Look here, chose stage 21 and click on the Time Schedule tab. Villeneuve St Denis is on the list.

Its gripping viewing alright.

Its just a shame the ASO dropped the ball by putting the climbs so far from the finish line on the last two stages.

Descent de Venosc?

He never says "certainly" – its always "certaintly" :)

It's a rule of thumb, obviously you would modify the values to take into account your own fitness, terrain difficulty, weather conditions etc. I'd suggest googling Naismith's Rule for anyone wanting to apply it to their routes, and then using their experience of riding in that area to set the variables to something suitable.

You can debate specific examples you've ridden to your heart's content – but I won't join in :)

Tracklogs uses a mountain biking version of the Naismith algorithm which I find to be reasonably accurate for a fairly fit rider.

The default values for the rule are:

3.75 mins per km
add 4.75 mins per 100m ascent
subtract 0.72 mins per 100m descent

and Tranter's correction set to 1.

I hope that means something to you!

Clear all your STW cookies

Its only £4 for Eurosport!

I use one of these for trailquests – clips onto the camelbak strap so you don't waste any time fumbling for it.

Its not sunstroke is it?

That was certainly a tough course!

As with last year, it could have done with some rain in the weeks before to stop it from getting too loose and sandy, but that’s a minor complaint after so many washed-out enduros in the last 2 years :)

njee hope your knee is ok – that’s the first time I’ve overtaken you in a race and very probably the last…

Thanks Pants and all the others for making it happen :)

Not done it myself, but TransVesubienne is supposed to be a super technical XC sufferfest. Sadly (or not) you’ve just missed it this year. Only 85km but even Absalon took nearly 7 hours to complete it!

Have emailed you a gpx of the route from the Extremists website.

How the training going for IB? Feeling confident?

Sorry, never used that stuff, just used normal gels/bars/powder when I did it. Plus as much as I could stuff into my stupid fat face at every feed station.

Make sure you’ve always got something to hand so you can eat as soon as your stomach even hints it might want feeding – don’t be tempted to wait until the top of the next climb…

Sanderson Soloist has its own EBB design – see here.

Had no creaks or slippage from mine in 6 months so far.

Yes it was a fantastic course, really tough event but loads of lovely flowing singletrack descents. And the weather was perfect, some beautiful misty, daybreak views over the plain – breathtaking!

My only criticism would be the chaotic solo pit – they got it right last year but this year the layout was all wrong, with virtually no frontage on the course, and made worse by lack of marshalling of cars before the event. A bit odd as there was plenty of suitable space a hundred metres or so round the course!

Didn’t spoil it though as the Mule Bar guys let me stash my stuff in their enclosure – and well done guys for providing an endless supply of free bars to all competitors – although I won’t be wanting to eat any more energy bars for a good few days :-p

Any idea if the caterers will be selling anything pasta-based, or will it just be fry-up stuff?

Can’t wait either!

Adam – how come you snubbed my ride with Aidan a few weeks ago? I was so offended :-o

You called?

What are the course conditions looking like at the moment?

Sniper tower for picking off riders not showing permits, surely?

Tracklogs site-centred 1:50k is £12 for 60km x 60km – which works out at 33p per 10km x 10km. Not sure how that makes Mapyx “much cheaper”.

I think the bridleway from Limerstone – Shorwell is confusingly marked with yellow arrows, giving it the appearance of being a footpath. But it has bridleway gates (i.e. with handles to allow horse-mounted operation).

Fantastic route though – cheers Dave!

I think they got the links for the Hard and Medium routes the wrong way round. Try opening up the Medium route instead.

Glad you are guaranteeing no puddles at all! See you there :-)

What neilb67 said.

If you still can’t open it, send it to me and I can try.

Tracklogs V3 can certainly read gpx files. Are you still on V2 Elaine?

Used a Santa Cruz Superlight for an Alpine stage race last year – it was fine the whole time I was sat on it, climbs well, descends well. Would have preferred something a little lighter for the sections of carrying though.

Having said all that, probably three-quarters of the field were on hardtails, especially the guys at the front.

My White Industries broke in less than 2 years, although that’s 4 times as long as the Shimano one that preceded it. Like marty, I’ve gone back to freehub/sprocket/spacers now.

I’ll be there, loved it last year!

Not sure yet if I can do the ride, but I’ve got the map from last year – the route went west and then south from Duncton at the start, as far as Goodwood Country Park, then meandered east through Amberley and Findon, reaching just south of Steyning before heading back west in a more direct route back to Duncton.

Have mailed you the medium route too.

You all have mail.

ygm mudshark. Feel free to forward it to anyone else who asks, as I’m off out for a ride.

Despite what the description says, that’s actually the long route.

I’ve not done the route but I have plotted it in Tracklogs. Let me know your email address and I’ll send it to you in gpx format.

The forest doesn’t shut. The car park does, although I can’t remember what time. But the car park for the leisure centre on the other side of the road doesn’t close, so use that instead.

I’m using a 29.8mm Planet X clamp on my Soloist (which should be the same size tubing). Its not a QR clamp though.

On a related note, is the 100km race on Sunday open to anyone?

I also found Parasol to be pretty good as an umbrella company.