custom bmx seem pretty good value.

also alans and winstanleys

For downhill, freeride Portugal is really good. Based in the algarve so dry rocky trails and nothing too expensive.

anyone?

Love Cramner’s riding, he’s awesome.

Think carefully before surgery as the 4 weeks becomes an awful lot more by the time you are fully fit again. I damaged mine in September and its still not sorted but I could do most things with it DH, bouldering, weights etc (not at 100% for the bouldering and weights but fine for riding). I decided that it just wasn’t worth the setback to get it fixed. Since then I have also broken my sollarbone so lots of recent experience of shoulder injuries 🙁

It would also be worth asking for an ultrasound before doing anything as there are very similar symptoms (IME) from a bursitis as a rotator cuff injury.

I would imagine that you should be able to drive soon after the sling comes off and ride a bike on easy stuff soon after. 4 weeks in a sling does a lot of damage to the muscles and tendons though so it will be only easy riding.

A doctor friend of mine reckoned keyhole is 4 weeks in a sling and full surgery about double that.

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

Well maybe not a pet, but really cute.

Lille, Reims Dijon etc for me next week. Not only do you miss Paris, the autoroute is much less congested than the A6. If you do decide to go via Paris the N104 is a good way of missing the peripherique if slightly longer.

Depends a lot on the type of school. Most teachers would probably choose to live outside the normal catchment area but 25 miles away might be going a bit too far. 10 miles (or even less in some cases) will be enough to not see the vast majority of the kids outside of school time.

oh do me a favour ianv – please recommend me a suitable carry sack for transporting my 14 month old son downhill on my back at 40mph.

You might have to lay off the downhill but you can still ride. 2 year olds are fine on tailgators, 3/4 yr olds love pumptracks and skate parks etc etc

People that spend all weekend bickering on the forum can’t really complain when some one calls them on the excuse that they don’t have enough time to go riding. If you look at a site like UKbouldering where a lot of really good climbers post, there is pretty much zero traffic on the weekend as they are all out climbing.

Oh and Kids are not an excuse not to do ride. Take them with you.

Similar dislocation last year in September (locked above my head and had to be put back under anaesthetic), was riding on the road after 5 weeks no problem. Pretty much as soon as I had the movement to hold the bars properly. I think the advice is a bit conservative. If you are struggling to hold the bars properly, a turbo is a good way to get the movement back without the risk of crashing. Force it a bit, it will be fine.

My rotator cuff is still damaged but it does not have any ill effects for riding, only upward and backward movements.

I’m sure they ride well but I find Mountain Cycles, Marins and Ventanas really ugly. Ditto the new Lapierre downhill bike with the pendbox suspension.

Jones’, Fat bikes, 29ers, Fixies as in my mind they are ridden by niche infatuated bandwagon jumpers who just want to be looked at.

Surely we are all cyclists, watever bike we choose to ride, unless its a bmx, which is just for children.

Tell that to Jamie Bestwick, Rueben Alcantana, Matt Hoffman, Dave Mirra, Scotty Cramner, Daniel Dhers or any number of BMX riders that have more bottle and riding ability than anyone on here could ever dream of.

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140_4007[/url] by ianvincent[/url], on Flickr

Lac Bouillouses near Font Romeau

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139_3999[/url] by ianvincent[/url], on Flickr

Above Les Angles

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IMG_2341[/url] by ianvincent[/url], on Flickr

Andorra from Valnord Bike Park

Note the good weather when it was pissing down in the alps around the same time!

annetandianv at btinternet dot com. If you are in the area at the same time and fancy riding get in touch

That stage was really unpleasant to watch, the injuries and carnage was awful. Broken collar bone, broken femur, broken pelvis, broken shoulder blade (man that must hurt) and the the t**t in the car, WTF!

The schadenfreude on here around Vinos accident is really poor form. The guy will not race again this season, perhaps ever and some people seem happy. That’s just s**t. No matter what the history is, no rider deserves that sort of injury.

To miss out Paris take the N104 just after Charles de Gaulles and head towards Creteil etc. This is a sort of outer ring road “la francilliene” and misses out a lot of the traffic through Paris. Its a bit longer in distance but quicker and less stress.

Bourge is quite nice as a stop over.

Will be in andorra last week August till the lifts close and then Les Angles for a bit after riding in the mountains (weather permitting). Anyone who is around and needs someone to ride with let me know.

Personally I dont see the big deal with taking performance enhancing drugs. The tour (and all brutal multi day cycle events) would be less interesting without them. It seems pretty hypocritical to me that people want good competitive racing day in day out and then moan about drug taking.

Marathon runners race two or three a year max, but pro cyclists race everyday for significant portions of the year. They are being driven to take something by the very people who demonise them when they get caught.

For the price of a transition frame you can get a YT industries bike! The special world cup is the bargain of the century and I think they will be offering another in the autumn. Not only do you get an amazing bike, you get extra tyres, 2 nights B&B plus lift passes and training at some German bike park!

Otherwise, I think Merlin are discounting Commencal frames at the mo, Supreme DH perhaps?

Has this years race been worse than others for crashes/injuries so far?
The last 3 days have been absolute carnage.

Tell them you are a climber and they will be more inclined to operate as a deformed collar bone restricts upward mobility. Getting it pinned as it will be better in the long run especially as a deformed break can take quite a long time to grow back together. I did mine about 9 weeks ago now, took 3 to get the op, was back on a bike 5 weeks after pinning, riding easy XC a few days later. Easy weights so try and regain a bit of strength at the same time. It sucks, but should’nt take 3 months with the op and a bit of commitment. The medical time-scales are understandably conservative

Think of Danny Pedrosa, 8th at the last Moto GP 6 weeks after a double collar bone op. My physio works with the trauma specialist for British Superbikes and some of those guys ride the week after a broken collarbone. Hardcore, but shows what can be done.

Apparently Pineapple juice helps the healing process, try calcium supplements as well. Airfix models and turbotrainer kept me sane (sort of)

Live sax, a better tune and a better dj

Seriously – voted best DJ in the world. Always thought he was average at best.

My mistake, he was infact voted best dj ever by mixmag. 🙄 SCANDALOUS!!!

“If anyone has any more suggestions – especially at the big views/XC end of the spectrum then please shout, but this really has given my planning a good kick forwards”

http://www.altitudeadventure.com/mountainbiking.php

There is some routes on this page that can be worked out using the relevant IGN map 2249ET Font Romeau. Cheapest place for IGN maps is gooutdoors.

Seriously though if you are prepared to go as far as Quillan, keep going to Les Angles. It is way better in terms of views, mountains, riding and as a place to spend a holiday.

How that guy has been voted best dj in the world is beyond me. That was s**t.

This place is inside the city (northern) by the side of the autoroute.

Which country has been oficially designated the most dangerous in the world? Somalia

How many boats are currently being held by Somalian Pirates? 26
How many hostages? 523
Cost of an average Somalian pirate raid? $6000
% of cost spent on Quat (somalian pirate hallucinogen of choice)? 30%

I would have thought that it constitutes a conflict of interest. Ask her employer.

Why cant people give Contador a break. The amount of drugs in his system was nothing and would have made no difference performance wise. The farting around with hearings is really not his fault and he will likely get let off anyway when they get round to it.

Even if he was doping (which I doubt), its not like he is the only one.

This might help
http://www.downhill911.com/trails/carte-spots.php?p=France

Once you have decided, this is good for routes.

http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps

One further point about Quillan, its not mountains more rolling hills

Quillan is more towards the east pyranees and it is XC. The nearest downhill from there is Les Angles about an hour away. Good but small but has some very good mountain riding away from the lifts. Also not far away is La Molina in Spain which has good reds and blacks and also has some longer descents down the valley to Alp (would need some sort of shuttle back though).

For bike parks further West there are Artoust, Cauterets and Saint Lary all nearer Luchon and probably easier from Bordeaux. Never been but a french friend did a road trip last summer and rated them for a day or so each.
http://www.26in.fr/bike-parks/france_pyrenees.html

If you really want to ride a load of downhill then Andorra is ace.

Using the N roads is a massive ball ache, its not worth the savings.

Cheers for those positive thoughts DT78 😐

Broke collar bone 8 weeks ago, pinned 5 weeks ago (the 3 week delay till surgery really sucked). Just starting to ride easy stuff again now. It is really frustrating, especially as I am off to the alps end of the month and I do not know how it will hold up.

I lived there for over a year and never bothered with a French account. Draw money using a UK bank card, pay with a credit card, you also could ask to be paid in cash to avoid having any wage cheques to lodge.

“A lot of the private sector are implementing pay freezes, most of them have scrapped final salary pensions so its not like its only happening in the public sector”

Why has this happened? because during the 80s and 90s businesses raided their pension schemes and took pension holidays in order to keep their profits looking good and increase dividends to their shareholders. How the workforce in these companies were prepared to let this happen with nothing but a bit of grumbling is beyond me. The public sector is making a stand against effectively the same thing and probably showing the resolve that the private sector workers wish they had but didn’t when it was needed.

I wonder if the private sector will be striking to save the thousands of job cuts at Lloyds?.. oh no thought not.

Its not the teachers fault if workers in the private sector don’t have the stomach to make a stand against stuff that affects them.

Ooh look the binmen have had a similar pay freeze/pension issue to the teachers too!.. Oh hang on they are not on strike either!

I’m pretty sure they will be once they get balloted.

The carrera blast seems like a decent bike for the money.

Have ridden around Quillan, not too far from Foix some excellent stuff round there. Some of the vtt routes are good, especially the stuff going out toward Nebias.

Have also ridden near Lac Montbel, riding here seemed a bit crap. The longer routes were big climbs and poor descents.

There is some biggish hills arount Montsegur and I think there is some stuff there.

Try http://www.utagawavtt.com/ and search under Arieage there seems to be a few things not far from Foix.

is there still a ferry Harwich to Hook of Holland?. Its way quicker to Germany from a Dutch port than through France.