End of an era? lets hope not.

I don't know how many people realise, or sadly how many people care; this is the last season for the Afan Argoed visitors centre and for the Afan Valley Bike Shed.

I hope that a way can be found for these facilities to be saved, but as with several of the local primary schools, sadly those hopes are (and are likely to be) in vain; the Council is struggling to deal with huge year on year cuts in funding from the Welsh Assembly. The time for appeals and petitons are over, whats needed now is innovation, a way to help bring more revenue to a great, and unfortuantely underused resource.... or ideally a sponsor, anyone with some spare cash?!.

I must admit, I don't make as much use of the facilites as maybe I should, I live locally so quite often cycle to Afan and tend not to use the cafe as I normally head for home from other points on the trail. Though, on hot days it's been a real life saver with an ice cream and cold drink. Likewise, the 'Bike shed has helped in times of need, with the occasional inner tube or brake pad, but this alone won't keep a buisness running. It needs a lot of peoples £'s, come on guys and girls, support the local bike shop, it wont break the bank and will help keep these places open for when you REALLY need
them.

Here's a couple of thoughts, I guess a drop in the ocean in the funding gap, but to get the wheel turning as it were.

• Increase parking to £2 a day. (this would make the season ticket a much better buy) Parking is currently £1 for all day, it's £3 a day in Glyncorrwg.
• Discount at the cafe for parking season ticket holders.
• Use the cafe, even if it's just for a post ride brew and biscuit! also,
• Use the Bike Shed, even if you just buy a cliff bar or brake pad!
• Regular guided walks from the centre.

I'd like to see a revamp of the visitors centre, but that's just a pipe dream. IMHO, I think the cafe is on the 'wrong side' of the centre, there's the potential to have a cafe with a south aspect and great view down the valley and over some of the trails themselves.

I'll be trying to make more time to support Afan in what's likely to be it's last few weeks, using the cafe rather than rushing home, please everyone, can you do the same. Maybe with enough support, a way will be found to keep the cafe and the Bike Shed open.
   
Would you as a rider be prepared to pay a little more in parking costs if you knew that this was helping keep the facilities open and the trails maintained?

Pairing a Hero 4 Black with a GoPro Remote Control.

As you may have seen in some of my previous postings, the front LCD screen on my 2 day old GoPro Hero 4 Black was smashed.

Overtime the screen has become completely unreadable, which is annoying! A major plus point of the GoPro is it's wifi connectivity and smartphone app. The GoPro app allows pretty much full control of the GoPro and fortunately I'd paired the camera to my smartphone before the screen was smashed, so I've been getting by without the screen.

Unfortunately, I've now changed my phone, so the pairing has been broken. To pair a new phone to the camera a code is required, the code would usually be displayed on the LCD screen - no screen, no code, no pairing!

I've still got my old Hero 2 and Remote Control, Googling the pairing process for the camera and RC let me to YouTube. I found quite a useful video by Brynmag Productions, which I must have watched a dozen times to note down the key presses (as I'm working blind with no screen).

This process worked for me, I linked my RC to the Hero 4 successfully and was able to control the camera, it may not be the same for you - but if you are in the same boat as me, then it maybe worth a try! (I'm not responsible if anything horrible happens!)

Power on (wait a few seconds to start fully)

3 presses of power button to get to settings
1 press of shutter to select settings

1press of shutter to select wifi

2presses of power to get to RC
1press of shutter to select

1press of power to get to 'new'
1press of shutter to select

Make sure your RC is in pairing mode and they should connect.

Another useful tip, is if the camera is off, press and hold the settings button (the one on the side) for a few seconds and it will switch on the wifi.