There’s a big difference between “Routes” and “Activities”

Routes that you create on Strava are just there for your use, to follow while you are logging rides on GPS. I don’t think that they are visible to anyone else, and they have no link to segments.
(edit : you can share your routes with people, but you have to send them a link)

Strava only uses GPS tracks from rides (“Activities”) in their database. If you want to look at other peoples rides, then searching by “Activity search” in the “Explore” section will find some. Or you can look at existing segments and see peoples GPS recordings of rides.

This will all be a lot clearer when you get a GPS device and start using it!

Cannondale CFR Baggy shorts, like these?
http://r2-bike.com/CANNONDALE-CFR-Team-Baggy-Short-2014

1680g for £100 ? That is if you don’t mind straight pull spokes, and buying from Superstar…

http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/816-sp-wheelset-superstar-rsr490.htm

The Cannondale appears to be fitted with a stem extender. A Google image search for “stem extender” shows some more extreme examples of anti-slamming. Like this one:

The Punisher (the 80s version with Dolph Lundren) – cheap but surprisingly good… and possibly available to watch on youtube…

In fact, youtube is a goldmine of full length crappy films.

Even if it was out of warranty they could offer you a replacement at a price.

Unless they don’t have any 26″ 2009 stumpjumper chainstays left.

I went from 3×9 to 2×9 because I pretty much never used the top couple of gears and was changing between middle and big too much (it annoyed me!)

All I did was get a bigger middle ring and some shorter chainring bolts (and wind in the FD limit screw to only use 2 rings) – you only need to change the shifters if you change chainset and FD to be 2×10 specific.

Swapping out the middle ring and fitting shorter bolts (or a bash in place of the outer) might not work quite as well as a dedicated 2×10 setup, but it should work well enough that you can see if the 2×10 ratios are what you want.

Strava, viewranger, instagram, dolphin browser.

My preferences are for good forks (Reba) and 2×10 drivetrains. So I’d get the Kona (if the one remaining is in your size!)

Avid brakes work OK, but are fiddly and need near-perfect bleeding and adjustment.

Do you mean RCZ bike shop?

I think that they are not quite as well regarded as alltricks and probikeshop (amongst French mailorder sites), but I’m not sure where i’ve got this impression from – maybe posts on the velovert forum

Edit : Ah ok – looks like certain French forums don’t allow posts rearding RCZ due to blatant and excessive astroturfing. (and subsequent legal action!)

Have you tried it?
Maybe they are all right and we are all wrong?

A friend of mine at uni had previously tried it on a steel roadbike as a kid – he thought that decreasing the wheelbase would make turning easier.

Apparently it worked really well until he braked hard going downhill. The steel forks flexed towards the frame, the wheel locked up under the downtube and he went flying OTB.

When the processing was centralised at the start of this year, someone made a serious adding-up error to estimate demand. By about May/June there were press stories about huge backlogs, people waiting over 12 weeks and so on.

I had to send in a renewal for travel in July, but only found out the above in June!

I sent it anyway (taking care to get all the details correct), with the plan to drive to Marseille and get an Emergency travel document if it didn’t get back in time (an extra 120€ !!!). In the end, either the Passport Office crisis management was working, or it got fast-tracked as a simple renewal, and it came back in about 4 weeks.

Transvesubienne (or the Marmotte if you can be tempted on-road)

I guess you guys all missed this on the gifs thread?

Didn’t post first time around, but…

I had implant attempts about 20 years ago. They were not successful due to a lack of bone in the relevant areas of jawbone.

I imagine that techniques have advanced since then, but I will not be trying again. I have a titanium dental plate that I am happy with (I’ve actually had dentures long enough that it’s the opposite to Dez – i feel like I talk funny and don’t like the shape of my face if it’s not in!)

That Soplao event looks good, hadn’t heard of that before.

In the same vein of “not-too-technical” long one-day races:
MB Race (if you do 70km or more)
Eiger Bike
Grand Raid Cristalp
(or Transvesubienne but that looks proper hard)

For multiple days there are things like the
Transmaurienne
Lozerienne VTT
(or Ironbike but that looks proper mental)

When I was looking at new bikes last year (up to £2k not £3k) they were almost all sold with fairly ordinary wheelsets.

I was really interested in something with an intentionally tubeless-ready rim profile (Stans/WTB/Pacenti/Roval and so on) rather than full UST.

In the end I ended up with a lower-end Crave, and fortunately the stock wheels were easy-ish to convert with Gorilla tape. But when (if) I’ve destroyed them I’ll be looking at one of the tubeless-ready rims for a bit more confidence!

Titus Rockstar from on-one? (Only S and M left, but I think they take cyclescheme vouchers)

BMC Fourstroke FS02? (Only the front end is carbon, but Evans have some reduced)

Don’t think either have proper tubeless wheelsets, but there aren’t many bikes that do from stock (maybe Cannondales)

You will have several near misses with trees when small rattling noises make you wonder if the clutch is actually on.

Regional tourist office page : http://www.savoie-mont-blanc.com/offre/fiche/14-traversee-des-bauges/333157 some of the others one the same site seem to go through Lescheraines too

Organised rides : http://www.vetete.com/
GPS traces : http://www.utagawavtt.com/ or http://www.singletrack.fr/sentiers/massif,Bauges,1.html
Some stuff in the Bauges and Chartreuse : http://montagnechambery.free.fr/vtt/

That Ripley looks fantastic.

Probably this, just for the party

(and for scaled, I prefer this Muppet-remake of an LCD Soundsystem song.:
)

Since posting yesterday and mentioning that I’m not sure about the silver levers & reservoir covers on the brakes I’ve now decided that I DO like them – a bit of silver on the bars balances the silver/grey of the fork stantions, front mech cage, chain and cassette.

That’s all.

Oh and the first three of John Buchan’s stories featuring Richard Hannay are there; The Thirty-nine Steps, Greenmantle and Mr Standfast (the other two aren’t yet out of copyright)

This : http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first and best of his Mars adventures.

Actually Gutenberg has got all his Tarzan books too.

Edit – have a look here to fill up on classics too http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Harvard_Classics_%28Bookshelf%29

Machiavelli, Dante, Homer and more

Those are the FFC “Pays de Sommières” trails I think.
I don’t think I’ve followed any, but I’ve ridden in the same area – the area between Sommiéres and Nimes in the Vaunage, and there are some very active clubs in Calvisson and Caveirac. Mostly XC stuff with a mix of fireroads (easy to find) and a LOT of natural singletrack (sometimes not easy to find).

The waymarked FFC trails are on this site as GPS traces: http://www.tracegps.com/fr/auteur/50279-1/liste.htm#

There is also the “Pays de Lunel” area just to the south : http://www.ot-paysdelunel.fr/Respirer/L-Espace-VTT-FFC

One of the best things I’ve done this year was the Offroad race in the Vaunage: http://www.offroad-bike.fr/les-balcons-de-la-vaunage/parcours.php

To the west there’s supposed to be good fun in the Beaulieu quarries and around. A bit further there are really good trails around St Croix and Pic St Loup, but nothing marked.

All of that is pretty XC – if you’re looking for more enduro-ish stuff then I’m straying from my area of experience, but I think the Gardiole on the other side of Montpellier should sort you out (Strava is good for showing where the specials go down)

You can also get an idea of where’s good to go from the GPS sites like http://www.utagawavtt.com/ or http://la-trace.com/itineraires/liste/vtt/ but watch out for following traces from “Randos” these are organised rides that sometimes cross private property that’s only open for the event.

Here’s a vid from a rando that started in Sommiéres – skip to about 1m30 to see typical fireroad (and singletrack)

Actually here’s one from the Offroad event too

If I cover up the saddle with my thumb I really like that..

Had a week in St Claude (a town that seems to be larger vertically than horizontally, and specialises in Pipes and Diamonds). Really nice campsite with access to the big municipal pool, lots of nice roads and trails (some very steep, others across plateaux) and not too busy.

However, we were very lucky with the weather. It’s verdant enough to make me think that loads of sunshine may not be the norm.

Edit: Oh, and it’s quite different to around Annecy, which is more alpine and more crowded.

Black/white frame
All pretty much stock except for (black) ESI grips, (white) SPD pedals, (black&white) bottle cage and (black&silver) Deore brakes – shame about the silver.

White stickers removed from the stock wheels for more blackness.

The white paint on the frame appears to actually be tippex, so I expect it to be all removed after 2 or 3 more crashes.

“All over the world” is a bit of an overstatement for loads from the UK, 3 from Australia and one guy from France.

That last one’s me, because you deserve it!

Unfortunately the reality gap between lines on IGN maps and what really is there is quite huge

Where in France have you found this to be the case?[/quote]

Rural Languedoc – the fireroads are generally there (if not blocked with signs like “Danger Taureaux” or “Propriete Privée”), but the smaller more fun trails can often be non-existant or hard to find.

I guess things would be better defined in more open areas, but I get the impression that the landscape that the T-P takes is similar: densely wooded valleys and hills with not many people and extremely thick vegetation.

It’s France – almost all land is private.

However, almost all trails are OK to ride (unless the landowner or commune have explicitly forbidden VTTs or anyone at all – basically if there’s a fence or gate and a sign then turn around).

Unfortunately the reality gap between lines on IGN maps and what really is there is quite huge. There are three ways round this:
Spend a lot of time getting lost & confused
Go out with a local or guide
Do an organised event – race or rando. These will be waymarked and usually showcase the best trails in an area. The only downside is that they sometimes cross private land with the landowners permission, so you can’t go that way again (or follow a GPS trace later).

There’s a huge amount of work involved in putting on a race or rando – the route planners have to get agreement from all landowners (if they can find them), communes and local authorities (including rescue services and police).

In my opinion, if you just want to ride in the area then go for option 1 or 2 above, if you really want to do the T-P trails then sign up with them.

I prefer option 1, and am heading out for some more in a bit :lol:

Can’t see much changing position wise over the next couple of mountain stages, only the gaps getting bigger

Given that no-one really expected Van Garderen and Bardet to blow up today (and Pinot to drop Mr Nibbles on a descent, wtf??), pretty much anything could happen in the next two days!

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Péraud go out the back. He hasn’t put a foot wrong yet, but he’s looked in so much pain every time he’s covered a Nibali attack. Hope not though.

Strava, occasional races and a mental list of “local climbs that I’ve never done in a one-er”

I’m too fragile for facebook, and although BC and XCracer are good for domestic news (as is velovert for domestic French stuff) I was really looking for something a bit more international and all in one place, without having to try searching the web in a variety of languges!

Google maps directions seem to be being extra wilful at the moment – I can’t drag routes around to plan bike rides so easily as the underlying system is utterly determined to put me onto the massive cyle-unfriendly bypass. (edit : ahhh – clicking on the icon for bikes instead of cars seems to work a lot better now)

Anyway, as Nick suggested i’ve clicked on the “suggest an edit” link and checked the “marker in wrong location” box, with a note giving incorrect and correct street names. Hope that helps.

Ooo, carbon Spearfish coming soon as well…

Could be different position too – I’m a lot more upright on the MTB compared to road bike.

Not sure I really love these, but i quite like them. I honestly don’t remember how I ended up here (probably just looking at the suggested links to the right of Youtube vids, starting from Alestorm):
Konstruct – Austrian Crossover band (like a mixture of Ledehosen, Heidi and light metal)

Russkaja – “Russian turbo polka” apparently

Oh and much more mainstream – I really do like this stuff
Dropkick Murphys : Celtic Punk band from Boston (as best as I can describe, “Celtic Punk” seems to mean “like the Pogues but a bit more fighty”)

Compared to last year, Nibali hasn’t won as much so far. But he has been concentrating on the tour and went off for big blocks of altitude training on Tenerife. It’s the same kind of approach as Wiggins in 2012 – live like a monk and be 100% focussed on one objective. He’s got that same kind of imperious calmness on the road as Wiggins showed then (and in the ATOC this year). Sounds like he’s like that behind the scenes as well though (unlike Wiggins…)

Earlier in the year there was a report that he had recieved a letter from Astana management (Vino) basically bollocking him for not winning races.

This was later re-reported as an e-mail from Vino to the whole team reminding them that their position in the team rankings wasn’t very good and that they should try harder!

Nibali has been putting everything on this one race for a long time, probably since the day after the Giro finished last year. It’s a risky strategy, as one crash can leave a contender with nothing to show for the season, but it’s paying off for him so far. No-one seems to be within reach of him, and its hard to see him not becoming the sixth cyclist to win all three Grand Tours. (unless he cracks today, obviously)