I’ve used the Cane Creek Ergos for years, really like them especially for longer rides.

The only downside (apart from aesthetics) is that, like any bar-ends, they can hook up on nearby foliage, fences etc and bring you down. But that’s mainly down to user error.

More teeth on the front = higher (more difficult) gear.

More teeth on the back = lower (easier) gear.

So as others have said, 36:32 and 32:36 are not the same ratio at all.

36t chainring and 32t cassette will be approx 25% higher than the opposite way round.

Finish Line Grunge Brush for a slightly more robust version of what eskimonumber1 suggested.

Yep, I don’t know much about road bike models, I’m just a pedant :D

I only knew because I saw the photo elsewhere last week, i.e. before P-R :)

The photo of Wiggins is not from P-R, but from RVV the previous weekend.

In general yes, the Spring Series races have stronger fields than the non-series Autumn races.

How did you compare against people who did both races? That’s probably a better benchmark than finishing position.

I thought I was going quite well for the first lap and a half of SuperVets, but then realised that the people coming past weren’t the leading Sport riders but were actually in my category. Blew up quite badly on lap 4, legs completely empty!

26*24/36 = 17.33
29*32/42 = 22.10
29*30/42 = 20.71

So a 30/42 combo on a 29er would be approx 20% harder than your current setup. 32/42 would be 28% harder. Quite a bit harder either way.

Great stuff mW! Sounds like you got exactly what you were after :)

Downs Link is indeed very flat and non-technical (if you skip the initial descent from St Martha’s Hill and begin on the other branch just south of Guildford).

But it’s not all that scenic – being based mainly on disused railway lines, a lot of the time you’ll either be down in a cutting or in a tunnel of trees, with not that much of a view.

There’s also a pretty steep climb near Rudgwick, but it’s not too long so you can just get off and push that bit, if indeed you go that far.

Plenty of info here, including links to maps and a route guide at the bottom.

Reminder for anyone wanting to do the Trailtrax – it’s this Sunday.

Details here[/url]

Assume the same technique would help for tight switchbacks patriotmike?

Mild and dry in the wildernesses of the north-east last night (well, north-east Hampshire). Would have been rude not to ride :)

What acjim said.

I’ve got some On-One merino arm warmers, they’ve not gone baggy at all, had them a couple of years.

Yes, same thing on my tablet. Eurosport 1 is working fine so it must be the audio feed.

The map reading skills are to find your way to the circle on the map – once you’re in that, the punch should be easy to locate as anything else is a treasure hunt, not a test of skill.

I agree, this is certainly my philosophy when choosing checkpoint locations for score events. I can see why it might be different on a large scale map at an MTBO event.

nxb1 – yes do say hi to me at Tilford in a couple of weeks, in fact you probably won’t have much choice as I will most likely be in charge of the start/finish area!

Any feedback – on the day or subsequently – would be useful as it’s only the second time I’ve set the course (I did Tilford last year too). Want to make sure people enjoy the event as much as possible :)

Haha yes I know the Gorrick events, I am setting the checkpoints for the one on 6th April :)

Wish I could get to some of these, unfortunately a bit too far away from me (I’m in north-east Hampshire) as I don’t have a car and planning things around early morning Sunday train services is futile.

Would love to do the Black Mountains stuff in particular!

In the meantime, have you seen this website?

Chemins du Soleil

Oh ok, as suspected I can’t help you too much there, as I haven’t ridden that section, and both times I went I went via Eurostar and TGV to Valence and back (and local train from Gap back to Valence).

I’ll see if I can prompt one of the others to post something up. I do remember a friend’s photostream of the Sisteron-Nice section and it looked awesome.

I’ve twice ridden the Chemins du Soleil Raid VTT, from Valence to Gap on each occasion.

The event provided food, accommodation and way-marking, so I might not be much help with advice on a self-guided effort, but ask away anyway.

Some of my friends have ridden all the way from Valence to Nice on the CdS route self-supported, but I’m not sure any of them post on STW any more :(

My Soloist is running 34:20 with the Alfine. Was 34:18 as an SS previously.

Haha yes, always good to have a chat on the way round to distract from the pain and misery :-)

Well done Dr P, was me you were chatting with for much of laps 4 and 5. That bunnyhop over the fallen tree was a fine effort :)

Managed to grind my way onto the podium in the end, and for the series too, delighted with that as I usually flounder in a mudbath!

Roll on the Spring Series!

750 € for me. You do get a lot for your money though…

How did everyone get on?

I was doing the pre-ride course check of the long route this morning, it was pretty wet in places and hard work in parts, but could have been much worse (and would have been much worse a week ago!).

People seemed to enjoy it from what I heard? I did, but then I got paid in chilli and rocky road cake for helping out ;-)

Oops, I have entered it again too, not content with my 79th place in 2008.

Luckily I have much more spare time and money to throw at it than I did then, and am also much younger, so should be fine.

Oh hang on… :-s

the mid pack idiots who think they are winning (half way through the field) will try and pass badly

Not just limited to idiots, towards the end of the 4 hour race everyone will be approaching exhaustion and struggling to get enough oxygen to keep the muscles going, let alone the brain. Bad overtaking becomes simple incompetence rather than ignorance or malice! No excuse for aggression though.

Just be aware of what’s around you, look behind every now and again especially when approaching a narrow section. If faster riders are approaching then start looking for a place you can let them past, and communicate what you are going to do.

As everyone else has said, ditch the headphones.

And remember to have fun :)

I also read that this morning – page-filling content-free drivel.

2 minutes of my life I won’t get back.

Thanks Muke.

Did you get taken off course in the ambulance? Thought I heard sirens at some point.

There were plenty of opportunities to bin it out there today (although somehow I stayed upright).

Heal fast!

Plus a bit of hike a bike

Just a bit ;)

It is do-able, even if most of your preparation is

Pootling round the hills of Kent and Surrey

. You just need to pootle for a very long time very regularly!

It’s an amazing event, everything else pales in comparison…

IronBike hopefully for me too.
Most of the Gorrick and ACU events.
Possibly Erlestoke, if I can cancel the thing it clashes with.
Maybe a VTT rando somewhere in France if funds allow.

Didn’t see Joolze today, maybe it was her other half.

Lots of very polite behaviour out on course today, I had no issues either overtaking or being overtaken.

Course played to all my weaknesses, flat and bumpy and eventually ended up like plasticine in places, I suffered like a dog and starting too fast didn’t help!

Anyone know who the various photographers out there were?

Loads of good free-draining sandy stuff around Farnborough/Aldershot.

Unfortunately, that’s about as far from you as Hampshire gets.

As said above, Hindhead holds up pretty well, and so does Black Down south of Haslemere. Neither of them are in Hampshire, but both considerably closer to you than Swinley.

Good luck Pete!

Satmap has 1:25000 OS as well as 1:50000. The 1:25000 maps are quite expensive (but that’s true of any GPS, as the cost is mainly determined by OS licensing fees).

I’ve had one for 4 years, and love it – more than enough detail for following rights of way, if that’s your thing (and it’s often mine). It’s the same detail as the paper OS maps.

Having said that, I live on the Hants/Surrey border, so not exactly wilderness country (although I’ve used it happily in the Brecon Beacons). If you’re in mountains or moorland, where rights of way don’t necessarily correspond to discernible trails on the ground, a bit of navigational craft is a good idea whether you’ve got a GPS or paper maps.

epicyclo – have you seen this?