@warrend yep I went up to Flaine and down to Sixt via the Refuge Des Sales. Super cool riding and the top of Flaine is very cool. One recommendation would be take some really tough tires as the limestone up there is super sharp and my wife and I both ripped holes in our Maxxis tyres on the limestone. Very big country up there and the tourist office or vttrack.com have some maps or routes there

It says on the tire’s label that is is designed for 30-35mm inside measurement rims…..21mm might be a tad narrow. I’ve just put a Minion DHF 2.5″ on the front wheel on my 30mm internal measurement rim and the tire looks good. Not actually that much wider than the 2.3″ it replaced and I’ll find out how it rides soon enough

Up the Sameons lift and then drop down the D106 to Flaine and catch the cable car up to the high station from there was how I did it

Get the bus up to Semnoz…..900m + downhill back into town.

Follow your nose, can’t really go wrong

What has Tripadvisor got to say about the place?

I have a Similar set up to others, a double (46, 34 up front and 11-36 on back) using a 10 sp set up. I live in a fairly hilly place, but this set up works well.

Intrigued by the single though, but just having upgraded to 10sp 105 I don’t think I’ll make the change soon

Second La Grange au Frene. Stayed there a few years ago. Great view plus evening sun.
It is up the hill, so the ride home at night can be taxing

Rode there about 10 years ago
Fruita at the Bookcliffs. Great dry sinuous single track
Kokopelli trail near Grand Junction. Amazing track next to Colorado river
Moab-very hot and slick rock was wicked. Bailed on other riding there due to the heat
Durango-great access to the Colorado trail for out and backs.
Hermosa Creek-Up from Durango. Another amazing trail
Crested Butte-401, Dkye Trail, Reno-Flag-Bear….just so good
Salida-Monarch Crest and Rainbow trail. Big climb and amazing downhill

So much good riding there and the locals are really friendly.

The older mac book in which you can change the battery and HDD are great. Why the hell Apple changed them to the sealed throw away units of now……(well to save weight)

Another vote for zero. Accountant put me onto it and it is so easy to use

My wife has a Pivot Mach 6 and loves it. They make nice bikes.

Good plan Dick!

@Alex Leigh, where in the Ardeche were those photos taken? Cool looking trail!

Norwich is the place to be. Lowestoft has similar issues to GY

as the others have said, around Cromer and Sheringham there are some small hills and you can cobble together some good rides. I used to live in Norwich and worked in Yarmouth. Norwich was alright, if a bit inbreed but Yarmouth is a hole. The commute along the A47 over the Acle Straight to GY was a real pain in the arse

Busted mine back in 2005 by falling awkwardly off my bike. Initially doc didn’t see it but hospital picked it up and in a cast for 6 weeks with the caveat of staying right off the ankle. Healed up OK, but did give me some problems from time to time over the next year, but all good now.

The break was actually just a chip off the edge and they can be problematic as chip lodges in joint. As other have pointed out it is an area that doesn’t see much blood flow so that can cause issues with healing

Great photos and write up. Keep it coming!

I run this set up and works great. Only hassle is the banjos at the caliper end that come with the XTs need to be the longer Saint/Zee ones, so some faffing changing them over.

Saints/Zees are so worth it if you are somewhere with big hills and long descents

I have a lynskey Cooper cross bike which was has been great. Owned it for 5-6 years and very impressed with it. Good quality Ti and a reasonable price

@anus where is the photo taken of the large green meadow? http://anyexcusetoride.com/galleries/gr5-highlights-2/ It is the 2nd or 3rd photo in

Great looking trip

Not exactly what you asked for, but Kennett book is a good place to start.

Queenstown has some good maps and LBS is the place to ask.

Where else are you looking to go in the South Island? I am in NZ

Having recently spent 7 weeks cycling in Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan and being firmly in the middle of the STW demographic (50), I would say take every chance to go somewhere amazing and go cycling.

As others have pointed out, what are you going to discover sitting on the couch watching TV….?!?!

Yes there is. XTs are on/off without a lot of modulation, whereas Saints are much more modulated and very much more powerful if needed. Been running them on my full suss for over a year, while HT has XTs still

If you are riding long steep and technical downhills then Saints are a step up and worth getting

Rotorua for a couple of days but gets samey after that
Wellington for lots of varied trails in and around a vibrant city
Nelson/ malborough area: whites bay, wakamarina, nydia track, fringe hill, 491, dun mtn, rameka and killdevil. Caveats, some of these are back country and technical
Chch: ports hills for a day, double de Céline, wharfedale track and craigiburn
Wanaka and Queenstown as others mention

Don’t underestimate driving time
Have fun

Went to Bourg last summer, it rained for 2 days, so we bailed for the much warmer and drier Digne les Bains. Great riding

Yep Burnham Deepdale is a nice spot and friendly folk run it (or used to)

I’m not sure what the situation is this year on the Swiss side. last summer we headed over to the Col to ride down the Swiss side to find the really nice bit of single track now has a large interdict VTT (no bikes) sign on it.

Might be something to check out if you plan to head to go that way and the alternative way down was a pretty boring 4WD road which included a 200-300m climb in it…..damn

I went from XT to Saints with XT levers and they are much more powerful with some nice modulation. I used them in a 6 week trip in France last year and they preformed excellently. Heaps of power and modulation even on long 1900m down hills. One thing was I did go through several sets of organic brake pads, but that is the trade off for good braking!

Great bike. Had one since April 15 and I have done 2,500km on it so far and previously I had owned a HDR, but my feeling is the HD3 is a slightly better design and it is more dialled. It has the DB inline and I have had no problem with that, but I understand others have. The shock does work very well IMHO. Bike has been used for Alp uplift days, long day rides and I like technical rocky/rooty riding and it handles all of that very well.

I have been super impressed with the riding characteristics of this bike and would recommend one. I’m 5′ 10 and ride a large frame.

Went up there years ago and came down the corridor route which was a bit scary given I’m prone to vertigo. Only as short section as some other posters photos have shown

Spent some time at Mont Dore a few years back. There are some tracks, but def the best were the following the walking trails in the area and grab a top map and have a look.
As someone else said, the tracks can range from boring double track thru to spincter clenching downhill runs.

It’s a nice area and nice to get up in the hills away from the heat down in Clermont

Local tourism office has this http://www.sancy.com/activites/detail/6845/le-mont-dore/espace-vtt-sancy

This show is gold. John Travolta as the lawyer Sapiro is so well cast and his acting is great. The mention of the Kardashian kids is very funny

You need one of these. Not cheap, but boy oh boy do they make a good pizza[/url]

The HD is a great bike and so capable. SLR more of a whippet XC machine

I have one, a 17″ frame and have been running it with Pikes 120-150mm and it has been fun. Only flick it up to150mm on steep down hills and it feels fine on that.

Frame size is funny, I went for a 17″, but changing to a 19″ one due to it feeling to squashed up (I’m 5’10”).

Great bike

Also got one on the HD3 and miles better than the previous Fox RP23. Messed around with the air pressure a wee bit, but I’ve stuck with the settings it came with.

Mainly mtn biking in New Zealand, cats and food
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Well when the Aussies beat England it won’t be pretty

Nice photos and I was there a couple of weeks ago near Vallon Pont D’Arc and there is some good riding around there. Good on you for going and searching it out.

Rode down the south face of Ventoux a couple of years ago and there is some great single track up there, but just take lots of water!!!

@Markend The first section from the Col was open, but when you get to the 4WD and there is a wee goat farm, the gate that lead to the ridge section had a no bikes sign on it, and it did at the downhill end of the ridge track where it rejoined the road further down.

Never mind, plenty of much better riding in France away from there (albeit it is in Switzerland)