Two idiots climb big thing for some stupid reason

:lol:

First they have to re-learn how to walk on flat ground.

Oh, and according to this page : http://escalade9.wifeo.com/par-nationalite.php

There are 272 climbers who have done 9a or harder (although they’ve chucked in split 8c+/9a routes and boulder link-ups like Pilgrimage)

Don’t forget Moon, Smith and Dunning (given that Ben’s idea of what’s 8c+ has so far resisted Ondra, Graham and McColl).

I don’t think we’re quite at the point where 9a just isn’t that hard any more, and 8c is not yet approaching a rest.

Climbingnarc has a live feed from some US TV station : http://climbingnarc.com/2015/01/watch-dawn-wall-finish-live/

Rather strangely it’s currently the pre-broadcast live feed of a bored reporter talking to the studio

Edit – ignore me, I’m a day behind…

St Baudille and St Guilhem:

(Although they’ve cut out the climbing!)

Right then <rolls up sleeves>

Sauve is actually really nicely placed for lots of good riding. Clockwise from the north :

The Cevennes – miles and miles of steep-sided valleys, forgotton trails and steep cols. Nothing marked up, but following a GPS trace would be a fabulous day out. Great place for road riding if you’re into that, from Sauve you can easily do some of the southern cols in a 2hr ride (Col du Lac, Col de l’Asclier, etc).

Sommieres/Vaunage – the hills just north of Calvisson and Caveirac, east of Nimes. At the risk of repeating myself : http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-ridden-near-sommieres-southern-france

North of Montpellier – The wooded hills just north of Clapiers have a good selection of singletrack, fireroads and Strava segments (like this one https://www.strava.com/segments/1600339 )

Pic St Loup – The big mountain between Montpellier and Sauve. If you only have the chance to do one ride in the area (and it’s not too hot) then the tour of the Pic is great. An example route is here : http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps.php?topo=7531 (But be a bit careful following GPS tracks from “Randos” as they are from organised events that sometimes cross private land that was open for the event only)

The Gardiole – hills north of Frontignan. Lots of trails and Strava segments (like this one https://www.strava.com/segments/5932296 ) Bigger version of the Bois de Clapiers, near the sea.

Pézénas/Salagou – You already found one of the maps for this area, there’s another for the trails further south on this page : http://www.vtt-salagou.com/decouvrir/circuits-et-plans/ Around Salagou is very popular, and around the lake itself there’s some unique red earth terrain. The basic tour of the lake is OK (not at all technical apart from some fun swoopy trails on the north side), but can be spiced up a lot by doing loops into the hills. There’s a big organised event that does this – you can add or drop loops as you go along. There are GPS files available on their page here http://www.salagoumania.fr/modules/Circuits_2014/content.php?topic=static&id=26&page=circuit-ultra-2014

I haven’t actually ridden the black loops near Lodeve, sorry.

St Guilhem and Mt St Baudille – St Guilhem is worth a touristy visit anyway, but there are some good rides around the back of the big cirque behind the village. There are a handful of marked routes : http://www.saintguilhem-valleeherault.fr/_objets/medias/autres/affiche-topo-vtt-espace-vallee-de-l-herault-69.pdf but some of the best riding goes up the back of the cirque. Next valley over has Mont St Baudille with some very spicy descents. Things like this or this:
http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps.php?topo=4693
http://www.utagawavtt.com/randonnee-vtt-gps.php?topo=2300

Mt Aigoual – The weather station/museum on the top is good, and there’s some good long forest loops around L’Esperou. A really good option if it’s seriously hot nearer the coast. Good road bike climbs up to the top.

So, I’d say that the FFC sites are OK (but not the best trails), Utagawavtt will give you a good idea of where to do longer rides (but watch out for private land) and Strava can show you the best little sections of trail.

That should get you going. Just don’t ask about the rock climbing or I’ll be here all day!

I’m down near Montpellier, and may be able to meet up if I’m around (but I’m very XC, so you’d have to wait for me after the descents). OCrider on here is down near the Gardiole and knows that whole side better than me, (although I haven’t seen him online for a while).
Edit: ooo he’s up there ^^^^

A google image search for “bank robbery cctv” shows a good selection of balaclavas, hoodies, motorcycle helmets and one bloke in a green trilby.

The ones in helmets are by far the most anonymous – there’s no hint of head size, shape or facial features at all.

I’m getting a bit jaded by the constant stream of information about this, but every so often I have to remind myself how utterly huge this route is.

It’s been Caldwell’s project for years and contains 6 pitches rated 5.14 (French grade 8c+ and above), and 9 pitches rated 5.13 (8a+ to 8b+). None of the other hard free routes on El Capitan have more than one or two 5.13 pitches, I think. It’s another world in terms of difficulty.

It’s not that long ago that climbing any single short 5.15/8c+ route at ground level would put someone amongst the best climbers in the world.

It’ll be quite a while before this gets repeated, and I strongly doubt that anyone is going to make significant improvements on the style of ascent for a long time. (Obviously some 13-year old girl will flash it in three days next year now I’ve said that)

I only know about this one: http://www.andaluciabikerace.com/

From Here

I think that this sign means “Drivers have the right to run over cyclists if another car is coming”

Sorry, bit blurry

You can still run standard tyres with tubes on those (same as the Shimano Tubeless-ready wheels), but they’ll be tighter.

I think they’re pretty much the same as these : http://road.cc/content/review/16222-dt-swiss-tricon-1450-wheelset

I guess you’ve already found these guys on youtube?

Just seen this: http://2014story.strava.com (although all of you who are finishing off tomorrow might want to hold off until then)

Well done! I gave up hope a couple of days before Christmas due to illness but stayed in the challenge anyway – if I do 13km tomorrow then it’ll have been a Festive50. Maybe I’ll try and add a 0 next year.

Boxing Day at Russan

Mine:

Year-to-Date
Distance 2,906.1 km
Time 165h 54m
Elev Gain 36,955 m
Rides 165

Was hoping to do the festive500 and get over 3000km for the year, but lingering chesty death-rattle cough might have put paid to that.

(via cyclocosm.com)

Trying to get into the Christmas mood

From http://djriko.com/mixmases.htm

It’s not cheaper – you have to pay a small charge for the tag, then the peage costs are the same.

But you can save a lot of time. The reserved lanes at the tolls are set up so that you don’t even stop, you can just roll through at 30 km/h.

I see them on the segment pages, between the elevation profile and the Leaderboards, for any segment that I’ve ridden (even once).

I don’t have a premium account

Thanks Alex, not just me that can see it then – looks like this:

All French card machines now accept UK and international cards (they used to only support the French B0′ cards but France has since moved to the EMV system used everywhere). So almost all Mastercard and Visa cards will be OK. Not every retailer takes Amex or Diners though.

It’s a bit messy having different sized icons.

Can you use an outline map of the British Isles with the relevant England/Scotland/Wales bits filled in? Might need colour to work well though.

Check inside the frame for bike thieves before you take it in and lock it up with your other bikes… oldest trick in the book…

Thanks all, I didn’t know about the lght release spd-sl pedals, but it looks like M520s and wr35 touring shoes are the right combination of looks and functionality!

The matrix … will … create a knowledge transfer environment

They are going to plug you all into machines and create a single neural network.

Have you got any “routine medical checkups” booked soon?

If it’s the stans kits then its outer dimensions : http://www.notubes.com/help/rimstripfinder.aspx

“measure from the outside of the rim to the outside”

Soooo, what ass-saver for a 29er HT? Original or Extended??

(I realise that the answer to this might be “Either, they both do ‘not much'”)

Edit : anyone tried the Wide ones?

I’m in. I think I can do it with 3 big rides and a few short ones…

Report it to Twitter:

https://support.twitter.com/forms/impersonation

Edit Too slow! But lol at “roll it tightly and grease it lightly”!!

$800 off Turner Czar frames if anyone feels like buying me a Christmas present?

I can only ever remember seeing one FS with skinwalls:

(OK they’re tubs, but still skinwall-ish)

alltricks.fr for 299€ ?? Not sure about postage.

It’s Steve Bancroft on Strapadictomy at Froggatt, one of the great routes from the 1970s gritstone renaissance

You can’t ignore the impact of man on the dark peak, large parts of most gritstone edges are quarried, old millstones are lying around all over the place and the moors themselves wouldn’t be the same without the management for grouse and sheep. So the one posted by AlexSimon above looks good to me (I had it as my desktop for a while too)

Although the title made me think of this

At least the shoes

Given that she’s 87 now I don’t think she’ll be making a Youtube comeback. Great bit of film, thanks!