You did well… makes me want to ride more.

Come over to West Sussex – Kingley Vale is longer but more gentle climbs, and some fun downhill sections, and you can always do a big XC loop taking in a pub or a cream tea in Compton. One of the main reasons I use Strava is that it says e.g. 2,904 calories burned – which justifies lunch at QE, beer and ice-cream in Buriton and the cream-tea in Compton.

The Ridgeback MX16 is a great little bike – we had two of these at one point. After that my lad who is a keen cyclist has been through an Islabikes Beinn 24, then a Beinn 26 and now at 12 he is on an XXS Rockhopper.

Islabikes are pricy, but for an 8 year old the light weight and easy set-up are hard to beat.

I think you have to wear lycra and ride clipless to qualify as XC mincer, but I could be wrong.

Is pootle more hardcore than bimble? I thought it was the other way round! I think there needs to be quite a complex formula as bars in the 600s also qualify you as an XC mincer… which is why mine are 720 or so.

Assemble your own… XXS 13.5″ Rockhopper (eBay) with Rebas (eBay). Short stem and flat bars to keep the front low. He’s had this since he was 11.

For an interesting ‘strava’ eye view of the QECP Day and Night Enduro race… go to http://tinyurl.com/qd8t4jv and hit PLAY!

Get it done while it’s dry! It gets a whole lot more interesting when you’ve no grip.

QECP, near Petersfield[/url]… but you’ve missed the Day and Night Enduro, and the 27th July race is sold out, so maybe next year!

Having recently ridden a Scott Genius LT 710 I would have to say that the ‘enduro’ craze is driving the development of some seriously capable bikes. If I had the cash I’d be tempted to buy one. The GT Force was another great bike, but I’m not so sure I’d want one for general riding… great fun downhill, but maybe too much bike to be useful to me.
But I’m very happy people are making these bikes, whatever they want to label them.

The Strava Global Heatmap is quite useful for spotting trails… or at least it was when the Veloviewer OS map overlay was working. One other useful tool, if you ride with a GPS, is the Strava Flyby viewer[/url], which allows you to see everyone (on Strava) who you bumped into on your ride – and where they went… it’s a little bit like ‘cyberstalking’, but it can be useful. And of course if you have a local Strava Club you can share routes/rides with other people.

beesey, the descent off Beacon Hill is I think the one on this ride… it’s the only time I’ve ridden Farley Mount, but that bit down the Clarendon Way, and then the climb back up were really good.

For other info on East Hants and West Sussex riding check out Kingley Vale Mountain Bikers and the QECP Trail Collective[/url].

The start of Stage 3 was “Lumberjack” before it headed off onto the old NPS DH, and Stage 4 was “Final Descent/JBF”.

I was there in ’95 I think it was – great scuba diving, fresh peach juice and cake by the harbour… happy memories. No idea about bikes there, I’m afraid!

The ‘not working with the Veloviewer OS map flipper’ is a nuisance… I use the map flipper all the time!

I would like to try on of these:

Looks like a good bit of trail, too… great views make it a proper adventure. Good work!

My son, who has 600s on his Rockhopper, is now asking for wider bars. He is 12.

“Heavy Duty Steel Frame” = heavy…

Islabikes out ‘big wheels’ on their bikes – so an Islabikes 24″ is designed for a smaller child than a typical 24″ bike. It’s a bit like comparing a 29er to a 26er or a 650b – the wheelsize is not the bike size.

In my experience the Islabikes sizing charts are spot on – but it’s always worth giving them a call as their staff are very helpful

http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l2-5-modes-led-flashlight-torch-1-18650

Buy two. You need cells (free from an old laptop or about £3 – £9 each depending on quality), a charger (£5) and mounts (£2 each – bar and lid – for MTB you will want both). I would also buy a LIPO bag to charge the cells in and a timer switch, as I am cautious of cheap chinese electrics… but you are still within budget.

I have 3 of these – in addition to the 3 older XML-T6s, and an XML-U3 C8… Next year, when there’s an even better LED, an upgrade will be £10!

For commuting you will want to run on LOW, or on MED but angled down – the beam pattern is not very car friendly and they are very bright on MED power. My XM-L2s have a really good driver – so just under 1 amp on MED which is plenty bright and lasts a good 2.5 hours.

Not only can your Strava rides be overlaid on an OS 1:25,000 map using the Veloviewer map flipper, but ALL your rides can be mapped at the same time – the map flipper works with the Strava Heatmap and the Multiple Ride Mapper

I’m annoyed that david_jey was out all day riding bikes in the sunshine… it rained all day here. Luckily my Decathlon jacke kept me reasonably warm and dry.

Plenty of grease to stick them to and then tweezers to place them.

Rockhopper 13.5″ – when they were 26ers

The Race Report might help you with this… http://ride.io/news/qecp-night-day-enduro-report/

T6 is XML-T6. XML-U2 and XML-U3 are brighter, and the new XM-L2 is brighter still (or more efficient – it depends on the current). Solarstorms are XML-U2 I think. See Flashlightwiki for the LED brightness binning.

I’d also suggest the South Peak (though there’s no sea)… I’ve been to Hartington twice: great walking in the dales, and fantastic trails which are relatively flat but with impressive scenery… Manifold, Tissington, and High Peaks trails are all suitable for trailers, and they don’t feel anything like disused railways.

But be careful of the start of the High Peaks Trail from High Peak Junction as it has some seriously big climbs.

Buxton is worth a visit… and there are some good second hand bookshops. The local cheese in Hartington is also very good!

Last time we stayed at Cotterill Farm[/url] which I can recommend… for exercise you can ride into Hartington via Highfield Lane to get your morning paper.

QECP for Cyclefest on Saturday – rode up, then tested 4 different bikes before marshalling at the Enduro. Decent finish there Davosaurusrex – I was too timid to enter the race, and I know 3 of 4 stages pretty well! Rode most of Stage 3 (carefully) back to the finish in time for some free beer, then a lift home for midnight.

Rode back up on Sunday to tidy up. Caught up with mates who had been camping – apparently they got to bed at 4:30ish! Took a Genius LT down Stages 2 and 3, then stooged about on my own bike soaking up the sun and the atmosphere before heading home for tea.

Fantastic weekend – and with 110k done I can pretend it was ‘exercise’.

1-3 start was Neil (stage 1 timekeeper), me (stage 2) and Tim (stage 3). It got a bit hectic when we started off a new stage with 40 odd riders still to go one the previous one… so thanks to all the riders for being so organised in their queueing! I was admiring the Spidereyes :-)

Once we’d packed up we rode down stage 3 to the finish – VERY glad I wasn’t racing! I was just contemplating the high line drop onto the fireroad crossing when Tim took a massive OTB on the straight drop just behind me… after that I chose to walk down! it was not so bad in the daylight today, but well done everyone for surviving. The medic was most impressed that he did not have too much to do :lol:

How’s your face today, Slackalice? I rode stages 2,3 and 4 today… not sure I fancy 1 too much. Stage 3 was pretty good fun in the daylight – but I was still caught out by some of the roots. I tried not to think about your OTB when I went down that drop, though!

@anyone related to QECP – will it all be clear by Sunday 5pm as it’s the next time I have any free riding time and fancy a blast.

Yes, should be… all the demo bikes will be back in and everyone will be packing up by then. It wasn’t too busy today… well not until race practice when there were about 140 riders out on the trails.

If it’s anything like previous years, the demo bikes will be available all day – so 9:30 or so to 5 pm or so. It’s first come first served usually – usually, so go grab what’s available.

Last year I rolled back in pretty late on the Sunday and they were pretty much all packed up… some red faces all round when they realised I was on £3k of bike which they’d managed to ‘miss’ when counting them back in!

The enduro uses some bits of the Red, but also other trails in the main park, which is why practice starts at 18:00. I haven’t ridden any of the ‘stages’, but looking at the map Scott and the boys have picked some great lines for the race.

I’ll see all of you lot at the start of stage 2… 3-2-1 GO GO GO!

I aim to be at QECP all day saturday – and then I’ll be marshalling at the start of stage 2 for the enduro race. Last rider off at just before 10pm – then back to the beer tent and some spectating on stage 4.

Sunday I’ll likely be back at QE again… at some point I need to rise some bikes I can’t possibly afford.

I hope they have a mobile workshop this year as the rear wheel on my HT needs trueing (also needs headset bearings, and possibly a new headset!).

Rear lights annoy the people behind you… so pick a bright one! (or better still, don’t)

i-gotU… mine is a GT-120, but I see they don’t make them anymore… as above one button, plenty of capacity, and decent battery life (not sure how long, but mine coped with 12.5 hours OK set to record at 1 second a point).

After 3.5 years I’ve just had to get a new cable for it as I damaged the old one… otherwise it’s fine.

My lad had 2.1 Nics (summer) and 2.0 XR Mud (winter).

Just checked, and my lad chose a Specialized Flash youth lid:

I think 915s might be a little too wide….

I would just take them into a shop and find them one they like the look of that fits… (as long as it is not too expensive!).