Hopefully, with the summer stretching away before us, we can clock up many a mile through the beautiful countryside on our doorstep.
While winter brings its mud to the scene, the summer brings another issue - lazy landowners.
Under Section 154 of the Highways Act, the landowner or occupier has a duty and responsibility to control and cut back side growth and overhanging and overhead vegetation to ensure the use of public rights of way is not impeded or inhibited. Landowners should also keep paths clear, safe, and free from hazards.
But in the height of the growing season, when there's an explosion of all kinds of thickets, brambles, nettles, thistles, and other assorted flora, some landowners abdicate their responsibility, leaving paths impassable with overgrown vegetation.
Last year, these included a path starting less than 50 yards from a farmhouse which we couldn't even get onto; a rerouted path alongside a new housing development (pictured); and numerous narrow paths with carpets of thistles and brambles, and bordered by overgrown hedges.
Sometimes it's actually a case of the landowner deliberately sticking two fingers up to walkers. A while back we were following a path skirting a wood near my home, which should then pass across land emerging onto the road. The landowner had torn down the public waymarker post and blocked the path with hardcore.
I reported all those cases to my excellent Leicestershire County Councillor, Maggie Wright, and she worked with the Council's Access Officer, who investigated and resolved the issues. Let's hope landowners are more responsible this summer!