we spent a month there in 2006 (part of a year out travelling) – the first week we were in lima and going down the coast and hated it, but as soon as we got into the mountains it was amazing.

arequipa is great – overlooked by a huge volcano (el misto?) and near some of the biggest canyons in the world (we did a 3 day hike into the colca canyon).

cusco is the best known – the only downside to that being that you're constantly pestered, but you get used to that. we thought the inca trail would be over-hyped but it lived up to it (you need to book ahead if you're going to do it)

lake titicaca is impressive (and you can hop over to bolivia) but puno isn't the best town to spend time (and the altitude is very high there!)

the jungle is a very intense experience and well worth doing (we flew from cusco – but do your research if you fancy it). i didn't react well with the malaria tablets, but still really enjoyed it…

we didn't go any further north so can't comment on any of that. you need to have your wits about you safety-wise (most of it is common sense), but it's a well travelled place, so mostly easy.

our blogs are here (there's 4 updates from peru) incl pics:
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Rod_M/page-3.html

My new Rush (2009 model) is a shade over 24lbs following its post-purchase diet. Though they are a bit lardy off the peg…

I think Mark Cavendish has a peak power output of about 1800w – so Hoy must be 2000w at least…

For anyone who has ridden using a power meter, that's scary!!!

There may be a few technicalities to address to around the salary sacrifice, but they'll probably already be doing that for other tax-free benefits and pensions. More info on the HMRC website here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/specialist/sal-sac-question-and-answers.htm

It's a pretty lame excuse really, though limiting it to £1k is understandable if the company isn't already authorised under the consumer credit act.

going to top of the rockafella (sp?) centre means no queues and better views than the empire state building.

we wish we'd had more time to wander round central park – but a sunday morning was a great time to do it.

balthazar is a great place to go for brunch, but you'll have to book well in advance. lots of celebs go there (probably why i was politely told off for taking photos in there… oops)

beer etc is shockingly expensive (don't think we got a pint for under $9!) so we were glad that our hotel did free wine and cheese early in the evening! food is comparatively cheap though, so it's a good chance to eat at michelin starred restaurants without breaking the bank (provided you don't drink too much booze!)

i also liked giving my better half madison slings as we walked down madison avenue (it helps when you've been spectating at the velodrome recently ;o) not too sure she was as endlessly amused as i was though…

and everything else that's been said above!

very impressed with my Lumi LED3s (used for 24 hour solo'ing). as powerful as my old HID lights, but a warmer light (easier to see with) and far more flexibility in power settings. you can ride on high most of the time and be able to see well, then just flick it up to boost for any trickier sections…

Worth giving Frontier Ski a shout if you want a semi-package, and Trailfinders always worth a go.

Also looking into renting a condo in the village – there's various owner direct websites such as resortquest, resortac, allura(?) and a studio or 1 bed condo could well work out a cheaper option (and they're pretty consistently nice!)

Flights have been horrible expensive this year (even well away from February and the olympics) but good old trailfinders let us know that air cananda have special prices where you book as part of a "package" (i.e. either 3 nights hotel or 3 days car rental in addition to the flight – so we ended up with 3 nights 5-star hotel in vancouver to start/end the trip, which cost less than flights alone!) Of course, all that should be wrapped up within a package price from frontier etc (if the deals are still available).

Another vote for the chop houses (beer and food), and the Ox and Shimla Pinks…

For a proper pub, it's hard to beat Briton's Protection.

Dmitri's (greek tapas) is good for food too.

18 Bikes in Hope had a really good deal on the other week when I nipped into the shop, but only for where you buy 2 BBs… (wish I had known before I bought one recently)

MM and SITS are generally fast and quite fun in the dry, start to get a bit tricky in places when damp and become hellish when muddy… not done 24/12 to compare…

The best courses I've done are for the Scottish Tens series (Kirroughtree and Nevis Range), so Relentless should be good. Kirroughtree probably gets my vote for favourite though…

I like some technical challenge to keep the mind working, but not so much that it becomes mentally exhausting! The amount of climbing doesn't really matter too much to me as I'll generally put the same amount of effort in whatever (Catton can be quite sapping as you're doing a lot more pedalling!)

another vote for Hope Hoops using Stans 355 rims here… I have that set up for 26" and 29" and no probs yet (and not heard anything negative at all). The Stans rims are expensive alone, but no extra over the Mavic rims when bought as part of the Hope Hoops.

Lighter, wider, easier to run tubeless (I find my converted 717 rims almost impossible to inflate tubeless tyres on) and seemingly just as reliable…

For convenience, Whistler is fantastic. Of course there's the bike park but lots of superb technical XC trails in the valley (though the Lost Lake trails are a good warm up). Comfortably Numb is a continuous 25km technical singletrack trail that is pretty incredible…

Vancouver North Shore is great for DH style riding – you can buy maps at the local shops. Seymour is the "easier" mountain so a good starting point (with trails like Ned's Atomic Dustbin and CBC) – and Deep Cove is a lovely spot too.

Squamish supposed to be great too, but I've not ridden there. I did some random exploration in Nelson and had great fun there…

Enjoy!

but no point whacking on the forward lean if you haven't got the flexibility in your achilles/calf muscles to start off with… will just lead to more discomfort.

i have problems with my calf muscles when snowboarding – i think because cycling shortens them. so lots and lots of stretching might help to try and counteract it.

binding angles might affect how well you can bend your knees, so worth trying that. it may be that in the process of bending your knees your feet are trying to rotate to a more natural angle and causing pressure?

custom insoles are a must unless you have very generic feet, and the heat molding does reduce the break-in time of the boots (though it still might take a few weeks to get them properly broken in!)

Erm….

On-One Ti29er (SS or gears depending on mood, my main race bike)
On-One Inbred SS (ye olde faithful)
Yeti 575
Cove Stiffee
Condor Pista (SS commuter)
Surly Steamroller (the old commuter – currently built as brakeless fixie but should just sell it)
Lynskey Cooper road bike (with powertap – the road/training bike)
Storck C1.1 (blinged up road bike – but rarely gets used because the powertap is on the Lynskey)
and a couple of frames lying round.

Just need a fast/light full susser for the 24 hour races, but the Storck and Surly will have to go… (that's downsizing, innit?)

i know someone who went on a stag do to edinburgh recently. they hired a midget who was handcuffed to the stag for 24 hours (and dressed as a smurf). costs about £200 apparently!

it uses soya protein, so if you don’t like the taste of soya milk (does anyone??!) you’ll find it quite foul (i do!)

it’s pretty basic stuff (unlike torq recovery and a few others) so cheaper and nicer to mix flavoured whey protein (the bodybuilders stuff) with plain maltodextrin powder…

Fair play though to the young lad who finished off the event with a proposal!!

that was matt page who had just won the solo category with 26 laps

i seem to recall that the ideal crank length is related to the length of your lower leg… so it might work for you (try googling – i remember an article or two about it from a couple of years ago)

i don’t really buy the extra leverage thing for people with “normal sized” legs – 175mm always seems to give plenty leverage to me!

marple to stockport off road takes about 40 mins (through the goyt valley) – that’s the way i ride out to the peaks. not massively exciting but there are some nice bits tucked away. you can then ride off road through reddish vale etc to join the canal near the velodrome, so you’re probably looking at close to 1.5 hours total off road commute (or you can just barge your way down the A6 into town like I do!)

chorlton might be nice, but i wouldn’t fancy driving from there to buxton every day!

heaton moor is very nice (nice enough for us to move there) and has very good train links into piccadilly and to buxton (the station is called “heaton chapel” even though it’s more like heaton moor).

you can ride off road into the peaks quite easily and 20 – 30 mins road riding gets you into some very nice places… 25 mins cycle into manchester as well.

marple is also nice. stockport centre is an awful place but there’s lots of nice spots with stockport addresses.

good point… adding a bit of milk into any of them makes them thicker and tastier (use a blender to get a proper mcdonalds milkshake effect!)

i went on a stag do a few years ago and the MD of the hopback brewery was also there, and he let us all loose in the brewery with unlimited summer lightning and other ales… happy memories!

SIS Rego is rank… (I think it’s the soy protein they use) but then, I love the Torq recovery flavours (HMB is one of the ingredients and it’s quite potent, so some people really notice the slightly bitter taste coming through).

The basic ingredients are just carbs and protein (so choc milk can provide that), but the more advanced ones have additional ingredients to aid recovery/boost your immune system etc (that’s where a lot of the expense goes).

Buy small containers first to try them out (and maybe worth trying that zipvit offer that someone mentioned on here a few days ago – here http://www.zipvit.com/success/ )

I’ll be there (on an On-One ti 29er singlespeed)

The reason they gave me for the 18% deduction was that their obligation is to put me in the same position I was in before, and if they were going to settle by cash rather than through their preferred supplier it would cost them more. Make a big enough nuisance of yourself and they’ll cave in though ;o)

I also spoke to them about proof of ownership in the event of theft (given that I don’t have receipts for all of parts/some things are second hand) – they just said to take photos of all bikes, keep receipts if you have them (or other proof of purchase, e.g. credit card statements) and ideally have a list of all the components as well.

They’re still good – just a bit harder work now!

M&S are a bit harder to deal with now they use Wheelies as middle men, but I got there in the end (found someone very good at M&S who sorted Wheelies out!) and ended up with a full cash settlement as Wheelies couldn’t source an equivalent replacement.

i’m still waiting from my order placed mid-January… took a full week to turn up by which time i was on holiday, so royal mail ended up returning it to them. that took nearly 2 months before they acknowledged the return. a month ago they emailed to say it had been re-posted to me and still nothing!!

completely and utterly useless. how on earth does a shop like that stay in business??!

Torq stuff works best for me – mixed at the recommended strength (could never do that with SIS stuff as it tastes too horrid and strong). Only tried High 5 once and it turned my stomach…

68mm is correct.

Still going strong. Great riding and great people, so I’d just give Sam another try…

Try out the Sylvia Hotel in English Bay (right next to the water, on the edge of Stanley Park – fantastic location). It’s one of the oldest hotels in Vancouver, slightly tired decor but the location makes up for that – and it’s always been a bit of a bargain in the past and they have some non-standard room types that might suit 4 adults…

(but yes – it’s an expensive city to stay in during the summer months)

Another great location is Kitsilano – just across the water from English Bay (not aware of any hotels but there should be a few B&Bs around there). It’s about 20 mins by bus into the city centre, but it’s also a nice place to hang out with the beach, plenty of cafes, restaurants and more independent type shops. A little further out (and at least worth a visit) is Deep Cove (as of Cove Bikes fame – the originall shop is there) on the North Shore. It’s only 30 mins from the city centre but feels like a world away. You can rent kayaks from there (it’s on an inlet) or you can ride to Mt Seymour to sample some of the North Shore’s delights (Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is a good fun trail to sample – it’s technical but mostly ride-able and fast).

Whistler is great too – would be a shame not to bike there (as mentioned above, the Lost Lake trails are a good starting point – but then there’s the bike park and lots more technical cross country trails around the valley). The lakes turn into beaches in the summer, with full timer sun bathers, xc mountain bikers, downhill mountain bikers and skiers/snowboarders all merging into one! Even if you didn’t want to do some biking there, you can sit with a beer on the patio at GLC and watch the people spitting out of the woods on the GLC drops….. If you don’t mind staying a couple of kms out of the main village, this is a good place to stay http://www.whistlerbb.com (Joern is also a keen mountain biker).

based on my current experience of them (order placed in january – delivery slow so it only turned up the day i went on holiday for 2 weeks so the recorded delivery got returned to them by royal mail – 2 months of waiting for je james to acknowledge the return – close to a month later and i’m still waiting for it to arrive!!! couple that with emails being ignored or pretty rude replies) i wouldn’t even consider using them again. how on earth can they stay in business with that kind of service??!

Probably the major change is that bike replacements have to be done through Wheelies Direct (as Axa use them as middle men). I had a recent claim and found them (Wheelies) to be pretty poor and slow (although they can work out pretty good for some people – search on here). After a week of arguing and waiting on Wheelies, I got the M&S people to sort them out and ended up with a cash settlement so I could use an LBS instead….

doh – too slow :o)

Hi Oldgit – you’ll need an 8-prong tool thingy to tighten the lockring (a Shimano XTR BB tool or a Park BBT18 or there’s a cheaper X-Tools version on CRC as well).

molgrips is right (just like he said)… Torq stuff for me (and i find the recommend strength perfect – even for 24 hour solos). It has natural (quite sharp) flavour, no artificial crap or flavours (unlike SIS/High 5), has electrolytes for sweaty people and is a fructose: maltodextrin blend (supposed to be superior to straight maltodextrin).

If you have too strong a mix that can lead to gut rot (and i don’t think artificial stuff helps on that score either).

Cheers people. So it sounds like a competitive quote is needed from the LBS if that’s going to be an option… Wheelies have to verify the damage first in any event – but I would have thought it makes more sense if a local shop can do the work.