There is nothing too gnarly, except the wc style track satan, and even that has b lines to miss the big gaps. The top trails are loose and rocky but generally not that steep. The bottom trails are steeper and on dirt. The tracks are more about speed and air than technical difficulty.

Quality is pretty good and ther is a fair amount of choice. I like Deux alpes a lot more than the pds.

– this completely misses the point – the west coast is a special place

I’m sure it is, but that vid failed miserably to convince me that the riding is as special as the landscape.

Deux Alps is good – but not on a par with Morzine or the other top bike destinations in terms of number and variety of runs.

With transport, the alpe d’huez park is within spitting distance and the area is then pretty attractive in relation to other areas for quantity and variety of trails. Also, much better weather than the PdS.

In Winter you can catch a public bus from Grenoble

Summer as well but that would not be a pleasant option for a family with bikes.

I am a little surprised they edited it together quite like that.

Yep, it really didn’t sell the area as a riding destination for me; poorly defined trails, muddy, wet, boring riding on the whole etc etc. Nice place to look at the scenery but a long way push a bike through a bog. Most people could be in the Auvergne or the Alps quicker.

I think I’m leaning towards an xxs 26″ bike… maybe

How tall? 24″ will be fine up to 1m50 or so and it is better to have a bike that really fits rather than one that the kid can just about sit on and pedal.

Get a boat from the north like legend said, having transport and your own bikes is well worth it. Break up the journey somewhere if you don’t fancy doing the French leg in a oner.

If I was paying a load of money for the TP tour, I would definitely want to be in decent physical condition so I could enjoy rather than endure it. 1500m climbing days in that part of the world are tough and if you are killing yourself on the climbs you will miss the beautiful landscape and not be able to enjoy the descents as much.

You just need to develop a routine, the first few days will be hard but it will gradually get easier.

Find a local BMX track, they are top for this sort of thing.

Just walk around. I don’t think you even need to rush as the barrier won’t come down until a vehicle has passed through it.

I do this all the time and if you run, you will usually be quicker than the majority of French drivers (who surprisingly seem pretty useless at using their own payage system)

£100 for a frame like this at CRC.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/revell-bikes-250r-frame-cosmetic-damage/rp-prod115560

is it me being crazy

Yes, don’t bother till he gets to 24″ wheels at about 7.

So that when you’re racing, people know who you are. Without it, you’re just a anonymous name on a results sheet, with it, you make far more friends. It’s nice to be sociable…

A cooler alternative would be to win. :-)

Totally agree with Br, buying a bike that is too big is a false economy.

Sven Martin would be good.

TKMaxx have Dinase. Protec and Poc helmets for around £15/£20. I bet they would work out as cheap as the ear flaps and the goggle grips.

Nowadays they need to start young (5/6) if they are going to be competitive but the big risk is burning them out by pushing too hard.

I know a family that have 2 lads 9/10 and they swim 6 times a week and do a gym session as well. This is too serious at that age IMO but the coaches are playing a numbers game and don’t bother about the attrition rates as long as they manage to get one good international.

My son is pretty handy at DH, I basically help him to ride as much as he can/wants, make it fun, encourage him to develop his skills and do other stuff that will help his physical development. I won’t force it and make him train because that’s something he has to decide to do himself for it to actually stick. No matter how pushy the parents are, if the kids heart isn’t in it he/she will never get really good. I was a fairly good climber back in the day and this is pretty much how my parent dealt with it for me.

I am pretty sure schools etc would intuitively be less risk averse if, the potential legal costs of doing so were less.

Just not true for an 8 year old. You’d be surprised what a technically confident 8 year old will ride (and ride well) on rigid forks.

All I can say is that changing to a bike with front suspension made a massive difference to my sons ability to ride harder and longer technical trails. Also, we know some really good kids (eg BMX world champs semi finalist) that struggled on trails (with his rigid forks) that my son managed fairly easily. Yes they are heavy and yes they only give about 2″ of travel but it makes a big difference to their ability to clear stuff and to enjoy the riding IME.

Don’t avoid suspension if he is doing anything reasonably technical. Commencal Ramones 24, Kona Shred 24 and Scott Voltage 24 are all worth a look.

My son lives in Northern France and knows someone who had his dh bike nicked by someone with a pump action shotgun :o knives appear to be pretty common as well.

I have been although not for riding. I seem to remember that there was a lot of hilly/foresty type countryside South of Greenville towards Atlanta. I also met someone once who had ridden around there and he reckoned it was pretty good.

Greenville, North Carolina is more commonly known as “Protown” in the BMX community. This is due to the large amount of contest-riding BMX professionals living there. Mirra was looking to get out of New York, so he decided to move down to Greenville. Not long after, fellow professional BMX rider Ryan Nyquist moved in with him. Mirra and Nyquist became quick friends and would build and ride ramps together. Greenville is now home to over twenty professional BMX riders.

You will be in good company :-)

NSFW

Gabba Claus & Rudolf Ravedeer – Merry Mutha FXXKin X-Mas :-)

I put a soft spring in the Boxxers which set the front sag perfectly and a 350 on the rear, which again got the sag spot on.

How much does he weigh? I was checking spring weights for my my son and they came in about 150

I wonder how much the consultants charged for such awesome advice?

Andorra is ace, there is a Maxi Avalanche early in the season and a second one in September if you want an event. However, early or late means that the top lift is only open on weekends.

A park trip taking in Granvalira, Valnord and La Molina is easy doable without paying a holiday company.

The queues at the border control on the m62 would be a bit of a nightmare.

My lad’s just turned 12 and rides a Trek Session 8 in small frame.

Does the std suspension work for him or have you had to replace with air?

camp site at Venosc is a good bet with kids, better for Deux Alpes but Alp d’Huez is not far away.

http://www.champ-du-moulin.com/en/welcome.html

Unless he is only going to ride short little tracks, then a HT is a pretty crap option IME. Its one of those stock STW clichés about learning skills, but in real life kids ride DH better, faster and longer on an FS.

If going the adult bike route, deffo something lighter than a proper DH bike. The 24in DH bikes only have 120mm or so travel so anything more (without being too heavy) would be a bonus.

Kona stinky 24, Norco B line, Commencal supreme 24, Spesh Big hit grom or YT industries First Play.

The YT is probably the best off the shelf but, would be difficult to find. Then the Commencal but, pretty expensive. All the others need better (air) suspension to be any good.

There is also the lil shredder phenom but, that’s mega bucks.

If the kid is tall, a small adult bike with 24in wheels might be worth considering as it would give more room for growth before having to change again.

You could always persuade her that deux alpes/alpe d’huez is a pretty good venue for a weeks riding and stay there. Better weather, cool trails, big area when the two are combined, less hassle. I prefer it to the PdS.

Otherwise, you will need to rent a car to get to Morzine I think, public transport would be a nightmare.

I let my son buy one of these with money from his 7th birthday. 3 yrs later; no one has been stabbed, no limbs have been lost, no pensioners have been mugged and I am fairly relaxed with him doing stuff with bigger knives. 10 is fine for a sensible kid.

There’s a whole page for cats that look like Hitler.

:-)

Both my sons 24″ bikes have std forks and both work way better than they would with 24″ ones. If anything, they improve the geometry as they slacken the bikes a bit.

What about a joda fox??

[/url]
Fennec fox[/url] by floridapfe[/url], on Flickr[/img]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kona-Shred-2-4-Youths-MTB-with-spare-tyres-/121219622250?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item1c3940a56a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kona-Shred-24-inches-Mountain-Bike-/271329148308?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3f2c7a3d94