We did a trip a couple of years ago organised through https://www.mountainbikeworldwide.com/ we started in Marrakesh and then did several days of guided riding around Amizmiz and Imlil. It was great riding, though the area was dirt-poor *before* they had the massive earthquake last year.

Our guide was Rashid https://www.instagram.com/guidemountainbike/ who was a really nice bloke. We also had a van and driver/cook so we ate really well on the rides (we would meet the van for a big salad + mint tea). It was great fun, and everyone was super friendly.

Hope any of that helps.

@oxym0r0n he’s denying any knowledge of that, and says he has all of his clothes (He’d have only been 16 in 2016!).

@pictonroad it might not end up that colour as the frame is an XL, and the plan is to make a SS for the wife.

The guys at Surly have been really good about letting her change to an M, but the colour might end up different. We’ll know in a few weeks (we gave the frame back on Sunday). She’s probably going to end up with the best bike of all of us!

Also chatted to Tim, and a swig of whisky was indeed just the thing to calm pre-race nerves. No idea why I was bothered, but its always been a thing. I just want to crack on with it.

I only fell off twice: Once on lap 2, on the 2nd really big drop off in the woods (on laps 3 and 4 I seemed to bypass it) and once really annoyingly on the grass down-hill on the my last lap. I came through the gate, turned right and I think hit a clump of earth that had been churned up. Next thing I was on the ground with my a*** hurting. Had to take 2 penalty beers to sort myself out ;-)

Didn’t see this thread first time round, which was a shame as I was there with my son and wife (in a “zesty lime” VW T2).

Had a fab time and managed 4 laps on my Genesis High-Latitude. Normally this is 32-16 but I changed to 32-18 for the event. TBH, I probably could have gone even lower, but at my age I was never going to trouble the scorers whatever I did (still 4th place eh, props to me ;-)

Whilst we may not have done all that much in the race – we absolutely cleaned up in the raffle. We now have the bars, stem, and a Surly Karate Monkey frame to make my wife a singlespeed for next year (and we put 2 prizes back!). Yes, that was my lad in the lake ;-)

Brilliant event, super friendly crowd, we all loved it (aside from the drive from Essex on Friday which took for ever).

See you in the South Downs next year (that sounds nice and flat)

Little Rob

TBH I wouldn’t trust a route-planning app. Following all the recommendations above I just had a look at cycle.travel for a route I’m doing on Sunday (already planned) and not only does it take me on a path that isn’t a right of way, streetview shows its blocked with a gate, and strava heatmaps shows that not one single person has ever logged it on a ride.

I use a combination of (in the UK):

bing.com/maps for the OS overlay – to get the rights of way.
google maps/streetview to see what it looks like.
strava heatmaps to see if anyone is using it.
gpx.studio to create a GPX for putting onto a Garmin.

Watching with interest as I’m going to be riding in the Quantocks soon (IYKYK) ;-)

If you are now going to be near Vannes, then certainly Auray is very nice (as stated above).

Was in Vannes only last week and it is lovely. Not sure I’d recommend it as being “beachy”. We tooled around the Morbihan by boat, and a lot of the beaches are pretty small and/or have Oyster beds nearby. That said, the Ile Arz was very nice.

I can also recommend St Malo. We had a couple of days on a campsite just outside. The swimming was nice and the town, despite being heavily bombed in ’44, is worth a visit – you wouldn’t starve that’s for certain.

Further along the North Coast the region around Perros Guirrec (sp?) – the pink granite coast – is beautiful.

Finally, at the very limit of your range, we had a couple of holidays in Benodet when the kids were younger, and the area around there is pretty nice.

LR

@mintyjim you lucky so and so. We holidayed in Aberporth a couple of years ago (just post covid) and thought it was fab. Wife would like to move there, but it is a long way from anywhere really.

@ratherbeintobago As someone who has spent a professional lifetime in renal computing now you have me curious as to what you do (and where) ;-)

+1 for Corvara. We stayed there a few years back and loved it. Hired bikes from a local shop and did the Sella Ronda route. It should have been lovely, but the weather was poor (on that day only pretty much!).

We also took hard-tail mountain bikes and did some uplift and easy trails.

Just looked it up – 2014 – crikey. The SR was 32 miles and 6,500ft. I don’t think there was a flat inch.

I’ve a couple of the Apidura bags (a saddle-bag and a bar-bag) that I bought a few years ago (so they may have changed). The only issue really is that they are not waterproof, so everything needs to go in smaller waterproof bags. This isn’t a big disadvantage as it can make packing easier (bag for clothes, wash-bag, first aid kit and so on) but I was a bit surprised.

We’ve also got an Alpkit, one that my wife loves, but it could do with bungy straps to take a jacket. IMHO.

By way of a bit of follow-up it was cheaper and better to take a car with bikes, and park it in France, than to leave the car behind. No idea why. Also, certainly on P&O there are very limited crossings that allow foot passengers.

We did a sort of “park on my drive” and the Hotel Heco in Calais, and it was very safe (gated).

We rode a mixed on/off road route to Wimereux, via lunch in Wissant. The hotel we used https://www.hotel-saint-jean.fr/en/ was very bike friendly and I would certainly recommend. It would have been better if it hadn’t rained stair-rods about a mile from the hotel, and the wind on the way back was 50MPH. Fortunately it was on the tail.

In all it was brilliant, despite the weather, and I would do again (but probably via the tunnel next time).

The ferry *was* cheap, but it turns out that is because P&O are just about the worst employer in the world https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/ceq3pw038g8o

LR

Oops, I posted but it got deleted.

I’ve an Emovis tag and, whilst I don’t have anything to compare it to, its been pretty hassle free. They sometimes do deals, but evidently I’m not allowed to say what or how ;-)

I’ve ridden from Biggin to Tissington a few times on a road bike with 28mm conti gatorskins and it was fine (well I got away with it ;-)

The South Peak loop heads up from Carsington water over to Grangemill and then Ible. From there you could easily drop down to Matlock (emerging somewhere near Sainsburys) via Blakemere lane, Nailor lane, and Salters lane.

South Peak Long-distance Ride

Schoolboy French and German, some self-taught Spanish from years ago, then recently I’ve become obsessed with learning the language for wherever I’m going, so in recent years a bit of Greek, Turkish, Vietnamese, Arabic, and currently Dutch.

Arabic was the hardest by far, and didn’t really help because almost everyone we met was a Berber. (Q: How do you tell if someone is a Berber? A: They tell you).

Vietnamese was the most rewarding.

I tend to forget almost as soon as the requirement passes.

We went in October (last trip held over from covid).

We did a walking tour with https://lisbon-chillout-freetour.com/ it’s “free” in that there is no fixed fee, but you do tip. Our guide was really fun, and we got a lot of history.

We also did an e-bike tour with https://www.lisboncycletours.com/ the bikes were a bit shonky, and the history was slightly duplicated with the walking tour, but the guide was really enthusiastic about Lisbon and it was a lot of fun.

Have a read about the earthquake of 1755 its fascinating

e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aughinish,_County_Clare

LR

Just back from a few days New Year skiing there.

My lad has done http://www.transmaurienne-vanoise.com/ a couple of times. You might be able to find some of their routes on-line. e.g. https://www.strava.com/activities/9494019620

LR

The way it was explained to me was what you are actually doing is shortening the phase “Will his knife”. The apostrophe replaces the missing letters (“hi”)

Thanks for all the responses. Eurotunnel idea might have legs. TBH, I’m not particularly interested in the Venue Verte mainly because my vague plan was:

1. Ferry to France.

2. Fairly long-ish day (I’m with some “less keen” riders) say 35-40 miles, with lunch, ending somewhere for night in a hotel/dinner.

3. More direct route back to ferry 20-25 miles.

and the AV would, it seems to me, be an out and back.

LR

I think https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-accessories/bike-lights/halfords-50-lumen-rear-bike-light-253294.html is a cracking light, and lasts (on flashing mode) for multiple winter commutes.

@TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR I would be interested in the GPX of a route based around Darley Dale if that were possible.

A few people mentioning the Dolomites. I did the Sella Ronda route a few years ago with my lad. Weather was a rubbish (for August) but a stunning loop, and that’s the key word here “loop”.

https://www.altabadia.org/en/tours/sellaronda-road-bike-tour.html

Visited there a long time ago (~1993). My broad generalisation (always the best kind I find ;-) back then was that the non-French islands were “better”. The French territories that we visited (Marquesas, Tuamotus, Society Islands – Tahiti, Morea, Bora bora) were relatively well off, and the locals not much interested in our existence. Other places we visited – Cook Islands, Tonga, Fiji, and Niue were much friendlier towards travellers, and more likely to engage with us.

Rarotonga was great, but at the same time the only place I saw a fight break out in a bar I was in !

Tonga – Try the Kava ;-)

Niue – Probably the friendliest, nicest island on the planet.

LR

Banana
Half a cup of milk
Juice of half a lime
Cube of frozen diced spinach (Tesco)
dollop of honey

We’ve got a 69 plate Cooper. Its a fun car to drive, and has been mechanically pretty reliable (over a couple of years of ownership). With the state of the pot-holes at moment we have been through a few front tyres but other than that the only niggles are:

1. I find it silly that you can’t default the car to one of the non-standard modes (sport, normal, green). Thus if you want to drive in “green” you have to remember to press the button every single time.
2. The default navigation app is useless.
3. The Apple car-play keeps forgetting devices.
4. Not such a problem now, but no Android equivalent.
5. The radio control on the steering wheel must have been designed by the intern. Up down buttons are channel change, and the left-right are volume up and down.
6. The other day a service warning dialog (or something) kept popping up, but was too big for the screen. Thus is required 2 hands to dismiss: one to scroll it up so that you could just see the “OK” and one to press that. WTAF?

TBH, like most modern cars the whole “infotainment” is a bit of a shocker.

Yes. The exercises help, but can be quite unpleasant to do. I did a thing called the Epley maneuvre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epley_maneuver

Staying hydrated can help also, as can a good night’s rest. All other quackery should be consigned to the bin.

LR

If we’re doing Cromford then Scarthin Books is brilliant (though when I googled their URL Malwarebytes wouldn’t let me visit it!)

There’s a nice walk along the river from Over Haddon, then up the hill and across to the pub (The Lathkil Hotel). I’ve no idea what the food is like, but on a sunny evening I think the terrace must get the last minute of sun in the area.

If you go along the Monsal trail. Hassop station https://www.hassopstation.co.uk/ is good for food, and has a gift shop and, further along Monsal Head is stunning.

Out past Monyash, Tagg Lane Dairy https://www.tagglanedairy.com/ has fantastic ice-cream.

None of it Bakewell, which is a pleasant enough town.

HTL

LR

We’ve had an XC90 for about 12 years (and something like 160,000 miles). We like it, though with the kids grown up we don’t really need such a big car any more. That said it us useful for house/uni moves, and green recycling to the local waste collection. Continuing to run it into the ground is probably the greenest thing we can do with it.

Its had a few expensive services, but overall I think the cost of ownership has been reasonable. However, I probably wouldn’t buy another as they seem to have repositioned themselves in the market (and are a lot more expensive than they were, even allowing for car-price inflation).

One of the biggest (potential) expenses was when the radiator failed. I’d have paid the price but the Volvo main dealer couldn’t source one and we were going on holiday. Turns out the local garage could get a pattern part next day, so we did that and have never been back to the main dealer since (this was probably 6 years ago). Saved a bunch too.

LR

@madbillmcmad We saw them too, and overtook (slowly in our T2) quite a few. To me they looked like travellers, and I’d assumed the Northern France equivalent of the Derby, or Appleby Horse Fair or something was happening.

We’ve had a couple of sets of Vredesteins on an XC90 (Wintrac extreme) and they were great. Couldn’t tell any difference in noise or consumption. Last time we changed we couldn’t get those, and we’ve a set of cheap knock-offs (I don’t know what because the car isn’t here right now) and they’ve been good though TBH we’ve not driven in any particularly extreme conditions in the last year or so (both ski-trips the roads were clear).

On an unrelated note we were in a van in Belgium over Easter and, after rain on Thurday, the campsites were carnage.

OP and @kryton57

<< Near to Hadleigh / Southend series that I can’t remember the name of>>

This might be the Travers Bikes series https://www.traversbikes.com/datestimings.html excellent set of races and a really friendly bunch.

Full disclosure: I did a couple a few years back and got my a**e handed to me, but still brilliant fun.

My son entered an event in France that needed a certificate (http://www.transmaurienne-vanoise.com/). We were in Les Gets the week before and he was able to walk into a medical centre and get on one the spot. It took about an hour (from walking in with no booking to done) and cost (I think) about 90 Euros. It was quite thorough (ecg and the like) but unlike the UK, where he had completely failed to get one, they knew exactly what was required.

So perhaps allow a day in advance and do it in country.

Thanks for the replies. The Hope thing is out of stock (certainly at SJS) and the only issue with the go-pro style mount (it seems to me) is that then the light is upside-down, so you can’t see the lights that tell you the charge state, or what mode you are in.

I might have to try a bodge on the rubber mount, but its not clear to me how yet.

I’m in Essex and have some Bontrager mud tyres in 26″. Not sure what they are but they’ve never been on a bike. PM me if you’re interested.

I was already wavering about my BC membership, in that I think CUK supports a style of cycling more relevant to what I do, then the nonsense with the Queen, and now this.

I have emailed them and asked them not to renew my membership (though somewhat predictably this was only just renewed automatically).

@sharkattack it was arranged through https://www.mountainbikeworldwide.com/ and was intended to be a short break for the wife and I after our youngest went away to Uni. For reasons that should be only too obvious she’s now in year 3 and we finally went last week ;-)

We’re not very technical, but did do some local skills training (Hadleigh Park) and a guided day in Les Gets to get a bit better, so was mostly non-technical trails (well main roads really!) and some single-track. Some of it was up-lifted, as we had access to a van (it was a private week with a guide + driver/cook in a van). There was also a lot of climbing e.g. https://www.strava.com/activities/7848697591 which included about an hour of hot, dusty, uphill. The single-track was this sort of stuff https://www.strava.com/activities/7854241327

Overall we did:

2 days non-riding in Marrakesh.
2 days in a Berber homestay, though really more of a hostel. This was “basic” (to say the least). The riding was in and around Amizmiz.
1 night in a tent in the Agafay desert. This was awesome.
3 nights in a hotel in Imlil.

The guiding/bike hire was through a local Imlil based company and we were on Scott Genesis 750 bikes which seemed fine to me. They can tailor to pretty much anything, and the guide certainly talked about mounting the bikes 2 to a donkey for some assisted hike-a-bike with other (more adventurous) groups.

The hinterlands of Morocco are dirt-poor, and facilities can be basic, but everyone we met was super-friendly, and riding through small villages saying Hi (“As-Salame Alaykum – bonjour” seems to be the greeting of choice) and high-fiving school kids was great fun.

A small word of caution, depending on your proclivities, in 8 days we managed to get 2 beers. Its a “moderate Muslim country” and whilst alcohol exists, its not that easy to find. For instance I saw no hint of it in Imlil, and Google suggested the closest bar was 35 miles away ;-)

HTH, any more details needed – fire away.

LR

Have just returned from a holiday in Morocco that included 5 days of riding. Flight was 3.5 hours from Stansted-Marrakesh (give or take) and the time is currently the same as UK (though that will change at the end of the month).

No idea what the weather is like in Jan, but it was bloomin’ hot last week, and we appear to have returned to Siberia.

Can offer more details if interested (+ links to some strava stuff)

LR