ah – by ‘next week’ I meant starting on Sunday 14th – not today / tomorrow … so, depending on the weather, I was thinking of heading south probably on Monday 15th if anyone is around then.

Looks like the Quantocks are going to be on the cards …. off to find somewhere bike friendly to stay.

Christowkid – good point (I just caught something on the news about Devon being submerged today!). I’d probably only head down if there was a reasonable chance of some dry weather – but does it take long for the area to dry – if it’s wet all this week but then stops would it have drained by the next day or two? (Up here in Snowdonia it tends to run off pretty quickly due to steep mountains and slate – trouble is it rains so much!) If the forecast loos good closer to next week then I’ll post up again t see if I can get a heads up on the trail conditions.

Sharki – any response to comments about moist up top and wet down the bottom will only lead to innuendos :) However, I will assume you are talking about the effects of geology and water run-off …

Sharki – “a guaranteed wet bottom” – yours or mine?

Cheers all – lots of great sounding places – off to squirrel around the internet checking them out in more detail :)

Oh … and I live in Snowdonia (having previously lived in Calderdale and the west coast of Scotland) … so I know there’s great riding oop north, but I want to head south for a few reasons – the weather forecast … my injured knees making the mountains and rocks not possible at the moment … and a desire to put my prejudices firmly to one side and ride somewhere that sounds as though it would be very different but equaly fun to the riding I have here (thus feeling more like a holiday!)

Given the above places – are there any recommended guidebooks or online sources of route info?

Crikey that’s bad – really sorry.

Like Druidh my mountaineering,along with more technical mountain biking, has been stopped due to damaged knees. But having never been into it before, I’m now a keen roadie and ‘bike rambler’ – mainly on the road or smoother off road cos it gets me out into the hills which I love. It’s not the same (and my other half has been scowled at for calling my rides a bit ‘gay’!) but I now really enjoy it and am planning on some bike touring round Europe.

The real proof for me that we can all adapt and get enjoyment from different activities comes from my brother. He was born with severe multiple physical and mental disabilities which, amongst many other things, mean that he has no balance or co-ordination. But he goes out as much as he can – we’ve carried him up parts of mountains and he does horse riding for the disabled. Best of all he started cycling with an adapted trike and is now competing as a cyclist in the Special Olympics this year :)

Not trying to say that this makes your frustration about your situation any better or easier, but I have found that I’ve taken some hope and inspiration from my brother when I’ve felt gutted about the things I can’t do.

He looks like an ace dog :)

Just walked mine in the rain, and as always once I’m out there I always enjoy it.

Good on you for getting a rescue dog

as always an interesting range of opinions :) Chappy1 – shecycles.net is back up and running, and although quiet is appreciated by those who use it. I’m happy to ask questions on ST, but am more likely to use Shecycles to arrange rides or to ask more detailed women-specific questions (for example on crank lengths for short women).

I usually ride with friends, male and female, ranging from those who are slower than me to those who a far faster and more proficient! There are definately more guys than girls though. On the ‘women-only’ ride topic – I went to Morzine on a women-only downhill skills week and it was ace – a realyy good laugh whilst also being supportive when we all (repeatedly!) crashed. It was also fun to see the reactions we got in Morzine as a groups of women doing downhil mtb – we got strangers coming up to us all the time to ask who we were! I definately wouldn’t have gone if it had been mixed as I think that it would have been predominantly male and the atmosphere would have been really different, and I suspect more ‘macho’ and less honest.

I also first learn to kayak as part of a women-only course (run by the council to encourage more women into kayaking). The guy who did the training said there was a massive difference in the way girls and guys learnt to paddle, and what sort of paddling the women won’t to do in the future.

In both mtb’ing and paddling it’s always been great to meet up with other girls as you get a chance to try other bikes, swap suggestions for kit, and generally have better trail snacks :)

ah-ha – Delamere … I had a hazy recollection that there was something out that way. Aside from local knowledge (my current riding speed would probably be far too slow for even the most tolerant of local riders!), is there any kind of online map of the singletrack?

Have comtemplated Llandegla, but I’m afraid it might actually have to much climbing for me at the moment! My physio has made it clear that ‘flat’ means slight undulations only.

Don’t mind travelling further afield – is there anything in Cheshire / South Manchester area?

many thanks all. I’ll definately try checking this out with the HPC. I suspect if I wrote to the physio with my concerns I would end up with an experience similar to Cinnamon_girl. I first priority is to try and get my leg and now back sorted out and get riding and running again, but if extra problems have been cuased by the treatment then I will want to pursue it further.

Right, time to book an appointment with the GP to start with.

Climbing wall seems like the best suggestion – I think they actually complement areas which have good outside bouldering / climbing. The Beacon climbing wall here in Snowdonia is always incredibly busy and, just to state the obvious, there is some of the UK’s best outdoor climbing and bouldering here :)

mmmm .. can see both sides of the debate here. As someone who lives in one of those more remote parts of Snowdonia, with a footpath running through the field and past our front door, I guess I’ve tried to think about how I would have reacted. For me, it wouldn’t have mattered if they were bikes or hikers (or fell runners, returning climbers etc), any large group coming by late at night (and yes up here 10.30 is kinda late!) with bright torches would have been disturbing – it would have got the dog barking her head off, if both me and my partner had been here we would have probably stuck our heads out to see what was going on, but if I’d been in the house along I would have been a wee bit unsure. Would I have thought ‘they shouldn’t be there’ erm no – it is a right of way (and as far as I’m concnerned it’s open to all non-motorised users despite the fact that it’s a footpath), and we knew that when we moved here. But, I would also think whoever passed by in a large group, late at night, with full lights next to a house were pretty inconsiderate and unaware of how disturbing that would be for those people who live soemwhere which is usually silent.

Oh, and yes I too wish Wales would change the law so we can have the same access rights as in Scotland …

Snowdonia Park campsite and pub: http://www.snowdonia-park.co.uk/

On the circular Telegraph Valley mtb route, and easy to bike over to Llanberis (up the hill, old bridleway over to Llanberis) Pub is a microbrewery and does very good real ale and food. Good riding to be had in Beddgelert Forest as well.

mmm … Mars mmight be a bit too far off route when travelling between Calais and Alpe Duez ….

cheers guys – I’ll give both shops a call.

Olaf – would you mind saying how tall you are – if its not too personal a question!

I think I might be mrs_oab’s doppelganger – same height, same bikes – a titus and an xs cannondale (although mine is now doing duty as a commuter with slicks!) I don’t suppose mrs_oab has found an audax-style road bike that fits? I’ve been looking for one for ages!

But, back to the pursuit of small full-sus bikes – the Titus will be more expensive than the orange, so if the Diva is over budget then you’ll not be wanting to consider a motolite or racer-x. As has been mentioned, don’t fixate on frame sizes – look instead a the geometry charts for 13″ and 14″ frame bikes. I would seriously consider a women’s frame, as the weight of the bike will be a consideration. As a ‘short’ person I’ve also had an issue with longer travel forks – with 130 – 140 forks I’ve found that I can’t keep the front wheel down on the climbs. However, I went for adjustable travel forks as this means I can dial then down to 80 for the climbs and back up to 130 for the descents.

As another ‘only 5 ft’ person I can sympathise with the difficulty of finding full-sus bikes. I’ve tried quite a few bikes over the lat couple of years and found that there are 3 that should be OK for fit: the Specialised Myka, the Orange Diva, and the Titus motolite. They vary massively in price and ride – the Myka is the cheapest, and I found it to be quite a heavy and unresponsive ride – if your budget is tight I would recommend considering a high spec hardtail rather than the somewhat heavy weight Myka. The Diva is great fun, especially as a ‘downhill’ bouncy orientated bike, although it also holds it’s own on the climbs. The Titus is a great all-round xc full-sus bike that would handle anything you could through at it (mine has coped well with the downhill trails of Morzine and also the never-ending climbs in the Rocky mountains). But the Titus isn’t cheap – having said that do a quick search on the forum as I’m sure someone was mentioning that there might be an xs titus at a bargain sale price.

Burts – it sounds as though your partner has relatively short legs and therefore a ‘longer than ususal for a woman’ torso. In which case you might find that a unisex / blokes bike might be better as women specific bikes are designed to accomodate relatively long legs and shorter torsos.

You might want to consider a ‘unisex’ Orange full sus in a 14″ frame, as that would give you a low standover but a longer toptube than the women specific Orange Diva.

An xs titus is very unlikely to fit – I ride one and I’m only 5 foot!

thanks for all the suggestions … now have a whole new load of bikes to check out :)

Crazy-legs – I’m based in Snowdonia. I’ve been to the Specialized Concept store in Chester to try the Dolce a wee while ago. Was interested in the bike, but wasn’t impressed with the advice in the store as they tried to persuade me to get frame size that was too large, probably becuase it was the only size they had in and as it was just before the 09 bikes came out it might have been that there wasn’t an 08 dolce in my tiny size left.

I travel quite a bit – especially Cardiff and London if you know of anywhere down there. And I’d be more than happy to come back up to Calderdale for some combined bike fitting and riding :)

Cheers all. Those of you who went for a custom build / fit – what sort of qustions do they ask? I’ve had mountain bikes for several years, but I’ve never had a road bike before. A lot of questions seem to be based on your ‘existing’ bike (which I obviously don’t have!). But I do have a clear idea as to the type of riding I will be doing, and my overall riding style (more sit and enjoy the view than a bum in the air racing position!)

mmm … it would appear that a custom build might be the best option. My budget is not ‘fixed’ yet, but I’d rather pay more for a proper fit than less for bike that will hurt if I start racking up the miles. London-lady – approx how much did yours cost? (if that isn’t too intrusive a question!) Also, does anyone have some recommended bike builders?

another tip – slightly drop the nose of the saddle as it takes some of the pressure of more sensitive areas (and definately get a women’s saddle – men’s saddles are so painful for women!)

Personally I favour Pearl izumi shorts

sorry, that was meant to be ‘right’ not ‘tight’!

Hi crazy-legs – in terms of overall numbers, its about 75% male / 25% female, but you’re tight, a lot of women use climbing walls, plus the most recent BMC survey has found that the number of women taking up climbing is increasing a lot recently. Do you think the same is happening with biking?

OK, for a slightly different perspective, as a someone who has previously used the Shecycles Forum, here’s ome of my thoughts as to why, for some, a women’s biking forum was appreciated:

1. Firstly it’s not an ‘either / or situation – I used both the Shecycles and Singletrack forums in different ways

2. Sheecycles was good for being able arrange rides with other women without having go through the usual comments about ‘why do want a women’s only ride … what’s wrong with you’ etc (for the record, I ride mainly with guys or in mixed groups, therefore just occassionally it’s nice to ride with other women – let’s face it that’s quite unusaul in the UK)

3. When I asked about bikes / kit etc I’d get responses from other women, rather than replies from guys about ‘my wife / gf etc uses this’ (which although interesting aren’t the same as getting replies from women bikers themselves)

4. There was a different atmosphere, without any innuendo or sexism – I’m no delicate flower but sometimes it’s just nice to have a space / forum that doesn’t ever have that.

Overall, I’ve found the above responses rather disappointing, but unsurprising. I have no issues at all with all of you who say you wouldn’t want to use it, but why do others feel that just becuase they wouldn’t use a women’s forum, that this then means that there shouldn’t be one for those women who did use Shecycles. Would it be good for ST to host a women’s forum? Probably not if it provokes this kind of negativity and hassle.

One final thought, I consult a lot of ‘outdoor activity’ forums on a regular basis for my job – and it has to be said that almost exclusively mountain bike forums are the worse for rather juvenile, sexist comments (although ST is by far and away the ‘best’, non-peurile comment forum!). The kind of comments you sometimes get on here, you would never find on climbing or white water kayaking forums – I’m not sure why that is, given that these other outdoor activities are also ‘male dominated’?

It’s not a good idea to go up at the moment without an ice ace and crampons (and know how to use them). there have been far more deaths and serious injuries this yeardue to people standing Llanberis in the sun, looking up, and deciding it ‘looks fine up there’. If you do go up, make sure you are of the mindset to make a sensible decision to turn back if necessary.

I was out yesterday on the Carneddi and even at only about 400m altitude the track was snow-covered and unrideable on north-facing slopes (which made for a rather long ‘bike-hike’). Where the snow has remained it is now very ‘wet’ and offers little if any traction.

Hi Trio

Let me know if there’s anything I can help with – your stepping in to set up a new forum after the demise of the first ‘shecycles’ was excellent and much appreciated! Like Lourdes I’m not a fan of facebook, so it would be good to have an alternative again. But it does need to not degenerate into the bikemagic ‘ladies’ section cos frankly I just can’t be arsed with arguing with such twunks :)

OK, I still can’t access the ‘new’ Shecycles forum (the shecycles.forumdes one). I’ll try again tomorrow – but I think my partner said pretty much what Badgerpoo and Esme have said (although as you can gather I obviously don’t understand it that well!)

lourdes – ygm re Conwy rides

Thanks ebygomm. My partner’s just mentioned that it might be related to the forum being moved and the DNS not re-routing correctly yet (or something to that effect!) Anyway, he said it might right itself in the next 24 – 48 hours, so I’ll try again tomorrow.

cheers ebygomm. Hopefully whatever the problem is for me accessing the forum will miraculously right itself :)

phew, glad it’s not just me, I was beginning to feel like a complete idiot. ebygomm, could I be really cheaky and ask you to post something up on Shecycles for Trio (if she is still doing the forum?) to let her know that there seems to be some problem for some people accessing it (I was registered, so I don’t think it is just stopping non-resgistered users). I’ve no idea why you can access it and I can’t!

mmm … that’s the link I’ve been using and it still comes up with the expired message – it must be something to do with my computer, but I’ve no idea what!

ebygomm – could you post your link to the forum on here as I’ve just checked it again and it still isn’t working for me!

Cheers

tails – cheers for being so welcoming. I do post on here now and again, but I appreciated having the Shecyles forum to arrange rides and have a more open discussion without the occasional t*sser jumping in :)

The new site that Trio kindly set up now just says: “This domain name expired on Feb 12, 2009” I suspect that even if the domain name is renewed, that all previous threads / ride meets etc will have been lost, so hence this thread on ST to try and get some contact made again.

nbt – that’s the new forum that’s now gone as well

Snowed in for the last 5 days (since waking up on Monday morning to find a world of white). Do live in a field on the side of Snowdon though, so not that surprising, but still the longest I’ve ever been snowed in for.

(Un)fortunately am able to work from home … but have still had lots of pre-9am and post 5pm snow fun :)

montane featherlite pants – http://www.montane.co.uk/productdetails.php

for 4o quid (should be able to get them for about £35) they probably offer the most breathability, and so although they are ‘showerproof’ they’ll probably keep you drier than a less breathable pair if you’re using them for a commute.

Plus, they weigh next to nothing, and pack down to the tiniest ball, so you can always have them stashed in your bag for commuting to / from work

I haven’t used either of those, but can recommend the OMM packs, as these seem to have a really good fit for women – not too long in the back and nor are the straps too wide. I use the 10L (‘the last drop’) most of the time – fits a 2l bladder, lightweight jacket, pump, multitool, and snacks. For carrying more kit (eg the above, plus a fleece and my SLR) I use the larger 25l classic marathon. Both fit great, and crucially are really stable on the bike. Full details here: http://www.theomm.com/products/packs.html

Yet another lurker :) tend to avoid posting, and more likely to ask questions on Shecycles, which has now been resurected – hurrah! here: http://shecycles.forumdes.com/

Hi Punkass – good to see you again before Christmas – I was thinking of you yesterday cos I biked past my first lambs of the year :)

I reckon all commutes sound good when the sun is out and the birds are singing :)

It was rather splendid today – and I must admit I’m a ‘scenery / wildlife’ fan rather than a ‘knarly technical trail’ kinda rider (I ground to a halt for ages on the Marin Trail last weekend to watch a round fluffy shrew right next to the trail – it was the highlight of my ride!)

Having said that – this being North Wales, most of the time it is blowing a gale with sideways lashing rain :( Just makes days like today even more special …