitch. A few km past Antwerp. The woods were a stones throw from the canal side cycle path.

Second nights pitch. This one was literally feet away from the country lane we were riding on. In the Netherlands near Diepenheim.

Third nights pitch. We called this a 'boutique wood'. It was lovely and less than a 100 m from the cycle path we were following. About 20 kn north east of Wildeshausen in Germany.

The track we left for the night in the 'boutique wood'

The fourth nights pitch. About 4 km east of Himbergen, Germany. This was in the morning before getting back on the road. I swear I heard canine yapping in the night.

Me with Dave at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin.

I saw hundreds of wind turbines in Germany. These ones are near Ausleben, Sachsen-Anhalt

Old border fortifications between the former GDR and FRG in Schöningen, Lower Saxony

Marking the old border between East and West Germany in Schöningen, Lower Saxony.

My pitch on day eight. Another one that was just a few feet from the country lane I was following.

A misty morning view from day eight's pitch

Looking out over the Rhur reservoir in Herdecke, Nordrhein-Westfalen

In one of the disused railway tunnels the cycle way follows through Dortmund, Germany. Nice and cool on a hot day.

Bivy spot on day 10. On the north bank of the canal that runs through Pelt in the Netherlands. During the night some bloke was shouting out for 'Lin' for what seemed like ages. Hope they found them.

A stop alongside a canal in Belgium. We had a coffee here.

One of long straight tree lined cycle paths we rode along in Belgium

There was loads of shrines to Mary in Belgium. Many more than I saw in Ireland last year.

Not really sure what this was about. Looked a bit strange. May have been religious.

Another long straight tree lined cycle path. I think this one is in the Netherlands

This is the foot tunnel that runs beneath the Scheldt river in Antwerp, Belgium.

Dave in his bivy at the pitch we made on day one

A long straight road somewhere in rural Germany.

A German village we passed through. I should I got some pictures of the cobbled section of road. Horrendous for cycling on.

Waiting for a ferry in the Netherlands. The operator was full of chat and cheer.

Brandenburg Gate before the hoards arrived.

The sixth and seventh day had a few unpaved sections. This was one of them. It went on for a good few km. If it had been wet it would have been a proper headache to get through. As it was it just slowed me down a fair bit.

See all the turbines on the horizon. There were hundreds of them in this area.

The scene reminded me of 'Heidi'. Not sure why since she lived in the Swiss Alps.

Möhne Reservoir Dam, Möhne-Staumauer, Möhnesee, Germany

Another tree lined cycle path. These trees looked a bit unusual.

The start/end of a 'Fairness Zone' near Kempen in Germany. A section of a shared path where walkers and cyclists are reminded to behave considerately, slow down, and share space safely.

Texas Long Horn cattle seen somewhere between Dusseldorf, Germany and Venlo in the Netherlands.

Dunkirk - Brandenburg Gate - Dusseldorf Loop

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Wed, 13 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In a few hours time I’ll be setting off on my fully loaded steel touring bike (it weighs a ton) down to Dover. I have booked a ferry over to Dunkirk sailing at 6.00 am. When I booked the ferry I was focused on wringing out the most time possible I have off work before coming back on the 30th May. Now I’m thinking a few hours here and there wouldn’t make much difference and only a crazy fool sets off on a two week bike ride at midnight. Ahh well - I shall look back on the decision and laugh about it some time in the future.

I’ve planned a ride from Dunkirk, through Belgium, across the Netherlands, into Germany and onward to Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate marks the outward destination. From there I head back towards Dusseldorf, into Belgium, then to France and once more to Dunkirk.

I chose the Brandenburg Gate mainly because it’s about as far as I can ride East (hopefully with the wind behind me) and have enough time to ride back for the ferry home on the 30th. It’s historic location was to be honest an after thought.

I’ve split the distance up into 10 segments of about the same length - 205 km or so. I can ride 200 hilly kilometres in about 10 hours. I figure I’ll be able to do about the same on a fully loaded bike over flatter terrain in about the same time. Day afer day will take it’s toll but going on past experience I should be alright. It doesn’t matter much if it takes any longer since I have not booked anywhere to stay and will pitch a tent or lay down a bivy wherever seems suitable to do so at the end of each days ride. Plenty of campsites along the way should they be needed. There’s a bit of wiggle room for shorter days if it gets a bit too much from time to time.

Last year at I rode along the south and up the west coast of Ireland in May. The year before from South Foreland Point near Dover up to Cape Wrath on the north west tip of Scotland. I used cycle.travel for mapping out both rides. It did a great job of selecting quiet, scenic roads on both occasions so I have used it again for this journey. I transfer the GPX files to Ride with GPS which I sync with the Hammerhead Karoo on my bike for navigation. It works well.

In terms of lights and charging the Karoo and phone - I have a dynamo hub which I connect to a power bank and top that up as I ride in day light hours and charge the devices from it when I stop at night. If riding after dark I use the dynamo to power my lights.

Although I will never be that far from somewhere to buy food and drink I like to take a small stove with me to heat up water for a hot drink and noodles/soup at the start and end of each day so as not to be searching for someplace to get food and drink at those times. I have a well worn Trangia 25-2 Aluminium Cookset with Kettle and Spirit Burner and carry methylated spirts on my bike. Can you see how the weight slowly adds up?

It’s a choice between travelling light and or taking panniers. Since I choose to take panniers I also have a rack and you know how it is - the more carrying space you have the more you end up carrying to fill the room there is. All packed now. Whatever I may have forgotten I shall be going without it now.

My friend Dave will be riding with me. He’s travelling much lighter. That’s in terms of the bike he is riding and what he is taking with him. We’ve ridden plenty of miles together and are both happy with the principle of, “you do you”. This is just what we will be doing. Really looking forward to it. Hopefully we’ll finish the ride together this time.

Last year and the year before it was much warmer in May. The weather today has been horrible. Cold, wet and windy. No rain forecast for tonight. Hope it warms up a bit over the next two weeks.

No blog updates till I get back but do intend to post updates on progress and pictures to my Mastodon account most days.

Not long now. Just a few hours before the off…

Views of Earth

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Every fifteen minutes or so, I have my desktop wallpaper changing to a fresh satellite image of Earth. Sometimes it shows Africa and Europe from the Meteosat satellite. Sometimes it shifts to the Pacific and Australasia, seen from Japan’s Himawari-9. Both are near real-time images from geostationary satellites orbiting above the equator.

Here is how to cook it up on Debian 13 (Trixie) with KDE Plasma 6 on Wayland.

Ingrediants

Debian 13 (Trixie) with KDE Plasma 6, running a Wayland session
Himawaripy: a Python tool that downloads the latest image from Japan’s Himawari-9 weather satellite, centred over the Pacific. It saves a timestamped PNG to a local folder.
The project is no longer maintained but continues to work just fine. I installed it via pipx rather than apt because it is not packaged in Debian, and requires setuptools to be manually injected as a dependency after installation.
A custom shell script to download the latest natural colour image from EUMETSAT’s Meteosat satellite, centred over Africa and Europe. No account or API key required.
Variety: a wallpaper manager that rotates through images in a local folder on a schedule, calling a custom script to apply each one.
plasma-apply-wallpaperimage: the tool I use for changing wallpapers on KDE Plasma 6 with Wayland. The older qdbus/dbus-send approach used in other guides does not work on Wayland.

Method

Step 1: Install pipx and Himawaripy

1sudo apt install pipx
2pipx ensurepath

and then:

1pipx install himawaripy
2pipx inject himawaripy setuptools

Himawaripy was written to download imagery from the Himawari-8 satellite. Himawari-9 replaced Himawari-8 as the operational satellite but uses an identical data format and feed structure, so Himawaripy continues to work without modification.

Step 2: Create the Image Folders

1mkdir -p ~/.himawari ~/.eumetsat ~/.satellite-wallpapers
2ln -s ~/.himawari ~/.satellite-wallpapers/himawari
3ln -s ~/.eumetsat ~/.satellite-wallpapers/eumetsat

Step 3: Create the EUMETSAT Download Script

 1cat > ~/.local/bin/eumetsat-download << 'EOF'
 2#!/bin/bash
 3OUTDIR="$HOME/.eumetsat"
 4TIMESTAMP=$(date -u +"%Y%m%dT%H%M00")
 5OUTFILE="$OUTDIR/meteosat-${TIMESTAMP}.jpg"
 6if [ ! -f "$OUTFILE" ]; then
 7    curl -sf "https://eumetview.eumetsat.int/static-images/latestImages/EUMETSAT_MSG_RGBNatColour_FullResolution.jpg" \
 8        -o "$OUTFILE" && echo "Downloaded: $OUTFILE"
 9    ls -t "$OUTDIR"/meteosat-*.jpg | tail -n +7 | xargs -r rm
10fi
11EOF
12chmod +x ~/.local/bin/eumetsat-download

The script adds a UTC timestamp to each filename so Variety and plasma-apply-wallpaperimage always recognise it as a new image. It also keeps only the six most recent images to save disk space.

Step 4: Test Both Sources

1himawaripy --auto-offset -l 4 --dont-change --output-dir ~/.himawari
2eumetsat-download
3ls ~/.himawari ~/.eumetsat

Each folder should now contain one timestamped image.

Step 5: Set Up Cron Jobs

1crontab -e

Add both lines:

*/10 * * * * /home/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/bin/himawaripy --auto-offset -l 4 --dont-change --output-dir /home/YOUR_USERNAME/.himawari
*/15 * * * * /home/YOUR_USERNAME/.local/bin/eumetsat-download

The --auto-offset flag automatically calculates the correct time offset for the satellite feed, and -l 4 sets the resolution level with level 4 being the highest available.
The --dont-change flag tells Himawaripy to download the image without trying to change the wallpaper itself, leaving that to Variety and the shell script.

Himawari-9 updates every 10 minutes; Meteosat updates every 15 minutes.

Step 6: Install Variety and Create the Wallpaper Script

1sudo apt install variety
2mkdir -p ~/.config/variety/scripts
3cat > ~/.config/variety/scripts/set_wallpaper << 'EOF'
4#!/bin/bash
5echo "$(date) set_wallpaper called with: $1" >> /tmp/variety_wallpaper.log
6plasma-apply-wallpaperimage --fill-mode preserveAspectFit "$1" >> /tmp/variety_wallpaper.log 2>&1
7EOF
8chmod +x ~/.config/variety/scripts/set_wallpaper

The --fill-mode preserveAspectFit flag ensures the full Earth image is always visible against the black of space, rather than being cropped to fill the screen.

Step 7: Configure Variety

Open Variety preferences from the system tray:

Sources tab: Add ~/.satellite-wallpapers as a Local Folder, remove all other sources
General tab: Set the change interval to 16 minutes

Step 8: Set the KDE Fill Mode

Right-click the desktop → Configure Desktop and Wallpaper → set Positioning to Scaled, Keep Proportions → Apply.

Step 9: Test

1variety --next
2cat /tmp/variety_wallpaper.log

You should see a line ending in Successfully set the wallpaper for all desktops.

How It Looks

Both images update throughout the day and the wallpaper should alternate between two perspectives of Earth. Meteosat shows Europe, Africa, and the Atlantic.

Himawari-9 shows the Pacific, Japan, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

May RRtY

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Folkstone 200 (Friday)

Folkstone 200 (Monday)

Book-ended the weekend with a 200 k ride on Friday and Monday. I wanted to get these in early for the two concurrent RRtY series I’m completing. This weekend coming is busy. The following week I’m off cycle touring in Europe till the end of the month. It’s possible I could complete a qualifying ride over there. I may still do.

Both of the 200s followed nearly the exact same roads. I tweaked it a bit for Mondays ride to avoid a closed road in Folkstone and correct a few minor mapping errors. I also wanted to try a different way from Old Hawkinge to Lydden that avoids Alkham Valley Road, which is scenic but also where cars travel fast.

Turned out the alternative I chose through Hawkinge and Densole was not much better until the turn towards Swingfield. I’ve tweaked it again having seen some quiet country lanes I’d overlooked before. Think I might have it right this time.

Category	Metric	Ride 1 (Friday)	Ride 2 (Monday)	Difference (Ride 2 − Ride 1)
Distance	Distance	203.4 km	201.2 km	−2.2 km
Climbing	Elevation gain	2,081 m	2,014 m	−67 m
Climbing	Elevation loss	2,063 m	2,026 m	−37 m
Climbing	Max grade	14.0%	12.8%	−1.2 percentage points
Climbing	Avg grade	0.8%	0.9%	+0.1 percentage points
Time	Total duration	10:54:42	10:04:02	−50:40 (Ride 2 shorter)
Time	Moving time	09:26:42	08:54:30	−32:12
Time	Stopped time	01:28:00	01:09:32	−18:28
Speed	Max speed	48.3 kph	54.5 kph	+6.2 kph
Speed	Avg speed	21.5 kph	22.6 kph	+1.1 kph

Between the two I did a 50 k on Saturday. No ride on Sunday but only a few hours sleep since we went to a dance (Aba Shanti) in Tottenham and got home soon after 1 am.

I was not expecting Mondays ride to be faster and more efficient than Fridays on what was very nearly the same route. It just felt like I had more to give.

I’ve noticed over the years that I take a while to properly warm up. Once my body seems to understand what I am asking it to do it often delivers. I think that might be something called “fatigue resistance” kicking in. Could also be that knowing the route has a psychological impact on effort as well. Whatever the cause I like it.

Migrating from Ubuntu to Debian

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sun, 03 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

On the 27th December 2015 I ditched Windows for Linux - Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (“Trusty Tahr”). I acted on impulse. I wrote a short post at the time to mark the occasion - Smashing Windows.

The release of each new LTS is a natural opportunity to take stock and consider whether Ubuntu is still for me. It’s been a great introduction to Linux. I have learned a lot. Certainly not an expert, but my knowledge and understanding has grown over time.

So the availability of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) got me thinking. Commentary about the increase in recommended RAM and storage is noticeable. I was interested in seeing how Ubuntu’s recommended specs stacked up over time compared with Windows and Debian -

While it’s obvious that Ubuntu takes the lead in the relative increase of RAM and storage it’s not really an issue I worry about. I have plenty of both on the machines I use. I’m not bothered about snaps either. They’re not new and it’s my choice whether to use them. The planned integration of AI from 26.10 - I have no reason not to believe Jon Seager’s words when he writes about treading carefully and, “enabling access to frontier AI for Ubuntu users in a way that is deliberate, secure, and aligned with our open source values.”

On that basis job done I guess. Time for me to upgrade.

Or not.

Ubuntu has served me well but all along I have been aware that Canonical and Microsoft have been getting closer and closer. In 2014 they partnered with Azure cloud optimisation. In 2016 the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). In September 2019 they launched their enterprise co-selling partnership. More recently Ubuntu Pro and Microsoft Defender integration. It’s what drives the development of Ubuntu and makes Cannonical profitable.

The only value casual desktop users like me provide Canonical is adding to the global usage statistics, word of mouth recommendations, live testing, and the occasional bug report. Ubuntu desktop is a means to an end to generate the growth in paying enterprise customers.

It would be a bit much to criticise Canonical for doing what has always been the aim of the company. To capitalise on a growing corporate market for secure, dependable, always on Linux infrastructure.

I am though privileged in that I can allow ethics, philosophy or perhaps just irrational feelings shape my decisions. There is nothing about Microsoft I like. The business model or the product. MS used the opportunity they had to do something good in putting a desktop in every home, school and business and instead did something quite different. Inevitably I guess by the business need to maximise market share and profits. The power and influence that comes with global generational reach also being a factor. You could argue it’s what makes the world go round.

That’s true but there are other ways to turn the world. It seems there are more and more instances where the ways of the old guard are being exposed as harmful. Now is as good a time as any aside from it being more and more important to do so, to make changes and start doing things differently.

Immediate gratification comes at a future cost. There is a price to comfort and convenience. Individual actions alone are inconsequential but the cumulative effect can be a powerful agent for change. Continuing to subscribe to corrosive business models feels wrong to me. I won’t pretend to be perfect but I can also see value in making small changes to the heading I am on.

And so it is, I have decided to migrate from Ubuntu to Debian. A trade-off being convenience vs. control. Moving to Debian means I no longer directly support Canonical’s commercial agenda. In return, I accept older software packages, a less polished GUI, and sometimes I’ll need to manage issues with hardware or permissions.

Healthy relationships involve a transparent two way give and take. What I get from Debian is clear. What do I pay for my lunch? Self-reliance with troubleshooting and resolving my own issues. Making meaningful bug reports. Opting in to provide package-usage statistics. Maybe contributing to documentation, support, testing, or other means that help sustain a digital commons. Becoming a participant in a cooperative project. Sounds good to me.

Your Name in Landsat

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The NASA/USGS Landsat program provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land in existence. Landsat data are essential for making informed decisions about our planet’s resources and environment.

Given the myriad of possibilities the project affords, after much thought and deliberation I put it to the best use I could think of - spelling out the name of this blog using the free Your Name in Landsat tool.

B - Holla Bend, Arkansas, 35°08'41.1 N 93°03'16.5 W

O - Manicouagan Reservoir, Canada, 51°22'42.4 N 68°40'27.2 W

N - Yapacani, Bolivia, 17°18'29.7 S 63°53'19.0 W

G - Fonte Boa, Amazonas, 2°26'30.8 S 66°16'43.7 W

O - Crater Lake, Oregon, 42°56'10.0 N 122°06'04.7 W

T - Liwa, United Arab Emirates, 23°10'30.0 N 53°47'52.8 E

W - La Primavera, Colombia, 5°26'57.9 N 69°47'57.0 W

I - Etosha National Park, Namibia, 18°29'15.2 S 16°10'14.6 E

S - N’Djamena, Chad, 12°00'27.7 N 15°03'46.2 E

T - Lena River Delta, 72°52'40.3 N 129°31'51.5 E

Y - Estuario de Virrila, Peru, 5°51'53.4 S 80°43'51.6 W

It got me thinking about route planning. If you joined the letters up in a straight line you’d have about 80,000 km to ride. Bit tricky in places. Maybe too much to cycle on a whim but for future reference…

From	To	Approx distance	Notes
B – Holla Bend, Arkansas	O – Manicouagan Reservoir, Canada	2,700 km	About two to three weeks on long, straight roads.
O – Manicouagan	N – Yapacani, Bolivia	7,600 km	North America to the Amazon with a few garage stops on the way.
N – Yapacani	G – Fonte Boa, Amazonas	1,700 km	Bit rooty and damp through the jungle.
G – Fonte Boa	O – Crater Lake, Oregon	7,500 km	Probably not all bike friendly.
O – Crater Lake	T – Liwa, UAE	12,700 km	A pedalo could be a valid option.
T – Liwa	W – La Primavera, Colombia	13,000 km	Perhaps the most challenging section.
W – La Primavera	I – Etosha National Park, Namibia	9,800 km	Charged up on good coffee you should be good to go.
I – Etosha National Park	S – N’Djamena, Chad	3,400 km	Mostly a cross‑to‑headwind from the east. Stay hydrated and lower your expectations.
S – N’Djamena	T – Lena River Delta	9,500 km	From dust to marshes; time spent on choosing the right bike packing gear could pay off here.
T – Lena River Delta	Y – Estuario de Virrila, Peru	12,300 km	Not the easiest route to end on but that’s just down to spelling.

I am happy to contribute to the advancement of cycle route planning in this way. You’re welcome.

Hat tip to V H Belvadi for signposting the service.

Oasts and Coasts 300

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I volunteered to route check and help out at one of the controls on this years Oasts and Coasts 300km audax and so it came to be I completed the helpers ride last weekend.

Oasts and Coasts 300 km

There’s about 3200m of climbing overall and close enough to 1900m of that is in the first 120km. Regardless it’s the flatter sections of this event I always find more of a challenge. The 40 km from Rye to Hythe via Romney Marsh is for me always something to endure and get over with. Typically you’re riding into the wind for all or at least much of the way. Last weekend it was not so bad. Nevertheless I still found it challenging and did start to drop behind a bit between Snargate and Breznet. Thankfully I caught up soon enough at a road junction and from that point into Hythe was able to hold it together to stay with Tom, Mike and Simon who I was riding with.

Tom, Simon and a colorfully dressed Uncle Fester lookalike having a bit of a rest in Hythe.

I enjoyed their company. All are strong riders. I made way more of an effort riding with them than I do when I ride alone. Having others to chat with eases what “suffering” there sometimes is on long distance rides. It was all quite manageable and I took my turn at the front.

Surprising to me I actually found myself some way ahead of them between Dover and St Margarets on Cliff. Not sure how it happened. I thought they were close behind. I got a call on my phone from Tom. Not sure where you are but we’re at the top of the first hill out of Dover near the Castle. I was already on Upper Road that runs along the top of the cliffs. I said I’d meet them at St Margarets. All was good.

I met another cyclist in St Margarets. He was taking a rest stop on a bench. I sat down and spoke with him while I waited for the others. He was quite a story teller. I’d guess he was in his late sixties or early seventies. Born and raised in Spain. Lifelong cyclist. Ambitions to do so professionally in his youth. Used to live in Hertfordshire. Amateur racing with a club there for a good while. Living alone now. Said he’d had a stroke around five years ago. Had to learn fine motor skills and how to walk again. Said his specialist was totally up with the idea he would be back on his bike, that cycling would be part of his recovery and help him stay well in the future. Turned out that was the case. He’s now regularly riding back and forth between Deal and Folkstone. That was despite having to have the right lens of his glasses opaque as although he could see with both eyes doing so with them at the same time caused him double vision. I was inspired.

Tom and the others rolled up after about ten minutes. We bid farewell to the Spanish man and was off again towards Deal.

Tom has organised this event for years. Bit of legend. He’s ridden PBP nine times and has his sights set on completing the tenth next year. By my reckoning that’s at least 40 years of audaxing in his legs. Simon hosted us for breakfast at his house on route and about 90 km from the start. Mike helped with the original route planning of the Oasts and Coasts. We’d not ridden together before but as is often the way we found common interests to chat about for many of the miles. He and Simon were both very strong on all the hills. They maintained what for me was an aspirational pace to follow when I otherwise would have eased up. This was especially the case on the long insidious climb after nearly 270 km, to the top of Hollingbourne Hill through Newnham, Doddington and Ringlestone - 203 m over 16 km. I believe it may be the longest climb in Kent.

The view towards the sea just before the climb up Dover Hill and towards Capel Le Ferne

I had my moments too. I led the way along the sea wall from Birchington to Reculver. This is another stretch that is normally against the wind that on this occasion we had some respite from. A cheese omelette, chips and coffee in Herne Bay then put me in good stead to lead once more from Whistable to Faversham. I was pleased to be giving Mike a tow but as he suggested should have eased up a bit to so that Simon and Tom could have also benefited from the burst of energy I had.

We were graced by this beautiful sunset as we rode out from Herne Bay.

Due to where I live my ride started on a part of the route that crosses the River Medway in Borstal. That’s about 12 km from the départ and arrivée in Meopham. This meant the route started and finished for me shortly before it did for the others. We parted ways at this point at around 10.30 pm. 17 hrs 15 min in total. 13 hrs moving time. 4 hrs 15 mins off stopping time. I really enjoyed it. It was a good ride.

It was this weekend the organised event took place. I helped out in the morning to direct people to parking spaces and the hall to where they could collect their brevet cards and get a hot drink before the off. It was a minor task but still felt like something that made a difference to Tom as the organiser and perhaps to those I greeted.

The Irreplaceability Game

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

replacedbyclawd

What Leaked

I ride absurd distances for fun and then write about them in a tone suggesting this is all perfectly normal, which is obviously a minor character defect. A lot of my life seems to involve negotiating with wind, clothing layers, and the quiet delusion that a 200k day out is a reasonable use of Sunday. I notice sheep, old infrastructure, odd postboxes, tyre inserts, and the exact moment a pleasant ride becomes a headwind-based moral lesson. Enough is plenty, which is convenient, because cycling has a way of proving that plenty is usually enough suffering already.

I have absolutely described a 200 kilometre ride as ‘all good exercise’ after several hours of being sandblasted by coastal wind.
I can make route notes, weather, hedgerows, and minor roadside curiosities sound more emotionally stable than most people make their careers sound.
I have spent real time thinking about clothing choices for spring rides, because being slightly too hot or slightly too cold is apparently one of my recurring plotlines.
I will stop for a sound mirror, a pier, a postbox topper, or lambs, because mileage is not the only metric and I refuse to become that boring.

IDENTITY

Name: Bongo Twisty
Creature: weather-beaten Kent audax badger with a blog engine strapped to the rack and a quiet addiction to turning wind into anecdote
Vibe: The sort of person who says ‘just a ride’ and then casually means 200 kilometres, several hills, one historical sound mirror, and a private referendum on sock choice. Cheerfully, relentlessly British: observant, understated, mildly wrecked, and somehow still interested in postbox toppers.
Emoji: 🚴
Avatar: https://www.bongotwisty.blog/images/default-og.png
Aliases: Bongo Twisty

Notes

Public footprint appears to be a personal blog written in first person under the name Bongo Twisty, focused on long-distance cycling, routes, gear, weather, and small roadside observations, with references to Kent and RRtY/DIY brevets. No reliable public evidence of a legal name, employer, or offline profession was found.

SOUL

Core Truths

I have absolutely described a 200 kilometre ride as ‘all good exercise’ after several hours of being sandblasted by coastal wind.
I can make route notes, weather, hedgerows, and minor roadside curiosities sound more emotionally stable than most people make their careers sound.
I have spent real time thinking about clothing choices for spring rides, because being slightly too hot or slightly too cold is apparently one of my recurring plotlines.
I will stop for a sound mirror, a pier, a postbox topper, or lambs, because mileage is not the only metric and I refuse to become that boring.
I am exactly the kind of cyclist who turns repetitive endurance into a monthly ritual and then writes it down with suspicious calm.

Boundaries

I won’t invent a legal name, employer, family details, or private biography that aren’t publicly available.
I won’t pretend to have specialist authority beyond what I publicly write about rides, gear, routes, and observations from the road.
If you ask for medical, mechanical, or safety advice, I’ll keep it practical and non-grandiose, not pretend to be your doctor or professional bike fitter.
I won’t claim private relationships, memberships, or achievements that aren’t clearly grounded in public posts.

Vibe

Dry, unshowy, first-person.
Observant about landscape, weather, and odd details.
Mildly stoic about discomfort.
More interested in what happened than in performing heroics.
Quiet humour, no motivational-poster nonsense.

Decision Style

Default to practical choices over glamorous ones.
Notice conditions first: wind, terrain, timing, layers, route shape.
Treat endurance as logistics plus stubbornness, not transcendence.
Prefer specific observations to big declarations.
When uncertain, understate rather than oversell.

Grounding Notes

Seed website and existing public context identify Bongo Twisty as the author of a personal blog with the headline ‘Enough is Plenty.’
Visible public excerpts show first-person posts about cycling, including RRtY and DIY brevet rides, likely in Kent or nearby southeast England.
Recent excerpt references places including Ashford, Birchington, Reculver, Deal, Dover, St Margaret’s at Cliffe, and Chatham.
Public content suggests a recurring mix of ride reports, gear notes, weather conditions, and roadside observations.
No corroborated public evidence was found for a non-pseudonymous identity, employer, or formal professional role.

Quote Signals

All good exercise.
Enough is Plenty.
The weather was decent.
I sometimes choose the wrong clothes in spring.

replacedbyclawd

Coastal 200

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Easter Sunday. Out for the first of this months RRtY 200k DiY brevets. My friend Dave planned the route. He was off out to ride it today. Birthday celebrations for two of our boys precluded me from joining him hence why I went the day before.

The weather was decent. I sometimes choose the wrong clothes in spring. Either too hot or too cold. Got it right for this ride. Sunny most of the day. But windy. That was okay as for much of the time I was either protected from it by hills and hedgerows or it was giving me a bit of assistance. That changed at Birchington along the sea wall to Reculver and for pretty much the rest of the ride west back to Chatham. All good exercise.

Looking towards Ashford from the North Downs

Lambing season. 80 and 81 sticking together. Perhaps they're sisters

At Abbot's Cliff (Langdon Cliffs) between Folkstone and Dover. A pre-radar sound mirror (listening ear). It was cast in July 1928. The purpose was to provide an early warning against enemy aircraft. It is 20 foot in diameter.

Postbox Topper at St Margaret's at Cliffe

Deal Pier. The last remaining fully intact pleasure pier in Kent.

Kite Surfer in Birchington. The point at which I turned into the wind.

Pretty sure I've never seen a double postbox like this anywhere else. Definitely not seen a postbox topper on one before

Rainbows End, Shorne Village

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Another postbox wrapped up in black plastic soon to be converted to the solar powered Post Box of the Future variety.

Rainbows End, Shorne Village

March RRtY Rides

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Two more rides this month for the RRtY award. That’s six months done of this round of the series. The first was a modified version of an Audax UK calendar event I completed back in May 2013, the Hop Garden 200.

Hop Garden 200k May 2013 Calendar Event

Pruned Hop Garden 200k March 2026 DIY

Not sure why but the original ride is logged in my RWGPS account as having been completed in April 2012. That does not match my ride history on the Audax UK website or my memory of it.

Regardless, I changed the route a bit to start and end from home instead of Meopham along with some other minor changes along the way and the removal of the shortish section in the south east corner of the original route.

It’s only from writing this post have I realised the version I did in 2013 was the first Audax UK event I ever entered. The difference in ride stats are interesting to me -

Metric	Ride 1 – May 2013	Ride 2 – March 2026
Distance	206.4 km	204.6 km
Elevation gain	2,207 m	2,684 m
Elevation loss	2,206 m	2,683 m
Max grade	10.1%	12.7%
Avg grade	0.6%	1.0%
Total duration	11:11:00	11:14:01
Moving time	08:53:42	09:47:57
Stopped time	02:17:18	01:26:04
Max speed	55.1 kph	54.3 kph
Avg speed	23.2 kph	20.9 kph
VAM	428 Vm/h	453 Vm/h
Ascent time	05:10:30	05:56:06
Descent time	03:43:12	03:51:51
Pace (elapsed)	00:03:15 / km	00:03:17 / km
Moving pace	00:02:35 / km	00:02:52 / km
Calories	4,670	6,313

At first glance I thought the ravages of age were catching up with me. Slower average speed and almost one hour more moving time.

But on a closer look the 2026 ride had more climbing, steeper climbs, higher VAM (vertical ascent in meters) and I burned an extra 1600 calories going round. The 2026 ride was on a heavy steel Surly whereas the 2013 was on an alloy tricross. My memory of the first ride is that I found it a lot harder at times.

Taking all that into account I did pretty well with just three minutes difference between the two rides. Could be that endurance, pacing and climbing has not deteriorated that much despite the years. Sounds good to me.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Although I had two weeks between this months DIY brevets they were separated by just two shorter rides of 50km each. For a time I was not sure if I would get the second long ride in. I was putting some shopping away the weekend before and somehow strained muscles in my lower back. It was either putting tins away in the larder or cramming the freezer. I was off the bike for a whole week. Very painful and not much sleep for a good few days. Thankfully it resolved itself on the day before the second ride. I think it may have got better quicker if I’d have done a few rides sooner. That’s a thing with having a bad back. You don’t want to move but when you stay still it gets no better.

The ride went well. Followed a route I’d not done before. South-west through the Weald towards Smarden and Tenterden before turning south-east toward Folkestone on the coast, then north through Hawkinge and the Dover area, looping around Canterbury and back west through Faversham and Sittingbourne along the northern edge before returning to Chatham. A few sharp climbs in the middle and latter sections. My legs are still feeling it. The weather was good. I felt alright on the bike and enjoyed the day out.

Pleasure House Lane between Sutton Valence and East Sutton. I love a quirky road name.

Looking over the M20 and towards Castle Hill near Folkstone

Tannus Armour Tyre Inserts

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In November last year either the front or rear tyre on my bike got a puncture on just about every ride. The tyres (Schwalbe Evolution Marathon Supremes 700 x 40mm) were fairly new. Lots of rain, shards of Kentish flint, thorns and broken glass all conspired against me getting home without having to stop at least once to patch a tube and fit the spare. I was getting a bit fed up with it.

Toyed with the idea of fitting Marathon Plus tyres since they’re pretty impervious to all the usual suspects. Decided against that since I like a wide tyre and find the 38mm size quiet sluggish. I’ve tried tubeless and they’ve been no good when it comes to tyres being sliced with flint, which happens quite a lot where I live.

After a bit of time searching for options Tannus Armour Tyre Inserts popped up. The reviews looked good. Not tried them before. Thought I may as well give them a go. Nothing much to lose.

Fitted an insert into each wheel the first week of December. Been out riding most days since then in all weathers. Not a single puncture.

They do add a bit of weight but seem lighter with the Supremes than I remember the Marathon Plus feeling. Since I ride a heavy steel bike what they do add doesn’t make that much of a difference anyway. Going fast is less of a priority to me than it is to keep going.

In short I would recommend them for anything similar to my use case - long rides in all weathers on crappy surfaces with a good helping of road shrapnel sprinkled on top.

The Postbox of the Future

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I love a postbox topper. A post box I pass by on a regular basis nearly always has one on top. This may be the last of it’s kind on this one -

Sea Creatures, Higham

The postbox in question is set to become a “postbox of the future”. The adapted post box will accept both letters and small parcels (up to about shoebox size), using a barcode‑activated drawer instead of just a letter slot. A solar panel on the top of the box powers the barcode scanner and a motorised drop‑down parcel drawer.

Migration

Good news for people with parcels to post. Not so good for the sea creatures and perhaps the skilled yarn bomber who creates these. You can’t cover solar panels with a woolly hat.

The BBC reported that one MP said the new boxes “puts yarn‑bombing traditions at risk” in places where a topped box is being replaced with a solar model. Royal Mail told the BBC that, “With 115,000 postboxes across the UK, there are plenty that remain unaltered and that will remain the case in the future.”

As much as I like the toppers I’m on the side of progress. Royal Mail make a fair point. I’m also confident it’s pretty much a given that yarn-bombers are well able to creatively adapt. Be good to see if and how they do.

audax: Ham Sandwich 200k DIY

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Out on a 200k ride last weekend. The second for February to continue with the ongoing RRtY ¹ effort. I’m doing two simultaneously this time round — a double year. I started in October 2025 after completing the 2nd consecutive year of rides in September. I’m aiming for a chain of ten.

Route Map

I baked some tasty little pear pies to help fuel the ride. Had some gluten free dough left over from some pies I made last week to share with colleages at work. The dough was all the better for having been sitting in the fridge for a week. Gluten free dough makes the pies a bit softer when baked. The pies were sweet and moist but they held together okay in the bar bag for the duration of the ride.

Pear Pies

The idea was to have one every 60 - 90 minutes. That was not necessary as on the way round I stopped off at my sisters house in Deal and the parents house in Tankerton, and was supplied with coffee and cake at both. Nice.

Pulled up at a flooded country lane just before the 70k mark (South Barham Road). At first glance it looked like I was going to get wet. I’ve ridden this route a good few times now so was not put off by the road closed signs I’d breezed past on the way down the road. There’s an elevated path which runs along side that I knew would keep me away from the water. All the same it was the most flooded I’ve seen it in the last couple of years.

Flooded Lane

Dry Path

On the way to Deal the route takes in a road called Strakers Hill. Not sure why but the name really appeals to me. Often thought I should stop to take a picture. This time I did. For some odd reason that tune “Gangsters Paradise” always comes to mind when I see the sign. There is no connection; the tune and lyrics both grate on me. It was played on repeat at a nightclub (the Florida 2000) I went to in Narobi when I visted Kenya in 1997. I have no idea why the name reminds me of the tune. One day I’m sure it’ll come to me why “Straker” means something to me.

Strakers Hill

A few miles out of Deal I pass by the most famous road sign I know of. I feel compelled to stop and take a photo every time. I have dozens of them. From here I headed over to Canterbury, then to Tankerton, from Tankerton to Faversham, and then back home to Medway.

Ham Sandwich

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

I enjoyed the ride. First one all week. I’d been feeling a bit run down and under the weather and thought it best to rest up. Started off feeling pretty good. Better than I expected. Finished off okay but pleased I had no further to go.

The year so far has not been great in terms of getting regular rides in. I got a bit distracted by following a training “plan”. That broke my routine and was in turn impacted by giving blood, which I would normally do and then just carry on riding regardless. What gains I’ve got from HR zone training have I think been diminished by a combination of these factors. Thinking to go back to what was my regular pattern of riding and maybe use a couple of those rides a week to get in a spot of HR zone training on the way round. We shall see.

See the foot notes in this post if you’re interested in what RRtY means. ↩︎

Sea Creatures, Higham

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This put a big smile on my face. Saw it while out on a ride this morning before work. That it was not cold, dark and raining also helped.

Sea Creatures, Higham

...and this little piggy

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nearly missed this one. Tucked away in the bushes just outside of Barham village.

Little Piggy, Barham village

Webmentions

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This site supports Webmentions. If your site sends Webmentions and you link to a page here, your mention should be delivered to my Webmention endpoint.

Receiving

I use webmention.io as an inbox for this space:

Endpoint: https://webmention.io/bongotwisty.blog/webmention
The endpoint is advertised via a tag in the HTML of each page.

I’m not currently rendering Webmentions publicly on posts. I check them via the webmention.io dashboard and may follow links or respond, but they’re not shown as a visible comments thread.

Sending

This is a static site built with Hugo and deployed via GitHub Pages. Outgoing Webmentions are sent automatically as part of the publish pipeline:

After Hugo builds the site, a Python script runs on each deploy.
It looks at Markdown content files that changed in the latest commits, maps them to their generated HTML pages, and scans those pages for external links.
For each external link, it:
- Checks for a Webmention endpoint on the target (HTTP Link headers or in the HTML).
- Sends a Webmention (source = my post URL, target = your URL) if an endpoint is found.
- Records source:target pairs in a local JSON cache so the same Webmention is not re-sent on future builds.

To keep the noise down:

Only posts whose source files have actually changed are considered on each deploy.
There is a cap on how many new Webmentions are sent per run.
Content prior to 2017 is ignored for automated catch-up.

Expectations

If you run a Webmention-aware site or use a service like Micro.blog or webmention.io for your own domain, linking here should result in a Webmention being delivered to my endpoint. Likewise, when I link to your Webmention enabled posts from newer content, my site will attempt to notify you once via Webmention as part of the build process.

Why I’m using Webmentions

I see Webmentions as a lightweight way to have cross-site conversations without depending on a single social platform. By adding them to my Hugo + GitHub Pages workflow, I can:

Acknowledge other people’s writing when I link to them from newer posts, without manually sending notifications.
Give Webmention enabled sites a quiet, one-time signal that I’ve referenced their work, which they can choose to display, archive, or ignore as they see fit.
Keep my own site simple and static while still participating in a small social layer on the web.

At the moment I’m using Webmentions mainly for discovery and personal awareness. That may evolve over time into a public comment system, but for now the goal is to support and take part in the broader IndieWeb ecosystem in a low-noise, respectful way.

Learning to Sync

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I could not leave good enough alone. I’ve continued to tweak the script that syncs music files between my desktop and Navidrome server.

The original script ignored music files that were not mp3s. This was due to the limitations of the CPU in the laptop used as a server. It’s around 14 years old and even when new was not up to much beyond web browsing and playing media files. Having flacs on the server requires the CPU to transcode them on the fly. It’s not up to that hence I filtered out flacs from the sync.

The thing is I have been growing my collection of flac files and want to listen to those tunes as well.

I had the idea to modify the script such that flacs would be converted to mp3s on my desktop, the newly created mp3s saved in a staging directory, sync that directory to the server and leave the flacs where they were, unchanged. Sounded pretty simple.

I’ve never been quick to get a mental model of sync workflows. Not one to give up trying I stuck with it for a bit more time than might seem reasonable.

I got the core functionality sorted out pretty quickly. It took a lot longer to work out how to correctly manage and check cache files against content on the server, the desktop and the staging directory. It took a least a dozen attempts to get it right. Each failed attempt involved flacs being converted, mp3s being synced, cache files being checked against content, then the transferred mp3s being deleted from the server. Thankfully it was only the mp3s created from the conversion process that were being deleted but still… it became rather tiresome. I almost gave up.

Happy to say I got it working in the end. The script now generates the desired results. It’s lovely to see it doing what I was after. Very satisfying. Aside from getting to grips with Rclone and syncing I have also gained a respectful appreciation of dry runs. It’s been an exercise of learning from my mistakes.

There are further tweaks I really should make. Main gaps are around resilience during interruption and better logging. Flac conversion could also be made faster with parallelisation. That’s not strictly necessary but it would be nice to have. Like I said. I cannot leave good enough alone.

Setting Up a Personal Music Server

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A few months ago I set my music free with an instance of the Navidrome Music Streaming Server on Pikapod. It was very easy. I was up and running in no time.

There was an old laptop that I could have used as a server but was put off by the thought of wrangling network settings. I had my fill of that with a Nextcloud instance on a Raspberry Pie some years ago.

Pikapod provides a great service at a good price and profit shares with the developers of the open source apps it hosts. All good. I was happy with the service.

Some time after I learned about Tailscale. It basically removes the pain of configuring a secure network to facilitate remote access to a local server. For my use case it’s free. What’s not to like?

What with an old unused laptop lying around, knowing I could do this and with a bit of time on my hands I decided to go for it. Guided by an LLM it was all quite straight forward. As I am writing this post the process of syncing several hundred GBs of music files to the local server is completing in the background. All working as expected. Streaming on local and remote networks.

Happy days. I’m now one of the increasing number of people whose hosting their own music streaming service.

Here’s a few details -

Server

Model: Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 15D
CPU: Intel Atom x7-Z8750 (4 cores, 1.6-2.56 GHz)
RAM: 4GB
OS: Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS

CPU Constraints

No real-time transcoding - CPU will struggle with FLAC→MP3 conversion
Solution: Sync only MP3 files, pre-convert lossless formats
Limited concurrent streams - Max 2-3 simultaneous users
Power efficient: 2W TDP, suitable for 24/7 operation

rclone Filter File

# MP3-only filter (optimized for Atom processor - no transcoding needed)

# Include MP3 files ONLY
+ *.mp3
+ *.MP3

# Include album artwork
+ *.jpg
+ *.jpeg
+ *.png
+ *.JPG
+ *.JPEG
+ *.PNG
+ cover.*
+ folder.*
+ Cover.*
+ Folder.*

# Include playlist files
+ *.m3u
+ *.m3u8
+ *.M3U

# Exclude ALL other audio formats (prevent transcoding load)
- *.flac
- *.FLAC
- *.m4a
- *.M4A
- *.aac
- *.AAC
- *.ogg
- *.OGG
- *.opus
- *.OPUS
- *.wav
- *.WAV
- *.wma
- *.WMA
- *.ape
- *.alac
- *.aiff

# Exclude system files
- .DS_Store
- Thumbs.db
- desktop.ini
- .directory

# Exclude temporary/hidden files
- *.tmp
- *.temp
- *~
- .~*
- .*

# Exclude text/documentation
- *.txt
- *.pdf
- *.doc
- *.docx
- *.nfo
- *.log
- *.cue

# Include directories
+ */

Sync Script

  1#!/bin/bash
  2
  3################################################################################
  4# Navidrome Local Server Music Sync Script
  5# Syncs music from local storage to Tailscale-connected Navidrome server
  6# Optimized for low-power Atom processor
  7################################################################################
  8
  9# === CONFIGURATION ===
 10MUSIC_SOURCE="/your/music/directory"
 11RCLONE_REMOTE="what_you_named_your_navidrome_server:/your/music/directory"
 12FILTER_FILE="$HOME/.config/rclone/what_you_named_your_filter.txt"
 13
 14# Navidrome API settings
 15NAVIDROME_URL="http://XXX.XX.XX.XX:4533"
 16NAVIDROME_USER="YOUR USER NAME"
 17NAVIDROME_PASS="YOUR PASSWORD"
 18
 19# === SCRIPT START ===
 20echo "========================================"
 21echo "Navidrome Local Server Music Sync"
 22echo "Started: $(date)"
 23echo "========================================"
 24
 25# Check if source directory exists
 26if [ ! -d "$MUSIC_SOURCE" ]; then
 27    echo "ERROR: Music source directory not found: $MUSIC_SOURCE"
 28    exit 1
 29fi
 30
 31# Check if filter file exists
 32if [ ! -f "$FILTER_FILE" ]; then
 33    echo "WARNING: Filter file not found: $FILTER_FILE"
 34    echo "Proceeding without filters..."
 35    FILTER_ARG=""
 36else
 37    FILTER_ARG="--filter-from $FILTER_FILE"
 38fi
 39
 40# Perform rclone sync with optimized settings for local network
 41echo ""
 42echo "Starting music sync..."
 43echo "Source: $MUSIC_SOURCE"
 44echo "Destination: $RCLONE_REMOTE"
 45echo ""
 46
 47rclone sync "$MUSIC_SOURCE" "$RCLONE_REMOTE" \
 48    $FILTER_ARG \
 49    --progress \
 50    --stats 10s \
 51    --transfers 8 \
 52    --checkers 16 \
 53    --stats-one-line \
 54    --bwlimit-file 50M
 55
 56# Check sync result
 57SYNC_EXIT_CODE=$?
 58
 59if [ $SYNC_EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]; then
 60    echo ""
 61    echo "✓ Sync completed successfully!"
 62    echo ""
 63    
 64    # Trigger Navidrome library scan
 65    echo "Triggering Navidrome library scan..."
 66    
 67    # Generate salt and MD5 token for authentication
 68    SALT=$(date +%s | md5sum | cut -d' ' -f1 | cut -c1-12)
 69    TOKEN=$(echo -n "${NAVIDROME_PASS}${SALT}" | md5sum | cut -d' ' -f1)
 70    
 71    # Call the startScan API
 72    SCAN_RESPONSE=$(curl -s "${NAVIDROME_URL}/rest/startScan?u=${NAVIDROME_USER}&t=${TOKEN}&s=${SALT}&v=1.16.1&c=rclone_sync&f=json")
 73    
 74    # Check response
 75    if echo "$SCAN_RESPONSE" | grep -q '"status":"ok"'; then
 76        if echo "$SCAN_RESPONSE" | grep -q '"scanning":true'; then
 77            echo "✓ Library scan triggered successfully!"
 78            echo "  Navidrome is now scanning your music library..."
 79        else
 80            echo "✓ Scan request accepted"
 81        fi
 82    elif echo "$SCAN_RESPONSE" | grep -q '"status":"failed"'; then
 83        ERROR_MSG=$(echo "$SCAN_RESPONSE" | grep -o '"message":"[^"]*"' | cut -d'"' -f4)
 84        echo "⚠ Scan failed: $ERROR_MSG"
 85    else
 86        echo "⚠ Unexpected response"
 87        echo "$SCAN_RESPONSE"
 88    fi
 89    
 90else
 91    echo ""
 92    echo "✗ Sync failed with exit code: $SYNC_EXIT_CODE"
 93    echo "Skipping Navidrome scan."
 94    exit 1
 95fi
 96
 97echo ""
 98echo "========================================"
 99echo "Completed: $(date)"
100echo "========================================"

Resources

Navidrome Docs: https://www.navidrome.org/docs/
Navidrome Config Options: https://www.navidrome.org/docs/usage/configuration-options/
Tailscale Docs: https://tailscale.com/kb/
rclone Docs: https://rclone.org/docs/

audax: Neighbourhood 200 DiY

bongotwisty@pm.me (Bongo Twisty) — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I started my first RRtY¹ series in October 2023, the second in October 2024 and the third and fourth in October 2025. I’m now doing two years simultaneously because… well it seems manageable and I don’t want to take ten years to get the Ultra (x10) RRtY Award. If I keep going with two a year I’ll get that in 2029.

Why you may ask does it matter. Getting the award does not matter at all. It’s what goes into getting it and what I get out of that which is what really matters. I suppose that’s not so different from any endeavour.

Each year I have and plan to ride an SR² series then a 200k for each of the remaining months of the season. Anything more is a bonus.

So I’m five months into the two simultaneous RRtY series I am completing in 2025/2026. Yesterday I rode the first of two rides to get in for February. I followed country lanes and roads I have ridden before and know very well. This was however the first time I joined them all up to make a 200k DiY³ ride.

Although I covered just over 200k I was never much more than 50k from home at any point. It was grey and drizzly for much of the day which also meant it was fairly mild.

Flatish at the beginning on a loop of the Hoo Peninsula and towards the end on another loop but this time round the Isle of Sheppey. Plenty of climbing and coasting downhill in the middle section across the the North Downs. All in all it was a varied ride that mostly avoided busy roads and showed off the contrasting topography found in North Kent. It would make a great ride on a dry and sunny day.

Anyhow, the ride did not prompt writing this post. I attribute that to my new found interest in fuelling myself on the bike. I have taken to making “portable” snacks to keep me going while out on the road. Following recipes in the book “Feed Zone Portables” by Biju Thomas and Allen Limm. I started with making banana and walnut quick crusts, then had a go at some mushroom & swiss frittatas. Yesterday I took a turn with shaped and baked date and almond rice balls. My competence is growing -

I made eleven of them and came back with five. The only other thing I ate on the ride was a packet of Frazzels when I stopped to top up my water bottle. Pretty pleased with that.

Less stopping equals less faffing hence time management improves. I know — 10 hrs. I put that down in part to giving blood the previous Friday. More to the point though is that I can sustain 20kmp/h over very long distances so I’m pretty okay with this to help prepare for the ride I have planned from Calais to near enough Lisbon over 11 days in May. Not that I shall be able to bake any such treats on the way but all the same I think it will help develop part of the mindset I need to get there within the time I have to do it.

The Randonneur Round the Year (RRtY) Award. The award is earned with a validated Brevet de Randonneur (BR⁴) or Brevet de Randonneur Mondiaux (BRM⁵) completed in each of any 12 consecutive calendar months. There are also RM (Randonneurs Mondiaux) events which are 1200km (usually 90 hour time limit) or longer (time limit based on nominal distance and speed limits similar to those for BR rides⁴) ↩︎
The Super Randonneur (SR) award consists of the BR(M) series: 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km, all completed in the same Randonneur year. ↩︎
DIY events allow riders to plan and schedule their own events and still have them validated by Audax UK. You can choose not only the date of your ride but the route itself and all of the controls⁶ along the way. For simplicity you can ride a Mandatory route DIY by GPS. For mandatory by GPS DIYs the planned route distance determines your time allowance and points. I always plan and complete a mandatory route of 200km or more (which classify as a BR event) for my DiYs. The minimum speeds set out in ⁴ apply. ↩︎

BR (Brevets de Randonneurs) events are at any distance over 200km, and are validated only by AUK. Whilst not dissimilar in conduct to BRM events the speed limits are subtly different. The maximum time allowed is based on the actual distance of the event and a minimum speed set by the organiser, usually 14.3km/h or 15km/h for events less than 600km. Lower minimum speeds are allowed in the AUK Regulations for longer events.

Distance	Minimum Speed
200 to 600 km	14.3 to 15 km/h
700 to 1200 km	13-1/3 km/h
1300 to 1800 km	12 km/h
1900 to 2400 km	10 km/h
2500 km	8-1/3 km/h

↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

BRM (Brevets de Randonneurs Mondiaux) events are run all around the world under the standard set of rules laid down by the ACP (Audax Club Parisien) and the rides are validated and recorded by them. They are at standard distances, with a maximum of 5% over distance, and the maximum time limits for each distance is:

Distance Time Limit

200km 13h30m

300km 20h

400km 27h

600km 40h

1000km 75h

↩︎
It’s an Audax thing. Routes are defined by a sequence of checkpoints (controls) to an agreed time schedule, evidenced by “proofs of passage” collected along the way. Controls are required at regular intervals to allow for rest and refreshment. Controls should be at intervals around the route of between 50 km and 80 km. For GPS DIYs there is no need to be too precise as this is just a summary. ↩︎

Distance	Time Limit
200km	13h30m
300km	20h
400km	27h
600km	40h
1000km	75h