for this weekend, just take bikes for commuting – I used to park my van at the North Face car park and ride through the woods to the race (which was magical) but the forestry commission have closed the NF car park and the road to it for this weekend.  We always take bikes because if you leave after the race (when everyone else wants to) you’ll have to wait in the bus queue.  The buses are well organised but there’s 10,000 people leaving at the same time.

Wild Camp has the pizza/burger guy there this year (from facebook post) – but we’ll take food just in case.  the pizza’s were lovely last year.

in terms of “shops” – nearest is Fort William, cycle track all the way there and there is a foodie Marks and Spencers on the Torlundy side of town. (about 2.5 miles)

Midge status:  the little f**ckers are out in force here in Bridge of Allan, it;s been wet and warm.  Anyone over the age of 12 should be drinking whisky heavily and ideally smoking a cigar.  midgie nets might work too.

Bike Parking: last year they had a ticketing system that you had to show the right ticket to get your bike back.  like a cloakroom at a club

been going for 20 years!

Wild Camp:  if you have young kids then park far away from the cow barn because there is a massive party there on friday and saturday night until the small hours. the party is pretty kid friendly, to be honest.  my boy is 14 and is looking forward to it after being there when he was 10 pre covid and last year.

The bar has undergone some changes in the last few years to get closer to legal (which is a shame in my view because I’m pretty sure that buying buttons that are exchanged for drink would stand up in the Court of Session in Edinburgh).  Daisy who runs the place is lovely.  it’s a bike ride up the hill to the venue via the back route past Torlundy junction and over the railway line bridge.  there is a bus that takes you up if you can;t ride.

I struggle to keep up with La Varda. It has been open/closed/open/closed in the last 10 years. The old justification was that the trail down to the refuge junction was “in” the paradiski area and the left hand side was the parc national. The last I heard was the Marie also banned vtt from the trail down from the goats/sheep/menacing dogs.

Didn’t mean to make that sound so dismal. It’s bloody brilliant here. No queues, hardly anyone here, we’ve done a leasurely 150km in 2 and a half days with few repeated trails.

We’re sitting having pizza in Peisey after paying €15 extension for La Plagne. MontChavin and Pierre Blanche are closed and have no bike carriers and no bus replacement so it’s only Plan Bois lift that takes you to the red be and black park trails (meh) and also you can track across to Premier League.

We couldn’t find non-knackering way to do White Lines.

Also, La Roche is closed too so they’re isn’t a great way to get from the Vanoise express to La Plagne to the new park trails in the bowl. We’re going to try and take a bus up.

Vanoise Express is only open Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri.

The funicular replacement bus leaves on an awkward time table with a mixture of 15min and 1 hour gaps making the Black 8 loops a bit of a pain in the arse.

La Varda is ferme for vtt

They’ve worked a lot on the trails and the off piste trails are amazing (if you know where to find them!) We’ve been riding for 10 years here so know where everything is.

yeah, a lot of the German bike companies are near the town of Koblenz (where the Rhine meets the Mosel River). I have an order that has gone from Koblenz to Bonn and now is stuck in the DPD monster-warehouse at Udda near Dortmund.

Canyon have a big factory next the Autobahn on the road out of Koblenz.

I’d like to think we’re good tourists in France – we rent from Hana (Alpine Essence) in Vallandry, we eat out at local restaurants that are open in the summer in Peisey, Montchavin, B Ste-M and in Vallandry, we buy stuff in the local shops. We buy lift tickets and rarely use the van for uplift – instead relying on the odd Cool Bus + trailer. The only time we had to use my van was when they wouldn’t let us on the train from Moutieres to Bourg Saint-Maurice. Even though I am a trailbuilder here in Scotland, I’d never touch the trails on whilst holiday – partly because I’d be well pissed off if tourists starting cocking around with my trails here.

It’s interesting because I don’t experience the same “local issues” in other parts of the Alps that I’ve visited. Its only this region of France. I’ve been twice to the Graussbinden area of Switzerland and the culture is night and day different – they are so welcoming and pro VTT. Same for Germany (Bavaria). Hoping to try out Austria as soon as it makes sense to travel.

so the following german shops/brands not selling to UK:

* Radon Bikes

* Bike Discount

* Rose Versund

* Bike24

and Madison have just increased the trade price of shimano brake pads by 40% !!!

My concern (as a tourist rider in Les Arcs area) is that I am called out as a guide, even though I am not. Myself and my friends have been coming to the area for a decade and have built up trail knowledge all the way from Seez to Moutiers – in recent years, I’ve felt a bit targeted – either from my van number plate being recorded (because it has a trailer!) or other guides threatening to report me or one of the other group) as a guide. Holiday ruining stuff if it went wrong.

There seems to be some pent up hate for UK riders in the Les Arcs area (probably not unrelated to issues with local UK guiding companies of the past) so the Brexit situation is just going to make it worse, whether you have a loophole to operate or not.

hehe- I just panic ordered a groupset! hoping it will get here in time!

The Radon Bikes facebook page has a post this morning where all pre-orders through bike-discount (where they are sold) that were due post 1st January have been refunded, with no option to buy anymore.

I used to import bike products from the USA when I ran Rapid Descent; it’s a customs nightmare and bikes and parts have one of the highest non-foodstuff WTO import duties; even more than fur coats, luxury watches etc… Also, importers have to pay the duties on entry; which can be damaging for cashflow for businesses.

I was in a local bike club; made up from 1/3 junior, 1/3 road and 1/3 mtb – the formalised committee-led club structure run by roadies didn’t really work well for MTB- we had the normal problems of what times to ride, what to do if a novice showed up on a ride down mountain cliff paths, what to do if <18yr olds turned up and so on.

– so a few bunches of mtb collectives were setup in the locality with facebook/web forum/whatsapp communication and they ride regularly.  Ours is not a club, has no rules, no fees, we ride anywhere we like (it’s in scotland) and we organise all sorts of riding tours including abroad on a pretty loose basis.

The group are just a bunch-of-cocks-who-ride-bikes.

Never enjoyed riding bikes so much as I do now.

thanks, I spent 4 days staying at Sunstar hotel in lenzerheide (so got included lift passes).  I was there just checking the area out to see if we’ll come properly riding next season.

observations

* it’s very expensive compared to Germany/France, i.e. expect to pay for £15 for the cheapest thing on a lunch menu.  I saw a £17 bowl of soup at a mountain (nothing fancy restaurant).

* lift passes are expensive unless you get them bundled with your accomodation

* the park trails are amazingly cared for.  I saw people out sweeping them in the morning.

* back country trails are good and well signposted for the un-guided.  I didn’t try out the trails down to Chur and so found them easier than other Alpine destinations (but still fun).

* I like the big swimming area!

* plenty of bike shops and a real positive attitude towards mountain biking (unlike Les Arc in France where it seems they just don’t want us there)

I think I’m the third person on the thread to have ridden the Deviate bike. One of our riding group rides with Ben and Chris in the Alps and so the bike came out on our normal grotty hilly muddy ride near Stirling in Scotland.

I had a wee ride around and it felt surprisingly nippy for its size and weight – then again, I ride a five29 and a radon slide carbon 160 normally. Gripshift was the “other way” and not really a problem. Gears are very smooth and I’m pretty sure you can change them while stationary. The chain doesn’t go backwards if you back pedal (!). It *is* different suspension. feels unlike my other bikes. It was totally covered in mud when I rode it and it was working totally fine all evening.

Really worth getting a proper ride on it; it is a new class of bike – it is different although Sanny did a much better reviewin his article, I thought I’d pitch in.

I hope it’s coming out tonight, it’s snowing here!

I was up at the path on Dumyat last night in the rain. Obviously the path is not complete but was already suffering with drainage issues. McGowan really have tried to hide the mess by dragging 1m sections of turf over the sides to make the path look narrower.

Would have been a good idea except that under the turf is the previous rock path and in places exposed rock (Dumyat biking is all about exposed rock). This turf will die in about 4 weeks time leaving yet another problem. I stood on one bit and could rock it backwards and forwards like a surfboard.

The work has been halted until Friday.

This is not a mountain bike trail. This trail “The Tourist Path” has been there since the Sherrifmuir road was built over a 100 years ago. Some of the trails we ride on up there were made by the local Maeatae tribe who were kicking Roman ass in the 2nd century AD.

We don’t really have “mountain bike trails” in this area. We don’t need them. The Land Reform Act specially allows mountain bikes to ride pretty much anywhere in Scotland – excluding golf courses, gardens and nuclear reactors. We just have multi-use trails for everyone – on foot, maxxis or hoof.

There are great dedicated mtb trails in Scotland – come and visit, but be sure to add some wild trails into the mix.

a quick update:

We used 16mm thick yoga mats (bought in bulk on ebay) between the 8 bikes in the trailer to the alps. We had no scratches on the bikes and all the yogamats stayed intact. During the 1950 mile journey we went through heavy rain too; the yoga mats are waterproof and didn’t weaken when wet (unlike some other solutions)

Thanks to the efforts of some well connected BofA bikers the work had paused. We’re meeting with various authorities and the company building the trail tomorrow and hopefully some middle ground will be found for the rest of the trail.

Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m sure we’ll find a new “natural” route down. If there’s one constant about the tourist path, it changes every year because of the mountain weather it gets.

Article from a local outdoors guy has been updated. It links to the plan for this path which needless to say had not been followed.

https://aye.tf/2017/09/07/thoughts-on-the-dumyat-path/

See the updated at the end.

The works have been put on pause. They will complete the lower section they’ve dug up and showcase it and get public feedback.

Please continue to complain using the link above.

Thanks to the “old but fast, sanctimonious, BofA bikers” who seem very well connected. Our MSP Mark Ruskell was pretty helpful too, who happens to be a biker too.

SPen are about to issue a press release. There has been a lot of inter-agency communications today.

I think most people are not against the path, but the scale of what is being done and the method clearly won’t work. The path/road being built is simply scraped bedrock and turned over a bit into a muddy/rocky mess that’s over 3m wide in places.

if anyone encounters this guy; let him know that we had a man charged after a similar tactic was being used in Mine Woods.

The section we just lost had some small drop offs (only up to 2ft high) but they were tricky because landing zone was often pointy rocks and the route is pretty fast at that point.

* the plans are being sent to us today

* more as we hear about it.

@Nobeerinthefridge – in deed, I’m hoping that they build to the north of the tourist path and build towards “thistles route”. How will get the digger up there?

building golf courses (a 6 hole golf course?!?) is a wheeze to get past the open access laws because golf courses have special dispensation in the act. It’ll never be played on; it;s essentially a land barrier for a development of 19 “luxury’ homes. There are also loose plans for a tennis academy; but the Murray’s want that to be “publically funded”.

Just to add: we are from the same area where the Murray’s (tennis fame) are tarmacing over and building a golf course on another great set of trails.

I was up dumyat last night and the photos don’t really show the horrific scale of the issue. They are using hundreds of tonnes of material for that path and it is at least 4 metres wide in places.

The new path/road is straight lining directly though natural crags and I can’t quite see how one of the lower steep sections will last more than a winter because it is nearly 16% grade and being covered in loose gravel. It *looks* like the road is going to divert to the north around the natural spring/bog in the middle and it will be interesting to see how it gets to the top.

Also note that they are building paths around Cocksburn reservoir to the west of Dumyat.

Someone was talking about the various trailbuilding efforts at the boggy section (was not me). It is a natural spring, it is also a peat bog so it can only be ridden over in the summer. I’d ask all riders to follow the trail that snakes to the right (coming down) contouring round the hill before rejoining the main path.

There is some 2 key positives though;

1: the new path will help walkers and less able riders stay in one place rather than widening the existing trails because they can’t ride it.

2: now they’ve provided loads of material, any loose material that erodes off the trail could be useful for improving other trails on dumyat.

It’s a Hindercykx – and was made specifically for the owner so it is a one off.

The owner was camping with his daughter by Cockburn reservoir and the bike was taken from outside the tent, probably in the early hours. We think it was ridden down to the Pendriech carpark (locally known as the doggers carpark (!)) Because there was the trail of the bike and the Bob trailer it was towing down the new gravel path at 7am.

don’t oil the chain! in fact, get a new chainset before you go and leave it dry!

been to Whistler and regular visitor to Alps. (also ridden in other spots around the world too: Utah Deer Valley/Park City is pretty good too)

it depends what kind of rider you are – if you like steep, technical and authentic then some areas of the Alps (outside of bike parks) are awesome. I ride in the Bourg St Maurice/Les Arcs/Moutiers area that has over 500km of trails and an enormous lift network as part of the Paradiski area. The downside of the Alps is that you’ll probably need a guide (a french one because the Brits have largely been run out of the area (with notable exceptions e.g. Ben Jones MTB))

Whistler is more “themepark” trails; great customer service (I stayed at the Chateau hotel at the bottom of the trail – there are cheaper places to stay) and bustling nightlife. Some parts of the Alps feel a bit quiet in the summer. If you go to Canada late in the summer, take some extra cash and buy your rental bike for pennies in the pound but be aware that a bike that feels amazing in Whistler might feel a bit crap when you get it home.

my advice is RIDE BOTH CANADA AND ALPS.

andyl: takes up too much space. 7 bikes in 6ft 6″ only just fits and no more.

You can see that the top edge of the trailer is lined with Panaracer tyres – the hardest wearing substance known to man. We have hooked bikes *using forks) over the side but that only really works for short uplift type trips.

also worth noting we don’t use bungees anymore either because even the slightest movement would wear through pipe insulation etc. Everything is ratchet strapped now.

The carpet is too hardwearing on the frames and polishes the paint off them. We’re thinking Yoga Mat type material but wondering if there is a way to buy a roll of it rather than actual yoga mats.

Yeah – I should have said that we do use pipe insulation as well. What we find is that the bikes need something to completely stop anything touching. One year we had a crank touch a frame for 1000miles of fast motorway driving and it went right through the frame.

Tracey: what is that?

And here’s the pic of the towing operation.

We did ride Double Header last year and didn’t see any signs etc, but heard about it in the paper later.

Not sure I’m totally happy with the change to the lift pass to separate the arcs side to la plange side. It means that a quick premiere league at the end of the day becomes a major hassle of buying an add on lift pass to get across Vanoise express.

The TA business (if run properly) is viable in Peisey and I hope they, or someone else, can continue running holidays there.

I’ve been riding at Les Arcs for the last 5 years or so in the summer and organise my biking cliche ride there.

Last year, TA were not to be seen in the area, advertising at the Vallandry lift bar had gone and I didn’t see the normal groups out and about.

I know the reason behind this but that’s for someone else to add.

What i would say is that the bike park trails have been improved quite a bit in the last couple of years and some new non park trails have appeared over towards Vernettes. I have about 150km of marked trails on our map that we’ve worked out over the years.

I heard that the Marie of Seez has banned bikes, that means Double header might be no go this year. It’s a shame but there’s no global policy for bikes so Mayor’s can clamp down e.g Chamonix valley.

What I would advise though is be careful if you are going to trail find yourself without a guide. I’ve been at the top of Mt Jovet in snow whilst it was 25’c in the valleys. We nearly lost a rider on magic carpet and me n buddie got on the wrong side of the lovely white fluffy sheep hounds that actually try to kill you on la varda ridge.

it’s also a slight bending of the data protection act (even though they make a claim that it isn’t in the letter!). Their original data collection notice did not allow for it. Anyway, it’s just an mtb mag so hardly worth pursuing. email sent…

There is a very high chance your PC/laptop/ phone is compromised. I have heard of a scam similar to this that used phone banking to make the txn but thats unlikely. I’m guessing you’re a RBS/NatWest customer because it allows you to put through faster payments to existing payees below £10k

Assume that ALL your accounts are compromised, including PayPal etc and I expect stw forum posts to now be in a foreign accent.

(Apart from being a god-like mountain biker, I was also the designer of card reader bank online security)