The British Heart Foundation are holding the event on 21st July 2012

I’m afraid 21st July has already passed!!!

I’ve don’t it twice as part of the Maxx Exposure South Downs way challenge, I enjoyed both times immensely.

It just looks so silly, i can’t take people that wear the XC lid and goggle combo seriously.

Why you mixing KM’s and miles? Like speed in miles and distance in Km/h. 8O

Anyway, I could prob average 20mph for about 30 mins or so, depending on the terrain. My 30 mile rides usually have an average of about 17 mph, including warm-up/cool-down.

Sweet I think orange with brown should go well! Both earth colours.

When the chain will only sit on about 2 cogs cuz all the rest are buggered, then you know it needs replacing :D .

Not the best pic but heres mine.

OK, bit of ski advice required please.

Going to hire skis and boots from Outland in Serre Che when we go there in January. Their options are:

1. Blue package – for beginners – Rossignol ZS
2. Red package – for intermediates – Rossignol Xenith 76/Blizzard Bushwacker.

I’m not an experienced skier (confident on blues and get down reds without fuss) – will the beginner skis still be OK for me?

I’ve got two trips next year – is it worth buying my own boots or will the fact I still need to hire skis make it not worth it?

Yes the beginner skis will be “OK”. The main difference i saw when paying more for hire skis versus less (before I had my own), was that the edges were generally in better condition, and they were usually waxed better too with less holes in the base. If you can carve you’ll notice a difference in better edges and higher quality skis, if your just doing parallel then you probably won’t.

And boots should be your first purchase before thinking about buying skis, a well fitted pair of boots makes a world of difference in comfort and performance. Even if you are still hiring skis.

Schwalbe Black Sharks.

And I know I probably should, but I don’t have any transceiver or beacon or shovel or anything like that.

Also, many (most?) Euro resorts have large “patrolled off piste” area or “itinerary runs” to keep the sheep in one place. You can always spot these from some distance away by the enormous moguls…

Not a big fan of moguls. I can ski them reasonably well but would rarely choose to ski them for fun!

michaelmcc – almost anywhere you go in Europe will have more freeride terrain than Whistler, simply because the resorts are so much bigger and the vertical drop so much higher. It’ll be be steeper and gnarlier too.

I know they have a lot, not sure if they would have more as it’s hard to measure distances or areas of free-ride terrain in some kinda figure, right? Adding in and taking away all the areas that are either out of bounds or just un-ridable.. with huge cliffs or steep rocky areas. I’m pretty sure most areas don’t measure the off piste areas in any kind of size or number.

The bigger difference is that many north-american resorts have severe restrictions on going outside the ski-area boundary, thus massively reducing your backcountry opportunities. Generally speaking, you can go wherever you like in Europe.

Aware of that, I guess I just like feeling somewhat safe skiing off piste in Whistler. Ive found some good stuff in Zermatt and La Plagne, but usually I’m skiing on my own when looking for good off piste routes there, as no one else in my family I go with ever wants to come along with me :( .
This year in Canada is the first season that I’ve really started to love off piste, rarely ski on piste anymore apart from getting to another nice off piste area!
Also, powder skiing and slack/back-country seems to be what everyone skis for here, and from what I remember about the last time I was in France, narrow carving skis seem more popular.

Well I guess I want to keep getting better at steep/deep off piste lines but don’t wanna do anything stupid either.

I’ll be in La Plagne a few times this winter, need to find myself some skiing mates there though!

Is it a compact frame or a regular frame? Compact frames have shorter seat-tubes but the top tube still has similar sizing to regular ones in the S/M/L sizes. If it is a regular, then that frame sounds a bit too small for you. I’m 5’8″ and usually ride a 54/55cm or size M in compact, if that makes sense?!

It’s not about good v bad off piste, but more about the way the resorts approach it.

Ye that’s what I meant CF! Here in whistler there’s so much “off piste” that’s still within the ski area boundary and patrolled.
What resorts in Europe would be somewhat similar? I want to stay doing loads more slack-country when I get back but don’t want to make stupid mistakes about going about it either.

Unlike here in Europe where once you cross under the rope your on your own!

So will I find everything in Europe really tame after being here for a season? What are the best resorts for off piste in France/Italy/Austria? Surely there must be some good ones.

Not sure tbh! Just thinking it might be a good idea for when I start skiing in Europe again after being in Canada. From what I remember, most places in Europe aren’t as well avalanche controlled as over here. I think its sortof unique here to have so much “off piste” thats still avalanche controlled.

For everyday stuff I use the Specaliszed Devient.
To increase the airflow which is very good
I take out the padding around the cheeks.
This is clipped in so no mess or discomfort
whilst removed, very good helmet

Looks like some weird attempt at a mountain bike Limerick lol. :wink:

I remember reading something somewhere, along the lines that people with good posture who are in good shape do better in interviews.

I can’t see why anyone would have a problem with having snakes as a pet and also sees no problem with owning a RAT?!?!?! I just think rats are really gross and horrible looking, bizarre arguement to me :roll: .

The cheapest I can get away with is £25 and that’s a cut without the blow

rudebwoy – Am sure if you do the blow someone will do the cut in exchange

:lol:

Thought the fork would break before the frame! Jeepers.

I just read a review of those BCA ones and they don’t sound that good seeing as you have to pull a chord to activate the air-bag, but others could be worth it. Obviously they wont be any help if you tumble down a cliff and hit your head hard a few times.

Just out of interest, anyone thinking about/ or bought one of these??? Could be a life saver.

Olympus tough.

walleater you obviously care enough to reply lol! I’ll take a pic of the valley trail map when I’m back there tomorrow.

Its pretty dead in the park and pretty much everywhere these days and I imagine it will only get quieter until people start arriving for the winter season.

I imagine that the magic shine light with an extra battery should do the trick, and maybe a Joystick for the helmet if you can stretch that far!

Hi, I think Exposure are the best lights for 24 hour racing as most of the lights they have targeted towards racers can be put on a 3, 10, or 24 hour setting, So you could have it on the 10 hour setting for the really dark portion of the night and then the 24 hour setting for the tail end of it.

I have a Joystick on my helmet and a Sixx Pack on my bars, the Sixx Pack is mega bright buts its still nice to have a light on your helmet to have a clearer view of whats around the corner.

They aint cheap but worth it IMO!!!

Valley Trails is just the generic name given to all the Whistler trails outside the Park.

Everyone that I know here refers to the valley trail as the paved trails or pavements around the lakes. All the other free mountain bike trails are called cross country trails. Do I really have to go out and take a photo of the valley trail map?

Jedi your making me feel not worthy now :(

:lol:

I’d like to ride more areas of BC like Silver-star but not having a car makes it hard. And I have a season pass for the bike park here so wanna make the most of the last few weeks!

paulpalf: It does have a few down sides like most things but you can’t argue that it’s one of the best ski and bike places in the world. I haven’t come across any attitude in the bike part yet, everyone seems pretty easy going and friendly to me.

No need to be pedantic, I think we all know what was being referred to

No I didn’t know if you meant the paved paths called the valley trails or the off-road XC trails around the lakes and valleys.

In Deep is my favourite as well, and maybe Duffman/No Duff/Duffman; oh, and Original Sin, and Schleyer… and Whistler Downhill… and Detroit Rock City etc etc

Ye In Deep is SOOOO much fun, love those rooty sections going in to the rocky steep gullys. Challenging to me but really fun!

I haven’t ridden Duff Man or No Duff yet, it’s on my list.

Original Sin is SUCH a fun trail too. And Facrobat, off In Deep. A bit crazier than In Deep but still major fun. Rode Schleyer and Rock City for the first time last week, a bit sketchy my first time down but found way more flow the second time! :D

Can I be the first to say WBP bores me?

I moved to Vancouver 5 years ago…rode WBP a couple of time a year for the first few years, didn’t ride it at all last year and have only ridden it once this year (and then only ‘cos I had a free sampler pass).

I much prefer the valley trails…or Squamish….or Pemberton…or the Sunshine Coast

I think you are the first person to say that! I’ve always been more of an XC rider so I enjoyed riding loads of free XC trails around the lakes and valleys. They are more all-mountain compared to stuff in the UK though! In particular stuff like kill me thrill me, comfortably numb and a river runs through it.

And the valley trails? They’re the paved paths going around the lakes :? .

Me

I hate you already

Where are you from in the UK?

Dublin so not the UK, I do the odd weekends riding over there though.

Hmmm hoping to give Freight Train a go before I leave, In Deep is probably my fav trail here so far.

Jedi, where the bloody hell were those photos taken? It doesn’t look like the UK.

I have another 3 weeks here, hopefully my riding back home won’t seem completely dull when I return!

On the positive side, I am getting addicted to downhill, but I hear it’s like a different sport over here with so many trails. Ah well, there’s a few DH courses near me back home so shouldn’t be TOO bad.

:cry:

700mm is wide for me for an XC bike! I like 780’s for downhill but anything wider than 640 for xc just seems really clumsy and cumbersome to me.

Nice! You’re not gonna stick with the flat pedals though right?