Solden is a lovely place for a long weekend with a few awesome trails serviced by two lifts. But it’s a long drive so a similar option would be La Thuile and the Aosta valley as previously mentioned, or Klosters/Davos for a Swiss flavour.

My Mobi (the 12v jobby) burned out its first motor within the warranty period and was fixed, but the replacement was temperamental for a couple of years before dying totally. I recently replaced that with a £10 Chinese eBay pump which needed different hoses and has been fine to date. Wouldn’t buy Mobi again, but just cobble something together.

All being well, spend three months doing an alpine road trip probably revisiting fave haunts and seeking somewhere more offbeat.

Hi Iain,
Thank you for the plan, I’m familiar with the route and it’s one I was considering before, juat wanted to expand on it northwards where I’m not so sure about.

Pretty sure I saw some beetroot pickle in either Asda or Sainsburys recently, Deffo must try some…
As an aside I tend to have a few slices of beetroot on a salad along with either some hot spring rolls or bhajis, ’tis ace I tell thee!

Oddly enough as I was cycling home from work earlier a Chrysler Prowler passed me – surely the definition of a concept car that actually made production?

Garda would suit I reckon, shuttles rather than lifts, good value and pretty reliable weather. It’s not all bonkers techfests and there should be plenty of cheap accom at the time you’ll be going. Just buy a trail map from any of the bike shops and follow your noses, or use the free guiding at Torbole Freeride courtesy of Michael (of this parish, top bloke)

Was only there for 1 day whilst back packing in 04, and without doubt was the most dodgy place I have ever been – the local coffee shop had a guard packing an automatic shotgun… Was constantly being told not to sightsee alone. Flew to Zamboanga in Mindanao to catch a ferry to Malaysia and the landed plane had a squad of troops escorting the passengers to the terminal

If the Lights don’t make an appearance then check out the Aurora display/show(not a museum) down by the harbour. Is has 4k timelapse imagery from all over the planet on large screens so you get to see the full beauty of the phenomena – it’s quite gobsmacking. As mentioned above the sheer epic grandeur of the landscape is a huge draw and just made me want to drive and drive and drive soaking it in… It’s some place.

Last time there I was camping in one of the main campsites, about 15 euros and just find a space – no probs. I expect things to have tightened up since as is the nature of such things. I can live with a couple of days without a shower…

Cheers Bearnecessities, damn my hot linking ineptitude :lol
Could you put up the “Mr Osbourne, could I be excused, my brain is full” classic…

And +1 for the Setter expressions ^ 😆

^
So the MOD has just been repairing an old fleet for the last 20yrs, blimey 😯
Guess it makes sense to keep on going with the old buses until the spares run out 😀

So what will the MOD be supplied with from now on, or has the contract with LR ended? Would be odd to see the squaddie mobile being a Hilux/Ranger etc (and what would the REME do without Landys to fix )

Spent a few days in Briancon a couple of years back, some nice trail riding and not-to-hard Dh runs using the main lifts in the ski resorts. Briancon centre quite small and workaday rather than cute, but pleasant nonetheless. Left after three days as was enroute to somewhere else but the side valleys up toward Montgenevre looked really good.

Original Kwak ZX10 c.1989 – sublime Autobahn blaster and Mile muncher. Aerodynamic, stable and comfy.
Buell Thunderbolt S3 – pig ugly, crude and expensive. But the noise (with a Supertrapp fitted) and vibration were sooo addictive giving low speed thrills without fear for my licence.
Yamaha xt600e – bike version of the Landy Defender, needed constant attention but always got me where I was going. No dramas to drop it compared to my other bikes, which was nice!

Went a few years back too, stuff for sale was full retail so the only advantage was to check out all that years new kit. However there was the London Boat Show on in another hall all on the same ticket and that was quite an eye opener seeing the floating gin palaces and associated gubbins!

Taking your HT to the Alps isn’t an issue, but confused about not wanting to Pad Up with limited skills (?) yet wanting to do Trail riding. Where do you ride xc here, to give some idea of what you’re aiming to do (but on a larger scale 😆 )

One of our 7.5t at work developed a dodgy AdBlue quantity sensor which told the ecu that the tank was empty when it wasn’t, result was engine switching to limp home mode i.e. Engine not allowed to rev thus not emit excess Nox as no AdBlue to reduce it.
Get used to it folks, it’s the future…

Just got a mail from the Rosthwaite YHA, no flooding issues to date so looks like a few days Lakes riding this Xmas is still on – Hurrah!

So, what wetsuit for riding Warnscale Bottom… 😆

Just seen a pic of the A591 north of Grasmere (can’t seem to post the blighter though), it’s really badly damaged…

Used to listen religiously back in the day but the new incarnation (bar Rob DJs pub quiz) isn’t as entertaining, reckon I’ve gotten older / moved on. Back to radio Five these days when there’s a good discussion on…

Am supposed to stay at the Rosthwaite YHA over Xmas but reckon I should stay away, hope Xmas is salvageable for all the locals.

Roomster bought.
Can’t wait to get the Alpine inside to see how they get on

I’m in the same position myself as my faithful Fabia Estate is to be replaced.
Going to look at a Roomster ( great value and with the rear seats unclipped cavernous), and possibly a Honda CR-V as higher ground clearance would be handy occasionally (a deep puddle created the long term demise of the Fabia )

It’s going to be a long time getting used to this loss. Such fantastic tributes to a truly incredible player and person – Rest Easy Sir and thank you for the memories!
Jonah Lomu, proving the fact that the shortest distance between two points on a rugby pitch is indeed a straight line…

Got to be a Honda Jazz as they’re beloved by oap’s so unlikely to have been thrashed too much!

If you decide on Cortina I can recommend Camping Olympia which is about 4 miles north of Cortina. It’s really good value for an Italian campsite (both times I’ve stayed there they rounded the price down

Just a bog-standard H4 required in my 53plate Fabia, a handful of quid from Halfords and a few seconds to change – hurrah for old-school simplicity!

Saw Her at Dunsfold just outside the airfield as apparently they weren’t letting anyone in…
She did a double pass right over our little group with the suggestion of a wing waggle as She flew off to Farnborough.
Felt quite a personal experience as there was only about ten of us watching.
Just posted the vid from my phone on YouTube- my first posting

It’s winking at me…

+1 for those fine words from Bustaspoke above, i couldn’t have added more.
This news has sorely saddened me since reading it last night, yet i’m so heartened by the collective response.
Jenn,you are a true inspiration in chasing the dream and living a life.
Really, really hope you can get a few more sweet rides in.

Thanks for sharing the pics of the trip, nice to see a more offbeat area getting some exposure.
Would like to check out more SE France next year,looks like i’ll be IGN’ing the Ardeche…
As you did Ventoux did you cover any of the Luberon at all?

Food for thought…
linky

Agree with you over La Thuile – condensed area but excellent techy trails. Try Solden in the Otztal (Austria) for more of the same.
Been 3 years since last visited Chamonix valley – Les Houches nice and steep but Le Tour i preferred the old cheeky hiking trails to the new bike trails. Didn’t try Vallorcine, mind, so need to add that to the must-ride list. Check out the descent from Grand Montets lift to the Heliport in Cham… rocktastic!
Must check out Montgenevre next time i’m in the area.

A couple of horror crackers, both unputdownable once i started them…
The Descent – Jeff Long
Outpost – Adam Baker

So give us the lowdown on where you sampled and where was good/indifferent…

As above I’m with the AAC(UK) for the pure search and rescue / Heli evac type stuff that comes with the membership. Then I just go with cheap travel insurance for the other stuff.

Does the cheap travel insurance cover you for the risk (High Mtn sports, presumably) that the SAR/Evac allows for… just wondering as i’m with AAC(UK) too and the Medical cover is very limited so topping up with another supplier is interesting, but after thinking about it seemed unlikely.

Spent a long week there last summer as part of an alpine roadtrip. There’s only 2 lifts around Cortina itself so it’s more a place to explore with a topo map and using a lift to gain initial height. Some awesome trailriding to be had if you don’t mind exploring, with the trails largely to yourself. I really enjoyed the area but i had my car to get around the valleys. There was a bikepark to the west side of Cortina served by a cablecar so you’d need to time it well!

Isn’t Elba in the running to be the next Bond? But what the SIS would have to do with nobbling some of the (extensive) Bin Laden family is a bit of a leap – the CIA now… hmmm 😯