Building a bike up will cost more than you think even with a decent second hand frame and a discounted fork. It would probably work out cheaper to get an off the shelf bike like a YT, canyon or an enduro evo (You can get the evo for just over 2k if you buy on the continent).

So here’s another question – how important is two weeks of school out of 11 years?

Trouble is, its more likely to be 2 weeks off school per year for 11 years.

For many people yes it is, due to the increased cost.

No it’s not, its just that lots of people have spent more than they can afford on other things (cars, houses, 50 inch TVs, bikes etc) and an out of season holiday seems like an easy way to counterbalance that. If a holiday is so important for people then they just need to prioritise their spending a bit better.

Also the thrill of travelling somewhere different and new is a very important thing for some kids. We should not dismiss the value of this experience.

And this is impossible during school holidays?

Well I haven’t got time to read all this but I would like to point out that holidays do not only benefit the parents. A *good* holiday can be worth a lot more than two weeks of being bored sh*tless in a classroom.

A “good holiday” can just as easily be had during official school holidays.

How useless – very. Worst chancellor government I can remember. clueless and thick

Edit that might be a teeny weeny bit harsh, I can remember Thatcher 🙁

I had a 17 yr old student a few years ago who spoke about 5 fluently (incl Korean(hardest language for a westerner apparently)and Arabic) and about another 5 passably. He taught himself off you tube!

Look down on the oiks and aspire to the toffs.

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/photo/2012salilberasn-hm?gallery=2634&category=57

when it comes to school holidays , France is divided into zones , the 3 zones have different holidays , except in the summer and xmas I think .

There French are also pretty hardcore when it comes to pupils missing school, for any reason. There are pretty hefty penalties.

Personally I am totally opposed to taking kids out of school for holidays. It teaches them that education is less important than more frivolous stuff and can have a serious effect on their attitude to learning. Parents who dress up their self interest in “but little johnny will learn loads, will write a diary, will do all his work etc etc” are just justifying their own self interest as other than seeing a few foreigners not much really happens. Certainly no more than if the holiday was during proper school holidays.

I see it all the time at college, kids (always the ones with relatively affluent parents) get taken off for holidays, fall behind on their work, do badly in their exams and then the parents are asking me what I am going to do about it. All parents seem to think their kids are clever and a week off here or there will not affect their learning. Unfortunately, their perception of their kids ability is usually exaggerated and their learning is affected no matter how good the kids are. Equally cheap holidays seem to be a bit like crack, no matter how often people say “only this once”, once they get a taste for it they cant stop, even when it comes to important periods like GCSE and A level years.

However do what you like but: accept the responsibility for you genius kids doing less well than you expected, don’t moan about crap schools and teachers being the only reason behind said underachievement, don’t expect the teachers to do loads of extra work to bring your kids up to speed etc etc.

“Have a meeting about Marmite, only invite people who like it and then declare that based on your discussions everyone likes Marmite”

Or have a peace conference and only invite the arms dealers.

I have used a tow bar carrier for years and never included it in the dimensions of the car. No one has ever made an issue of it. Including it when booking is just wasting money really.

I would deffo go tow bar over the roof carrier on the shuttle. Will be cheaper in fuel consumption as well.

Yep, it is usually an inflamed bursa that catches the nerves/tendons as they pass over it. I had one from landing on my shoulder when I went over the bonnet of a car. It took about 2 years to go away eventually but only after a cortisone injection directly into the bursa.

If you have an understanding doctor ask him for a referral for an ultrasound so they can be sure its an impingement and then a cortisone guided by ultrasound (this worked like magic for me). A cortisone from the GP is likely to be a waste of time as they rarely hit the problem spot. I might however also be an AC joint issue, that’s another story altogether!

Mine gave sharp pains when I moved my arm in certain directions. The AC joint problems I have now just make me feel weak in movements other than straight out and straight up.

Did something similar years ago. Denver>Fruita>Moab>Bryce>Zion>Grand Canyon>Durango>Breckenridge>Winter Park.

Too much driving really and the million dollar highway from Durango to the i70 was a total nightmare in a big RV.

If I was going again I would probably go Denver>Boulder>Winter park/Sol Vista (for DH)>Fruita>Gunnison>Crested Butte>Keystone (for DH)>Denver

Moab, Bryce and zion have good riding but are a big detour if you are not bothered about the sightseeing. They are pretty amazing places though.

Not so much rediscovered, but heard these the other day for the first time in a bit.

Classics!

Sestriere/Bardonecchia/Sauze d’oulx 1hr on the train from Turin

Deux alpes/Alp d’huez 45mins from Grenoble and another hour from Lyon.

There is also stuff like val d,allos/auron/pra loup that probably 1.30 max from Nice

My parents were in Berlin, my mum has some bits of it.

I’m not bothered one way or the other about Scotland gaining independence, but you do have to wonder about some of the practicalities.

Leaving the union would probably mean leaving Europe, at least until it was accepted as a new member. European funding (regional development/ agricultural etc) would dry up and there might even be duties levied on goods such as whisky.

Oil revenues wont be there for ever, what happens then?

What happens to RBS?

etc, etc

The obvious answer is Morzine

If you were going to go somewhere in the mountain, I would suggest somewhere much further south like Orciere. Better/more predictable weather, beautiful scenary, lake and stuff within easy reach of the town, loads of hotels, top biking and aerobics every morning on the main square 🙂

Argeles sur Mer, Frejus/st Raphael, St Remo/Finale, Malaga, there is stuff in the Algarve as well (have a look at the new wideopen mag)

Sort of depends what type of riding you want to do.

So, Chipps- is STW The Economist or Socialist Worker?

More like

How fast does it sell out?

I registered at 9.05 for Les Gets on the sunday and 70 places had already gone. So pretty quick for some places. No one seemed to have chosen Avoriaz though so there is likely to be options still available.

got part way through to find no UK as an option

Royanne Uni

Easy peasy to enter but places are going fast, especially from the major centres.

I’ll pass your feedback onto him, if you would like me to?

I’m sure he will lose loads of sleep over the fact that 30 blokes on stw don’t like his mag. 🙂

I like them in general, his articles come over as being written by someone passionate about bikes and riding. I am not really that bothered if his sentence construction is a bit off, in fact I never really notice it. The writer I cant abide in dirt is that Cunny guy with his egotistical, pseudo intellectual claptrap. Horses for courses I guess.

Personally I would buy dirt over any of the other mags out there, makes me want to ride, whereas the others just stop me being bored for a bit.

What is PORC like after a wet spell?

Aston Hill will be a mud bath now

will forget that then.

Dover>Bradford so Chicksands would also be an option. Thanks

I would get the Yt tues. I think you can get them on finance as well.

Edit: sorry just looked again and there does not seem to be a finance option. Amazing value though.

Loads at alpe d’huez, it is pretty much linked to other resorts like vaujany and Oz en Oisans so the area is pretty massive. Le 2 alpes is also excellent and not far away. Lifts were about 21 euros a day. Not sure about hire but you can probably budget for 80-100 Euros a day for a decent bike, helmet and protection.

The main sort of freeride/bike park track down under the lift seemed like braking bump hell when we were there, don’t know how it normally is.

Most tracks will be pretty cut up by mid july.

I cant imagine the rampage would phase him too much once he gets used to the gritty landings.

Loads of premier inns around dover, I just booked a room at the folkstone one ( less than 2 weeks time) for £49. Loads of parking and a pub next door.

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008[/url] by ianvincent[/url], on Flickr

Enduro evo

Premier inn by the docks, if you book more than 3 weeks ahead it is only £29.

If you are in a hurry to leave next morning, then think about Etap or Premier classe. They have en-suite bogs and showers whereas with the communal Formule 1 ones you might end up queuing. 10 euros more though.

Yt industries

If there is a hill, you could offer uplifts. Have a look at places in Europe like Provence extreme and ridekore, they are aimed at the younger more gravity orientated end of the Market and seem to survive ok.

Otherwise, I guess aiming at families would probably generate more money and would require less investment in the trails.

I have a BMI of 75 which puts me in the morbidly obese jabber the hutt category. However, as the BMI doesnt work for body builders, and I played rugby once at school, I can ignore it and continue eating cake

Bought some Stella from the coop on the way back from a council gym.

I am going to (do something that anyone with average mental and motor skills should be able to do without thinking)any tips? will I die?

The best one recently was “what tyre pressure for HTN”