I have child clients at work called Theo, Leo and Cleo, she is expecting a fourth, so we have been having bets on what it will be called…

I have mate back in 2008, it is absolutely stunning place, it is 64 km in length starting at about 4500m above sea level and finishing about 80m above. Beautiful scenery, you start up in the mountains in the snowline and pass through temperate jungle and end up not to far from the sea, but at a place with a pool.

It is not technical really, but there is a huge drop to one side and you can see all the cars and buses that have gone over the side in the bottom of the canyon. You can reach 30mph + and it is on a rough surface so the arm pump is the worst bit.

If you are going to do it, go with an american firm with decent bikes, we went with a local bolivian firm, paid for full sus Iron horse bikes and got there to find we had old Trek Hardtails, my back tire burst 62km out of the 64, i ended up dislocating my shoulder, pulling the head of my humerous off and having 2 screws in there, but one good thing about Bolivia the drugs in the hospital were good.

If you are that way it is a days bus road from Cusco where you Machu Piccu from.

I can send some pics of the place if you were interested in it.

It seems to be really common with Trek frames, i've had two EX8's which both did it, they seem to realise this and the Remedy has a seperate carbon armour guard you can attach, wish they did the same for the EX and Fuel frames.

I used thick clear frame guard tape and it seemed to stop any further happening.

I've ridden over a mile before realising i hadn't replaced the front maxle skewer back in.

I had a humdinger, I decided to ride the Road of Death in Bolivia hitting speeds of about 30mph on age old Trek hardtails on the worlds most dangerous road.

Rear tyre blew and I managed to dislocate my should downwards with so much force that it took the head of the humerous off as well, also stabbed myself in the leg with the brake lever. Took 8 hours to get to a hospital where they had to put 2 screws in to hold the broken humerous and relocate the shoulder, they missed the stab wound, so I lost 2 pints of blood overnight also.

Then got back to UK after a nightmare journey to find that they had fudged the operation, had to have new screws put in and that i had a blood infection from blood they had given me!

Got back on bike after 6 months rode twice fell came off on to the same shoulder and broke the clavicle avoiding a jogger at Swinley. Sods Law.

I've got some Tech 2 wheels when they sold for £99 for the pair for a weekend only, used them on Cove Stiffee which is my winter/ play bike and they are a little heavy, but i have had no issues with them at all.

Renthal the motorcross company make a product called Renthal Grip Glue used on some dirt bikes, can be a bit to good sometimes though, would make sure you've got the cockpit set up exactly how you like it before using it.

It is BOB that maintain the trails in Swinley itself, although there is a lot of cross over between BOB and the Gorrick events

Count me in, day after my birthday, so i may be running on beer gas!

I'm no legal expert but check this website out mate.

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/

I would have thought that if you are paying per slab or per unit of weight, then they have an obligation to provide the amount you paid for.

There is a pub just down the road from me called the Swan in Ash Vale, 10 mins from Farnborough, big beer garden next to the canal, and the Ash Ranges just behind for cycling.

Does great food and 8 real ales as well as Leffe and Hoegarden on tap, i think the best pub in the area.

Going to Chicksands to settle the whose fastest with a mate on the dual slalom, looks like hardtail it is, cheers fellas

I had years on various Trek EX and Santa Cruz full sus. and decided that as winter mud and grit kept eating components to build up a cheap hard tail for winter.

Bought an old battered Cove Stiffee frame off the of ST forum, built it up with old components and and 140mm Pike fork and had a riot, no the weatherhas got better I am still riding it more than my full sus, i think it is old change is as good as a rest adage, plus it is a lot more simple, no engaging pro-pedal to go up the hills, locking the forks out on the fire roads, just ignore all that and ride it, great fun

I managed to do the king of offs, about 25mph coming down the Road of Death in bolivia, disclocated shoulder with such force that I pulled the head of my humorous off, had to have 2 screws in it in Bolivia, then came back to find they'd messed up doing it and had to have it done again properly in UK.

Moral of the story and the best advice, don't wait to see how you go and then go and lift somehing making it tens times worse, if there is a real problem get it treated as soon as possible, the more proactive you are now the quicker your back on the bike. Get them to diagnose exactly what it wrong and see physio or whatevere it takes to get it right cause once you do screw it up properly it is never quite the same again.

When you go to the LBS get them to give you a proforma quote for the cost of the repair/ replacement, then when you claim via the insurers for the car repairs, they should add it to the claim, if not then approach the other drivers insurers direct with the quote and photos of the damage.

Keep your Camelbak bladder empty in the freezer between rides, tastes so much nicer and always wrap some gaffa tape round your pump in your pack, it has many uses with the humble zipe tie.

Hi mate, i'd say a week in Marrakesh is too much, it is very full on, great place for a couple of days, but not for a whole week.

There a number of trekking and now MTB agencies based there though. It only takes 2-3 hours to get up into the High Atlas. You have a Mt Toubkal to trek which is highest peak in N.Africa, there are some fanstastic waterfalls at Cascade D'Ouzoud and for scenery head to Dades and Todra Gorges, great places to see on a bike and stunning scenery.

In the other direction, you can travel 2 hours to get to the edge of the Sahara where there a number of high dunes right on the edge that you can climb that will give you a idea of it's beauty, the best to climb is Erg Chebbi.

Finally I would second going to Essaouira on the coast, it is very relaxed and a great place for windsurfing, kite surfing etc.

Hi Chillpepper, as a cyclist when you're in Bolivia you must have a go at riding down the "Road of Death", it's about 64km and starts at around 4500m above sea level and finishes at about 600m, most fun you can have with your clothes on.

Enjoy your travels, I loved Bolivia and am jealous you're there now.

Hi mate,

i'd go and get it checked, the action of cycling is actually slightly unnatural for yours knees as a lot of peoples knees point out slightly. I had lots of problems and went to a shop where they sell Specialized cycling shoes where the correct this in the shoe itself with a shaped insole, pain stopped over night.

We way to check this, and you'll look daft doing it, is to squat one legged with the other foot hooked behind, with your foot facing forward, squat down, if your knee continues to point directly forwards over the foot you are fine, if it turns out or inwards, this is what they need to correct.

Hi mate, I used a very cheap company called insureandgo.com, as long as you declare to them before hand that you are going to altitude they are fine. I had a nasty accident MTBing in Bolivia a couple of years ago where we went up to 4500m and they had no qualms in picking up the medical bill and put me in business class on way back.

Just make sure that they cover the full cost of bike and your gear.

If you have any questions about Morocco drop us a line, I was lucky enough to work there for a year.

Hi mate, i've just bought an 18 and you would fit SLR in their fine, there are a lot of straps on the sides to reduce bulk when you don't need the full 18 litres.

Hi mate, i've got a 2006 Stiffee frame, the only bad thing i'd say about it is the paint, it has come off in chunks.

As far as I know and no doubt someone will correct me, in the last couple of years the seatpost diameter has increased, the new ones take 30.00mm, mine takes an awkward 26.4mm.

Would recommend it as a bike though, it is my winter bike when trying not grind away every pivot on the full suss in the muck and I run mine with 140 mm Pike forks, you can go up to 160mm though with no problems

i'm lucky enough to have both, being into hill walking i bought a talon a while back and bought a raptor last monday.

i'd say thr raptor has more features, morepockets to divide stuff up and a better bladder design. but the talon can be better as it has the largest single pocket or space of any of them, which is handy if you are trying to get a small sleeping bag or other larger kit in, you'd be hard pressed to get a sleeping bag into the largest raptor.

Hi muppet, I work for a law firm, but this is outside of my field , I can ask the partner at work who deals with this area to give you a bell, personally I would have said you had a good chance?

email me your number mate. paul.whitlock@shoosmiths.co.uk

Cheers Mick, i'll look into that, you can't beat Superstar Components, i've just bought 4 pairs of Kevlar brake pads for £25 from them.

Only reason I asked was that I've just come back from Afan this morning and after taking my bike and trying one of demo bikes from Sklyine fitted with the QR15 there was a real difference in the front end stiffness rattling over the rocks.

Only trouble is the QR forks I have are brand new as i've just brought the 2009 Trek EX8 as new from a shop for a nice price, so am reluctant to try and sell them on fleabay and try and buy 2nd hand QR15 forks.

Thanks again all for the advice

Thanks for the advice guys.

I think for a lot of people like myself, we'd love to have real hills and mountains on our doorstep, we do have some great riding round here with Surrey Hills etc. But Swinley is convenient for me to put some miles in after work.

I think what we object to is the foot deep ruts being left by the film crews vehicles which i'm guessing they won't be sorting out afterwards.

As most of it is near to cafe and walking areas, a lot of the walkers and runners are going over the MTB side and there has been a few close calls already.

The ground has just been completely chewed by vehicles in a lot of places and parts were unrideable.

I rode their yesterday and it is terrible, some trails have been closed due to the Harry Potter filming and all the main tracks leading to and from the cafe are either temporarily road surfaced or completely chewed up by the filming and logging vehicles.

I know that the money being made is to be reinvested there from what i've heard but it won't be worth it if people have been driven away and the trails are left ruined in parts.

Hi mate, I managed to dislocate shoulder and in doing so pull off he head of humerous whilst doing the road of death in bolivia, ended up with two metal pins and 6 months with no riding.
My advice if you’re worried, see a consultant, it’s better to get the treatment now, then it keep happening and you be left with a permanent weakness.
Also see http://www.shoulderdoc.com gives some good advice.
Any sign of pins and needles in the arm or hands or any any lack of mobility, then get treatment asap.
Good luck.

Take a look at:
Animal Commencal
Charge Bikes
MBUK Doddcast
Fox Racing Shox
Singletrack magazine (of course)
iBikeRide
Dirty Little Secrets
(all for biking)

and some personal favourites for a laugh:
Cobra Podcast with danny wallace and dom joly
Danny Wallace XFM podcast
Jimmy Carr
Stephen Fry’s Podgrams

All available by searching via itunes.

Enjoy.