look here: mountain edge[/url]

Cheaper than a lot of the french hols, great town for partying, and 5 gondolas to choose from!

Lucien – think you misunderstood the question!

I couldnt find any in the UK, but I know starbike (here) have them, and I've bought from them before.

I used to work as a guide in the Mountain Bike meca that is Kitzbuhel[/url], Austria. Thus, every time I type it in I get to remember what fun it is riding there!

And it has a nice ring to it…

Interlaken is a better base; Grindelwald is too congested with walkers and, perhaps, too high up (interlaken has the benefit of being right at the bottom of the valley thus maximising every descent!)
Try the singeltrack from Schynige Platte down to Wilderswil, and another good one is from Morningberghorn to Darligen. Both are mind blowing singletrack, but take a bit of sweat to get to the top.

Also, have you seen the Kompass digital maps? very good for finding singletrack, and you can buy them on amazon.de from the UK.

EDIT: if you're looking at the Lenzerheide region, Davos has some fantastic trails, and is a lot cheaper in the summer than winter (dont know about campsites though)

Why bother with that when the E.thirteen XCX is cheaper than your parts, and is designed for the job?

EDIT: bakes beat me to it!

Multimap.co.uk has free OS maps; they have contours clearly marked

Lance also won Colorado state XC champs last year – that was a proper technical mountain bikers course and he killed it. He said afterwards that he warmed up for 3 hours 'cause the race was only 2 hours long!

Anyone who rides a bike as much as they do will have a pretty good understanding of how to handle a bike.

Yea the SPOT trackers are ace. I'm considering getting one for the same reason. The colorado trail race competitors all had SPOTs on so you could watch the race in 'real' time.

Google Latitude does the same thing for free

But then you've got to have a smart phone type device which is likely fragile and will run out of battery in a day (or two max). Latitude is good, but its entirely different from the SPOT

and no-one has even mentioned Exmoor and the Quantocks yet….

are you bringing a bike with you.

Nope, will be a flying visit unfortunately. Might be back at some point with a bike though, and will take up the offer.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, will get around to booking something tomorrow

Yea I came in first (can't win if it wasn't a race) with another local guy; we rode around together and stopped to fix each others punctures!

I was riding a White commencal super 4 with Crank Bros colbalt wheels (pretty unique!)

What – so no one took any photos all day?! must be a first for a bike race…

Anyone have any photos they took yesterday? or know anyone who did? I'm was number 370 if anyone has any!

The long loop was by far the best for technical interest, really enjoyed riding it and discovering some tracks I hadn't known about before.

Dibbs – how on earth did you manage to get lost? there was orange tape the whole way around!

Alu and Carbon frames Vs. a hammer

For those at the front, there seemed to be a huge number of gates as well… seemed to be forever stopping an opening them! All round though it was pretty good fun, even had time for two flapjacks at the tea stop!

I was on race kings and will be sticking to them… unless it rains a lot in the next 24 hours then they will be fine. only two real muddy bits

I rode the course today, so I know exactly what its going to be like!

Yep looking forward to it now; I know of at least two sections which are going to be mudfests, but I think generally its going to be a great route.

Thanks for the email Collin, have just responded. Looks like I might have got lucky! looking forward to the flapjack already!

Its not a Race, its a "reliability" event

Yea right! if I get an entry I'll be certainly racing to the tea stop before everyone else gets there!

Thanks for that email Foxy… Will still hold out for a drop out. Shame its such a damn good race as everyone wants to do it!

Yea I gave them a ring this morning but had no answer. I'm sure they're pretty busy at the moment sorting everything for the weekend, but I will try again later.

In the mean time, anyone selling up??

Where do you live? I'll be around with an axe!!

That's fine, and I know of riders quicker than both of us who do the majority of their riding off road, but if you want to get race fit then riding on the road is a better and quicker way to do it.

Do you never ride on the road then? I never said anything about needing a road bike.

I sometimes ride on the road, but I find it very boring! (short attention span).
Previous seasons I've done more road riding, and you're right that its the quickest and most effective way to get 'fit' however I found that it was inappropriate or unspecific to XC racing, and I had to spend a significant amount of time on my race bike to get race fit.

I have a feeling that our conversation is tangental to the original post however, so I'll stop there!

Seriously though, if you only want to ride off road you're pretty well wasting your money on an HRM

I don't own a road bike…

#1: Training: be realistic about how much time you've got to spend on your bike. Then make the most of it. Riding with faster people is one way of doing it, otherwise being disciplined enough to plan a specific session and do it yourself.

#2: Training aids: If you really want a GPS, have a look at the Edge series. personally, I use a polar HRM, but you need to be sure of your heart rate zones to make any use of it. (no point in just wearing a HRM if you don't know what intensity you're working at).

Ring your local university sports department and ask for a few baseline performance tests (expect to pay ~£150). Then read a few of the books mentioned above and set realistic and measurable goals. Then 6 months down the line, have another set of tests to see where you're at.

Not sure if the shop in Lynmouth is still open. Southfork in Braunton are really friendly and will give you some hints, theres some pretty good riding around Braunton too if thats as far as you want to drive

http://www.pickwellbarton.co.uk/putsborough-location.htm

I think the SW coast path should rightly stay as a footpath only. Its too busy with walkers for 9 months of the year, and I dare say that under-prepared or over-confident MTBers would cause a few problems. Also, on a selfish level, it means I can ride it 3 or 4 times a year without upsetting or disturbing anyone.
Some of the sections closer to Porlock are bridleways, but I steer clear of them in summertime due to the number of people around

Its a tough one: I worked for Mountain Edge[/url] for two seasons, and as the second guide, I earnt enough to live in Austria, buy bike gear and pay for my flights. My boss, as the owner, made enough money to live comfortably, although he works as a ski instructor in the winter which I believe brought in more money than the bikes. He set up the company 8 years ago and says that the first two years are the toughest, but he never expects to make any more than a living wage. He wouldn't be in it if he thought any different.
I think the bigger companies are a bit different, what with the economies of scale and all, but for the independent one-chalet businesses you're not going to get rich!

Not bad at all – for England

I take it you've never ridden on Exmoor then?!

Is Cadence any good?

Yep, worth popping in. Its how every good bike shop should be – upstairs room full of shiney bikes to gorp over, lower level has fully stocked workshop, and the middle bit has spares, tool and clothing. Its not cheap, but I don't expect it to be as its the service that counts and they need to make a profit to keep going. Much friendlier than Johns' too

Well if you're in Bath already then head to Cadence – its the newest bike shop in town and its well stocked with friendly staff.

beware the red sock brigade for they are furious and full of self righteous indignation

I only ride it before 8am or after 8pm – I've ridden it in daytime in winter and never seen anyone, but wouldn't risk it otherwise. I've thought about doing it at night but that may just be a little too stupid!

this shot shows the pitch of the cliff a little better

In case anyone was interested – its the coastpath from Trentishoe towards Heddons mouth. Very cheeky, and certainly one not to be ridden when theres any chance of walkers around. Makes for a beautiful sunset though!

The drop isn't (quite) as steep as it looks. Or at least thats what I tell myself when I'm riding along it! I'm pretty sure you'd come to a stop before landing in the sea but I'm not going to find out!

Dibbs is very close….

I started mine[/url] with the aim of picking up some sponsorship in the next year or two. I've learnt that the ability to publicise yourself is as important as athletic ability when it comes to bike racing

I grew up, and my parents still live, in Combe Martin. The riding here is a lot better than in Barnstaple as exmoor is right on the doorstep. From what I've heard the riding in Barny is pretty dire, with only a bit of singletrack up behind the hospital. Southfork in Braunton is a really good bike shop with educated and interested staff. Its the only workshop in the area I would trust my bike with, they're also into the racing scene which is reassuring. They also sometimes run uplift days on Exmoor but they're invite only.
As for jobs; its tourist and services based and at the moment its pretty poor so dont arrive expecting to find work. If you've got a job already, remember that there are lots of lovely villages within half an hours drive, and property prices are generally quite low.

I love North Devon and exmoor, I think theres some of the best riding in the country, amazing surf and scenery!