Well done Eurosport – the tennis finished early so you filled in the gap before the Dauphine highlights with a sports news update including spoilers for the Dauphine highlights…

AQR[/url] are excellent – based in Luchon.

Yep, looking forward to it to blow away the cobwebs, not done it before though.

Also doing the Rule 5 Bikes Windmolen Achtervolgen the week after – might struggle to finish that one!

Can’t see youtube at work but will give it a watch tonight – thanks!

(and yes, I know who wins!)

Anyone found a full replay of the Women’s U23 race? All I can see is the 90 seconds of highlights :(

No idea about the Barfly mount, for what it’s worth I really like the stock bar mount.

I was wrong when I said the 12 doesn’t have any training functionality, unlike the 10 it supports HRM and cadence. My bad. The 10 doesn’t though.

I’ve had an Active 10 for 6 years, still going strong although it’s been back for a couple of services in that time.

Excellent tool for navigating, especially with 1:25k mapping. 1:50k is not quite so detailed for off-road but not bad, and perfect for road-riding.

As TurnerGuy says, buttons are much better than touch-screen for muddy fingers. The silicon case does make it quite bulky but also pretty much bullet-proof as well as weather-proof.

Plenty of battery power for big rides. If you’re doing multi-day stuff, you can get a spare battery, and also there’s a caddy that lets you use standard AA batteries instead.

I’m not sure the Active 12 is a massive advance on the 10 although it has higher-res maps and some wireless connectivity – wasn’t enough to tempt me to upgrade. And both the 10 and the 12 are pretty much purely navigational tools rather than having any training functionality.

But if that’s what you’re after (and its what I’m after) then it really is a great bit of kit.

An alternative to a new 12, might be buying a second-hand or old stock 10, and spending the difference on 1:25k mapping. The maps are still expensive, but vastly cheaper than they used to since Ordnance Survey’s licencing rates got slashed a couple of years back.

I enjoyed it too.

A welcome break from the relentless tide of inspirational tales that make me feel like such an underachiever.

I last went in 1989. Booked my next appointment forgetting that I’d have left the area to go to uni – never got round to re-registering anywhere.

bb – are you meaning Cheriton and Bramdean Woods? Don’t think they would have been used by Gorrick though

Not for XC racing, but the Cheriton round of the Gorrick Trailtrax series has checkpoints scattered around all those areas.

Is that Golden Valley Ned?

Is there much carrying or pushing (apart from the traffic jams)?

Although he was only in a supporting role, another very good film of his is ‘Close my Eyes’, with Saskia Reeves and Clive Owen.

One of my favourite films ever. RIP Alan.

Sounds like it is definitely on from the FB feed:

The team were out again today at Sunday’s venue which is called ‘Area 51’. We’re very pleased to say it’s not wet there and no rain is forecast. As it’s a brand new venue, here’s a bit about what you can expect:

‘Starting out from the Arena set deep in the heart of the woods the Start Straight twists down the valley before climbing up towards the highest point on the course then plunges into the first singletrack. This climbs and descends the hill side and twists and turns bringing riders back to the Arena. Then it’s off through the pine woods to the old favourite ‘Wedding Ring’ before some more fire break trail and traditonal descent back down in to the valley. Some old favourites follow on before a new section of singletrack sweeps around the hillside before climbing once again towards the Arena with some more woodland singletrack before the final return to the Arena.’
We hope that’s stoked your anticipation!
The event is full so please do not turn up to enter unless you have specifically been given a vacated place. When you arrive please follow the marshals’ directions.

Chapeau for entering! Looks somewhat daunting…

Not done it myself, certainly interested but probably not this year.

Jason Miles blogged about it last year here[/url], not all that much info in there but maybe he’ll drop by here and give you some tips.

Well for me thats great as I may be back riding by then.

Same here.

Oh yes – failed to read that properly!

Yes, I’ve used a 28/40 QRing set up on my XC bike for marathon racing.

Thanks – that’s the sort of riding I’ve got in mind too.

Which brand of rings do you use?

Does anyone use oval rings on a double chainset for MTB? Do they shift ok?

Having tried one on a singlespeed a while back I like the idea, but I’m not interested in going single ring on my geared bike.

Looking forward to it!

Tunnel Hill, PorridgePot Hill, Ash Ranges, Frith Hill.

All got plenty of singletrack. All are on MOD land, so try and avoid riding through exercises. Ash Ranges is a live-firing area, so if the red flags are up around the perimeter then don’t go in.

Because the current bike needs a lot more fixing than just the drivetrain.

Thanks eddiebaby – looks lovely – possibly a bit too nice for station bike racks unfortunately.

At the research stage right now anyway so not buying immediately.

“Not often” isn’t quite what I’m after either!

Gearing just depends on you tbh but 36-14 is pretty damn low for a commuter.

Yeah, that’s what I thought. Otherwise that Pinnacle would be ideal. No front mech though, can’t see any other device in the photo, even though they describe it as designed to handle bridleways. Might have to take a stroll down to a shop and have a look.

Thanks for the suggestions simon_g. Have currently got a Pinnacle and its fine, 36:14 might be a bit spinny for a top gear but I could change that. It’s the bottom end of the range I never use on the current bike.

Is chain retention a problem on these set-ups? I’m guessing that narrow/wide rings and clutch mechs aren’t a feature, but then I won’t be shredding anything more gnar than a kerb or a pothole…

double post

Until I moved a few months ago, it was my regular winter night ride venue as it drains well and sees very little use as allthepies says. I’d stick with the Ardent/Ikon combo.

That theory is I can’t be arsed to change my tyres.

This is why I’ll be on Ralphs too.

Is it still there? I saw a screenshot someone had taken of the FB post, but I can’t find it myself.

mrblobby – line up near the front and gun it off the line if you can, to try and avoid the worst of the bottlenecks at the entry to the first bit of singletrack. Quite a large proportion of the riders are there for fun or just to finish – if you can get ahead of them at the start you’ll save a lot of time on lap 1.

Gaz I heard that too, but can’t find any confirmation of it. So assuming it is still Bordon for now.

I’d imagine Gorrick are getting pretty fed up too.

2hr Vets for me too. Have been competitive in the 4hr series in the past, suspect I’ll be a bit further back in the 2hr as I’ve not done much short XC this year.

mrblobby – if your TT times are anything to go by you won’t be anywhere near the back :)

Looking forward to riding Bordon, only raced there once before in a monsoon which made things very tough, but lots of fun singletrack, not very hilly but lots of short sharp efforts as said above.

See you all there!

I don’t notice them either. They seem to be counter-productive to me – stuff that changes position gets noticed, stuff that doesn’t, doesn’t.

Puttenham Eco Barn is right on the North Downs Way, plenty of bridleways off to the south towards Thursley and Hankley Commons, all the way down to Hindhead and beyond. There was also a youth hostel at Hindhead but I’m not sure if it’s still open or not.

They were still mint this weekend. Spent a lovely day on and around the Col du Clandon :)

I really suspect Americans wouldn’t say ‘mint’

It was the OP on MTBR who described the trails as ‘mint’. The response, genuine or not, is just repeating it.

Link fixed

Looks like it all got chopped down since my last visit :(

Either that, or I’ve got completely the wrong place.

Yes just give them a call.

Listed?