Great riding and hugely varied. It’s like being in Jurassic park… Freeride Madeira were great… hotels are used to dealing with the cruise ship crowd so are generally of a high standard. Funchal is interesting enough too… we went back to following year as we really enjoyed it.

@lowey you wouldn’t mind sending me the gpx would you too? Hoping to had that way tomorrow weather permitting

TY

@paul123 I ran a Rock Razor during Trans Savoie a couple of years ago… a couple of others did the same. Coped pretty well TBH, obviously comes un-stuck on the steep slidy stuff so depends how much confidence you have in riding the front of the bike… I ran a nobby nic rear in 2015 and got away without any punctures, rolled well and had better braking grip (I have subsequently had mixed luck puncture wise with the NN though, possibly just got lucky with that particular tyre?)

As above

Got over 2000 miles on XX1 cassette… on to it’s 3rd chain. Thought I may have to replace this time but still running sweet. Paid £185 for the cassette 18 months ago from a German website

New style impacts are synthetic and dry very quickly IMO. Sealskin hydrostop plus these have been a solid combo for me

Awesome, thanks for the input guys!

I’ve been to Whiterooms and Basque. Basque is a very different experience but one that I’d definitely recommend. More varied riding than Alps, flexible itinerary, stay in a beautiful costal town with mazeballs food. We did a couple of big back country days with Doug, involved quite a bit of climbing but was totally worth it. There are days where he can provide more uplift if that’s what the group wants…The whole area is very different to anywhere else I have been in Spain. I’d go back again (cost might be higher than Whiterooms depending on logistics)

A leftwing option (and my choice) is Freeride Madeira… if there are convenient flights then it is great. They will pick you up from your choice of accomodation in Funchal, plus Funchal is only a few mins from the airport. Good food & drink IMO (cheap too) and the riding is mega…

Bike Verbier gets great review from my buddy but I’ve never been (on my list though)

I’ve been twice and used Freeride Madeira both times. Great guides and a great place to ride. Booking was easy and they were very reliable on pickups etc.

They have a range of guides and they are all nice guys…

The island is great, very varied terrain and trails, uplift and a guide is almost essential though to get the most out of it. Pretty tech in places but great fun.

Food and drink pretty cheap

We booked a hotel / transfers ourselves and they just came and picked us up. Funchal is where the majority of stuff is and can often find pretty good deals (we got £200 off through jet2 holidays this time)

Have fun!

Am 13 stone without kit. Run MM / HD combo

Usually run 24 front, 27 rear

Got mine from Germany too. Double defence adds a layer of puncture protection over the main tread (for thorns etc). As far as I am aware it doesn’t bolster the side wall in anyway.

I have tried the old model in double defence but it wasn’t any improvement as I still punctured it several times. I have standard EVO / Snakeskin at the moment and haven’t had any issues so far after 2 months..

Just an up-date on these in case anyone was curious:

Am running 2.35F 2.25R Nobby Nic 2015 in 650b. 2 months in and am very impressed so far. Weight is reasonable 705g for the 2.35. Roll better than Hans Dampf and clear better in mud. Grip has been good IMO, quite predictable, possibly not quite as tenacious as the HD or magic mary but a better all rounder.

No problems with snakeskin sidewalls so far. Feel more durable than the previous models and have better support for tubeless. I don’t run silly low pressures but have sealed well with tubeless with minimal loss of pressure and no burping or rolling that I can report.

I have only used pacestar F+R as trailstar compound wasn’t available but performance has been great so far and I won’t be rushing to change. Seem much more durable than previous schwalbe too, almost no signs of wear after 2 months on the rear.

The 2.25 on the rear, is obviously a bit narrower but also has a slightly lower profile. Good for rear but I wouldn’t run it up front on my trail bike. 2.35 is a nice size.

Hope that helps someone.

I went to Madeira last October. Best place I have ever been with my bike. Check out ‘freeridemadeira’

We booked the holiday independently and arranged guiding days with them. Great island, nice people, cheap food and booze. Weather is generally good but it is pretty variable due to the geography.

Did mine too. Took a couple of hours, followed the instructions. Pretty easy TBH and no bubbles. Looks great and definately worth the money IMO

In the past I’ve struggled with sleep sometimes too..

On the whole alcohol doesn’t seem to help me, sometimes helps me get off to sleep but the quality is reduced and I still get early morning waking..

I like coffee but only drink it on a morning now, then weak green tea early afternoon. Nothing with caffeine after 1400-1500 ish. Calmomile tea is pretty good and sometimes have one in an evening…

I try wind down on an evening for at least an hour before bed, no internet or watching exciting stuff, shopping for bikes, thinking about work etc. The wavelength of light emitted by tablets and phones is supposed to be similar to daylight. Melatonin is released in the absence of daylight entering the eye

Coolish bedroom that is DARK

Clean bedding

Some evidence that a cold shower helps (possibly warm too) as the body cools it helps melatonin release

Try sticking to same bed time and waking time, along with a dark room this helps melatonin release..

A calm relaxed mind: Brain dump (try sort stuff out during the day / eve so you go to bed with a calm mind).
Meditation is good too (try headspace.com or the app)

I have had some success with 5-htp in the past, also Nytol or similar in the periods where I am really strugglng. Take them early (like 2000-2100) on an emptyish stomach. When you start to feel drowsy, do the above, and get yourself in bed. They can make you feel groggy the next day, especially if you take the full 50mg dose though…(i.e. nytol 50mg)

When you are in bed, try thinking about your breathing rather than thinking about sleeping. Just enjoy the process of being in bed and feeling relaxed… if you think about not being asleep it definately worsens the situation.

I manage a lot better now. Don’t use 5-htp or nytol and it has been a slow change in lifestyle with some of the above that has helped.

Good luck

Got FR enduro too. Feel a bit wierd when you first put them on due to back protector and wide hip straps but they are super stable and construction is very good IMO. Recommended

If you want to just use a mobile device then ‘hola’ is great.

If you want to use on chromecast or similar then I would recommend ‘unlocator’

Costs about £3 per month but works great once you have set your router up. As it changes DNS settings you don’t need to use hola (whilst connected to your wifi)

Hi Vicky

A 5 hour spinal operation is a pretty big deal. Major surgery like this does take a surprising amount of time to recover from and as mentioned above 6 – 12 months is not unrealistic. Exercise is certainly good including the reactivation of postural muscles (pilates etc) which will have been manipulated / damaged during surgery.

I would certainly contact the GP to confirm that you are not anaemic as fatigue is a classical symptom and blood loss can be a problem during spinal surgery. Iron / folate supplementation may be helpful even if your haemaglobin concentration is normal as you will have used up a considerable amount of your iron reserves producing new red cells after your surgery.

Other additional measures include ensuring adequate nutrition (calories and protein,) and adequate rest as it would be very possible to ‘over train / over-reach’ when coming back to exercise. This will leave you feeling very fatigued often necessitating a period of enforced rest. There is a lot of information available about over-reaching.

Finally, it’s not the effect of the anaesthetic that causes the fatigue but the cellular response to the physiological stress of surgery. Anaesthetic drugs are very short acting these days, you will breathe most of the drug out within the first hour or so after surgery, although the painkillers make you feel groggy for longer. There will be lots of cellular changes / remodelling going on including the central nervous system but things will improve overtime.

Hope that helps, good luck with the recovery. Jeff (consultant anaesthetist)

Geo looks well funky

Hope its just the pic!

Thanks!

Chromecast is a brilliant little device and will do this just great (plus other stuff like netflix). £30 full price but been on sale for £15 recently

Liked mine. Described as above… no problems with standard casing for me during Trans Savoie and other alps riding. Lack of braking grip in the steep is interesting at times..

Justified is good

I’d be flying from the UK. My initial (brief) look suggested I’d have to change 3 times to get to Guatemala which given our time constraints wouldn’t be all that great given time constraints etc

Hi guys

Lucky, I have been looking at that Guatemala trip too. My brief look at flights didn’t prove very promising tho. Have you thought where you would fly from?

Jeff

The 26″ Wilson is great looking IMO. Not as keen on the new one, proportions just don’t seem quite as right

/pic edited

Unfortunately, it’s no walk in the park. One option is an endovascular repair (stent). Much less invasive surgey, quicker recovery etc but they don’t always go to plan and they have to be followed up very closely. Last time I checked it was a CT scan yearly for life to make sure the stent hadn’t moved.

The other option is an open repair. This is a big operation that carries significant risk. Having it repaired in a planned fashion carries a lower risk than an emergency repair (over 50% mortality rate for emergency) and significant strides have been made in care to reduce elective mortality rates now.

The local surgeon will be able to advise on weather it is suitable to be stented (the anatomy of them varies, so not all are suitable) and also on their operative mortality rates.

Best wishes. Jeff

I’ve got one of these and I really like it. Gets a few compliments and far less common than Tag or Omega etc

Done

Hands down my favourite TV show. I discovered it after someone mentioned it on here and it got me through last winters stationary bike sessions…

Genius

I’m a consultant anaesthetist. Happy to try answer any questions you have. Probs best by email and I obviously wont be able to discuss specifics but can answer any general questions regarding anaesthesia if that helps…BW, Jeff

Hi guys

Just stumbled upon this thread as it’s something I have just started myself. Finding it relatively easy to stick with 16/8 and am coping with training in the morning (fasted too). Early results are good here, but just thought I’d check if there was any update from those above who were starting out?

My large Devinci Dixon is 12.9Kg (28.4 LBS) which is heavier than my friends Bronson. I have bigger brakes and piggyback shock though (plus about £2000 in spare change) 🙂

Yeah she is one of the camp assistants again. I’m one of the medical team so we are both involved to a degree. She said it was hard work at times last year, as you can imagine, but I get the impression there are going to be more volunteers this year. We are staying in France for a week after it finishes so at least we get some kind of proper ‘holiday’ too!

See you out there!

I’m in again. Raced last year, loved every minute, didn’t place very well. Hoping for less mechanicals this year. Wife is one of the volunteers again. We both can’t wait now as we are putting some serious hours in at work and in training at the moment…

Massively dependent on tyre and rim combo but one of the best things I have done to improve my riding this year is check the pressures every ride. Find a suitable pressure and stick with it as variations make a massive difference to handling.
I’m 83kg and ride 23 front 27 rear (Schwalbe MM + RR / HD) which is not too far off the stans equation.

HTH

I’m in..

My last race was the ND(H)uro at Kidland and a pretty poor result. Looking forward to this weekend! (black & yellow Devinci – say hi!)

Loco, do you offer next day delivery? Hoping to do them before the weekend.. ta

Appologies if this is a dumb question but would the fox green (10wt?) Work instead of the RS stuff or is it too dense?

I’ve got a monarch plus on my new frame. Doesn’t feel as good as the float x I had previously so am debating this too… feels harsh at 25% sag and a bit wallowy at 30%.

By adding spacers to the aircan – I assume I would need less air for the same sag, is the theory that this provides better compliance?

Loving the thinking here…

@benp1 – that sounds like a great gift. I don’t have the skills unfortunately though