Trickydisco – this looks like the 100 mile route from last year

My desire need charging daily if I use the internet a lot. If I switch 3G and stuff off it will last for ages but that seems to defeat the object of a smart phone really. There are ways of balancing this depending on your preferences but I think any well used, large screen, smart phone will struggle to last much more on 1 charge.
A big plus with non-iPhones though is the ability to swap to a spare battery.

I figure my boss can just draft you all the way round Rich 😉

Desire with a spare battery (or two 🙂 )

Tum tee tum. I’ll just walk on by I think 😉

Wow! On so many levels!

Pacemaker – those vids and stills are truly amazing!

Had that with an x9 mech once but never x0 – mine tend to get jet washed and left.

If they’ve totally seized after that short a time I’d be thinking warranty claim – sram are pretty good IME

Sancho – I think maybe you should read the rest of the thread, specifically regarding government subsidies of sporting events in Europe when comparing to Cristalp?

Also, why would a motorbike enduro require more expense to set up? I understand maybe more marshalls are needed given the longer distances covered but why more timing, etc? I can’t imagine Marshalls are paid much. Not trying to be arsey, just interested.

For anyone still not really sure what this format is all about, there’s a pretty good interview with Steve Parr (the series organiser) here

As for the price, everyone seemed to be expecting £50-55 for this. Is an extra £5 really going to make all that much difference? I’ve done several endurance rides in the past few years and I see the CRC ones are £32 – that’s just for 1 day riding round the countryside in a huge group, largely on pre-existing rights of way, following signposts, with a very rough overall time given at the end (but it’s most definitely NOT a race!) 🙂

Nasher, I like the sound of your sponsorship. There’s no way I’ll come close to scaring the podium – it’s nice to think I’m in with a chance of winning something regardless 🙂

Lunge – it’s stage racing yes. Ride order is based on a seeding run the day before. Riders set off on race day at 15 second intervals and have a set route to cover with 5 timed Special Stages round the course. The rest of the route isn’t timed but you have to be at the start of the next Special Stage by your allotted start time or you will incur penalties.

IMHO it make for an exciting, involving days racing, with a really good atmosphere as you get to chat with the riders around you on the connecting stages. As for paying to ride round a trail centre, whilst most of these races are based at trail centres, from what I understand, the majority of special stages at least, will be off the normal routes.

I’m signing up for the first 4 rounds – been looking forward to this for a while and it has the potential to be a great series.

I do agree that £60 per round is expensive but a lot of thought and preparation seems to have gone into this. Personally I’d rather pay a bit more for a better timing system than have the farce that the Mash-Up turned into! As for the UK Avalanche, as far as I could tell, the one at Kielder 2 years ago was guess work to say the least – hand held scanners and stop watches!

There’s the iPhone/Android option if you just want to record routes whilst on the bike but waterproofing & battery life are always going to be a problem.

Otherwise, most Garmin GPSs do routing with the right maps installed. They’re not quite as good as the dedicated car ones but they’ve got my to/from places in the past ok.

Yup – here too. Certain mail order companies don’t actually warn you they won’t fit which doesn’t help.

As above though, a bit of judiscious filing will sort it.

I’ve wondered about this in the past but, on the whole, I think I just tend to go the way that uses the terrain best (best climbs/descents etc). Or the way the signs/GPS tells me to go!

Greetings.

Not sure if it’s in your price range but, a mate of mine rides an Alpine with a CaneCreek Double Barrel and reckons it was worth every penny to upgrade. I can’t comment as I haven’t ridden it though (HTH 🙂 )

Ambrose – are those bearing details definitely right? The links I’ve found online give them as 12mm x 21mm x 4.2mm?

I’ll pop the old ones out tonight anyway so I’ll have a look :).

Nice one – Cheers Ambrose

Hmm – let me know how you get on with those Rich. They do seem quite sensible.

Not sure about SLX but certainly on XT, when you remove the windows have a look in the underside – there’s a removable plastic cover that fits just nicely :).

edit: just like what iainc said quicker 🙂

Chakaping – very true, and on a nice day the views from that bit over to Cadir Idris are stunning. It was fun in 6″ of snow last year too 🙂 .

It is a bit of a dull section otherwise though, especially if the weather isn’t favourable.

ChrisL – you can skip that loop and avoid the silly steep climb if you take the fireroad off the tarmac road initially as signed, then fork left instead of right at the next junction – this brings you out at the top of the tarmac climb.

Beast every time (Poss with the short cut at the far end of the Dragon’s back). You’re then doing pretty much all the MBR & Dragons back.

The Tarw is looking it’s age these days (IMHO) with a lot of fireroad & only a few bits of good descent scattered about.

The only LBS I use these days is LeisureLakes in Wolverhampton. It’s not really my LBS but it’s close to one of the places I work. They’re nearly always friendly, helpful and happy to chat over stuff, especially the manager. Never any pressure to buy but they’ll normally do me a deal if I do.
They’ve been really good with a few warranty issue in the past too.

Yeah – love CyB on a HT. Its at least as much fun as on a FS. The climbs are easier and you have to think a bit more on the rocky bits 🙂

Cheers for that – I’ll drop you an email over the weekend and get them in the post next week.

Creaser – always fancied having a go at that on my big bike. Must have been a pain in the backside to push up though?

Last time I did Rangers I was on a short travel bike and just had 661 knee pads & a XC helmet – I did feel a bit exposed though and would’ve rather had a full face on for the nadgery bits (elbow pads wouldn’t hurt either – if you crash on those rocks it will hurt!). Big tyres are a must too.

Llanberis is the easier option yes – there’s a fair bit of open fire-road type riding and not as steep/rocky but still some fun stuff. The other disadvantage is there tends to be a lot more walkers on that route (you should be ok in Feb 🙂 ).

Loco – bit of a thread hijack but I’m looking to send some Rebas off to you next week (following our email discussions last month). I guess it’s easier to just fill your online form in but, what’s the lead time like with you currently?

smeg – I’ve never ridden the bottom section but I’ve walked up it. From memory, there’s nothing particularly technical/interesting to warrant the hike up.

Not ridden Rhyd Du but some friends have – I believe its good fun but more technical riding and you need to be a bit more careful with the weather as there are some very exposed sections.

Have a look at the “Rangers path” thread – that’s may favourite route & all rideable.

Up Llanberis, down Rangers with a detour about 2/3 of the way down along Telegraph road which brings you back over to Llanberis.

milkherd – Fair comment. To be fair, it does flow quite well considering and I guess if you hadn’t ridden it, you wouldn’t notice 🙂

The bit I was talking about was the bit after the switchbacks, above the small lake. It’s a run of rocky drops & probably the most technical bit – my favourite section anyway.

Memorymap tracker’s ok – you can try the free version to see how it works first (bit slow on my Desire)

I’ve used rMaps and Maverick – both seem pretty good and you can cache map images (or create your own using “mobile atlas creator” on a PC) if 3G coverage is going to be an issue.

Still happy with my Hope stainless 12 months down the line…

Tried to do that loop just before Christmas and had to turn back about 1/4 of the way up the climb to the Gap road (just after the gate)- about 100yds of sheet ice covering the whole of a short sharp descent didn’t really appeal! The ride up until then had be fun though and at least you didn’t get wet on the stream crossings (solid ice!) 🙂

We camped in Allemont (well, we hired a static actually but it’s a nice campsite too 🙂 ). The place was full of riders (Tracey Mosely amongst others), had a great atmosphere and was handy enough for the racing – a bit more of a trek to the start in the morning but perfect for the finish – a leisurely DH from the qualifier finish and the Mega itself finishes just behind the camp site. Those in Alps D’Huez have a lift back from the qualifier and have to queue for buses after the main race.

The only disadvantage is it’s a bit quiet, and you have to drive up to Alp d’Huez on the Friday evening to get your race boards for the main event.

To the OP – you lucky, lucky…..man 😉

Glad to hear it ended well

I was going to say the same as ourkidsam – the editing’s a bit random which seems a shame.

Also, I was looking forward to seeing them ride the nadgery bit of technical singletrack above the lake – took us a bit of scoping before we cleaned it but it was the best bit (imho)

edit – don’t mean to be over critical mind – it’s a great bit of footage and makes me want to ride it again 🙂 . Did you go up & down or do the Llanberis, Rangers, Telegraph loop?

Yup.

At work at the mo but, if it’s the one I think it is then definitely an awesome bit of footage. Great backing track too 🙂

Your right though – at least the crash I had at the weekend (poor tyre choice) left me with a grazed knee, not mushed on the side of a rock face!