I won a holiday with them a couple of years ago. A week for 2 in a catered chalet with hot tub. 2 weeks before departure they downgraded us to the smallest available apartment in Chamonix Sud.

Go independent and you will have somebody looking after you who isn’t being paid a pittance and actually cares about your enjoyment of your holiday.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1275923

Some lovely routes in here. I would try and take in Lac Blanc, Brevent, Les Houches, Midi midstation – Montenvers, all very different views and perspectives.

If you’re looking for a leisurely stroll from the valley floor or en route back down from Brevent Flegere then Floria is hard to beat.

OMG

I have been meaning to go Premium, I pay for Sky TV so £10 a month for hassle-free unlimited music seems pretty good.

The Russell Brand “Arthur” ads are a very good way of driving people onto the ad-free version.

Just had a look at the Vitos and there are some very nice 150hp ones out there.

I’d go somewhere between Les Pelerins and Les Bois if you want to go into town in the evenings.

It should be a good year for early biking, the snow cover is woeful. I have been seeing some ridiculous pictures from mates who are ski-touring. The Buet valley is a hike out already, it looks like the snowline is getting on for 2000m on the sunny slopes. Half their pictures they’re rock climbing and eating picnics in the sun!

Do a bit of swimming and eat a scrambled egg once a fortnight.

Do free weights/kettlebells twice a week. Take a protein shake first thing every morning and after every training session. Try and eat healthy the rest of the time. I am about a stone heavier than this time last year, I’m probably training slightly harder but the big difference has been the protein shakes.

Ours is a bit skinny and we have a wee neoprene suit for her which stops her getting cold so quickly, we had a couple of “swims” that were less than 5 minutes.

It’ll be on SkyPlayer if thats any use, I’m not sure about the Eurosport site, I know they wanted money for TdF streaming last year.

Some bikes and cars look ugly in photos, when you see them in the flesh they are fine. The carbon 456 is a bit like that and I suspect this one will be the same.

At various times he had

Lime Green Escort Mexico

White Manta – seen rallying as late as 2003

Black 5 GT Turbo – Hard to find a picture of one that hasn’t been “modified”

Green E36 M3 Evolution

I would’ve been 8 when he had the Renault 5, I can still remember the noise and the rush when the Turbo kicked in.

He has got a lot more sensible in the last ten years and now wonders why I am so interested in performance cars 🙄

Its only a problem in the wet, I hired a Yeti for the day and both sets of pads were completely done by the time I left it back.

I like the look of the Amarok but a Transporter would probably be more practical.

Anywhere between 8 and 16%, commodities are all going up and they are all big brands so they just knock the prices up and leave us to deal with the fallout.

I’ve got a gravity dropper, i really like it. I get the most out of it on wee local loops with steep sections, its nice to be able to change the height without stopping. They’re good for gravity enduros as well. If I’m doing long climbs and bringing a full facer etc I am happy enough with a QR.

I have been going through mortgage applications, they were running an affordability test at 7%. Interest rates are definitely going to rise considerably.

Most of the banks are now gouging buy-to-let customers by an extra 1-1.5% on a standard deal.

I would be very careful, the rental market/interest rate equation doesn’t have to move too far before you will start having to make up mortgage payments out of your own pocket.

Either he missed out on Economics 101 or he has deliberately created a bullshit premise.

Why does this guy have any credibility?!

The article says its a mechanical prototype, the tube profiles will change on the finished article.

There isn’t much you can do about it not being properly boxed.

There is a Canon website which you can get free driver updates from.

The colour is very close to the Swift blue.

There is loads of camping/overflow camping with portaloos, within a couple of hundred yards of the start.

If you get there around dusk be prepared for ridiculous midges. I had the tent up early but I got out to check the bike and had to abandon the idea, there were midges in my eyes, midges up my nose, midges in my ears, ridiculous.

eBay is a pain in the hole these days. My missus sells stuff as our kid grows out of it, I reckon 1 in 3 sales ends up with people coming back with made-up complaints about the items, looking for discounts or partial refunds.

Is there a kayak equivalent of STW? I’ve considered a paddle board and a kayak, does anybody have any reccomendations for kayak shops online?

A pallet jack works well, my mate used to live opposite a B&B and the owner would just jack up the unauthorised vehicle and dump it in the bus lane.

Money is getting tighter for a lot of people. Pricing things low just encourages traders to contact you. Pricing low encourages pointless emails trying to low-ball you further. If I want to sell stuff cheap I do it on a local forum where I know it is going to somebody who will use it themselves.

That aging Ireland side looks to have a few miles left in it yet.

We have one of the Little Life ones that looks like a backpack with a lead on the top. They are quite handy for keeping them on the path and out of danger, you can also break their fall if they trip over.

I think this is the third festival lineup I have seen “leaked” in the last month.

The hassle isn’t in the phone call to have your card replaced, its in being without a card for 8-10 working days. I can’t even transfer money into another account without my debit card and it will take a couple of hours to go down to the branch and sort it out.

Of course people are commenting on their web page, why shouldn’t they?! CRC are an internet-based business, they are quite happy to push social networking for advertising purposes, now they are finding out that its a 2 way street. Its up to them to communicate better with heir customers, acknowledge their mistakes, and make some effort to keep custom of the people affected.

I’ve just had my card stopped, they had flagged the O2 transactions at the bank and put them on hold but the same details had then been used to try a smaller charge overseas.

Its an absolute joke that CRC haven’t warned people properly about this.

People you are being a bit harsh criticizing these guys. There are a couple of people from TBC who make an effort to contribute to the forum, answer peoples questions, discuss products, organise group rides, and so on.

If you think they are “profiteering off a tragedy” you don’t have to buy, I’m sure Merlin or CRC will still take your money. This is a small business which takes an active role in the forum, trying to do something nice. Take it at face value or ignore the thread.

These have both been posted by other people recently.

Liam Killeen Core Training – Killeen has come back from a back problem, the video has a good explanation of why core training is important in cycling.

Bike James website – this guy trains some World Cup MTBers

http://www.bikejames.com/

There is loads of good advice in there. Weight and core training doesn’t have to be repetitive and if you get some guidance on technique and build up gradually it shouldn’t take up loads of time.

A bit of static stretching in the evening will definitely help.

ss20 have big reductions this week.

Epic Cycles have some really nice Bianchis under 2k. The Storck looks great too.

Circuit training, kettlebells, free weights, core training would all help in the gym

On the bike, do intervals, drop your saddle and ride flat out for anywhere between 30 seconds and 3-4 minutes at a time, rest, and repeat. Or get a wee loop and time yourself round it, and try and keep your laps times constant.

Also practise riding really smoothly, carrying as much speed as possible, loosening your grip off unless you are on a difficult section, etc.

There are two angles to approach it from – increase the amount of punishment that you can take before fatigue starts to kick in, and decrease the amount of effort you have to put in to ride at a given speed.

That Liam Killeen vid is very good, thanks trickydisco!