Vladimir Gorbunov

I've been a bicycle tourist since 2006. Me and my wife (she always stands by my side in all outdoor adventures since 2009) prefer backcountry travelling, especially on gravel and dirt roads, and camping in wilderness. Winter trips are fine too, even with temperatures well below the freezing.

Luckily our home region (around St. Petersburg, Russia) offers all opportunities for such trips. There are many nice unpaved roads, beautiful lakes and rivers, where camping is allowed almost everywhere.

Apart from short 2- to 4-day trips I've made several full-scale backcountry bicycle tours:

• Solovetsky islands '07.
• Mid-Russia '08.
• Crimea '10, '11 and '13.
• Sakhalin island '10.
• Iceland '11, '12 and '14.
• Armenia '13.
• Finland '16 and '17- with our child in trailer.
• Archipelago Sea and Aland Islands '17 - with our child in bicycle seat.

When there are no conditions for cycling we always try to go outdoors in another way, such as hiking or sometimes skiing or canoeing.

Please, don't expect many 5-star ratings from me. I strongly believe that 5-star equipment piece shall be truly "must have" — almost anyone shall buy it immediately without hesitations.