http://www.trailertek.com/acatalog/Number_Plates.html

Do a search for climbing/mountaineering huts that allow guests. Sure to be something up there. Provided it is not easter week you might find one with space.

I quite like the climb there. It breaks down nicely into 4 or 5 sections so makes it less onerous. It is always worth carrying a pile of pound coins though as you can often grab an uplift (£4) if there happens to be space when you pass.

Also rode it today. I agree the gates seem a major feature and really detract from what could be some corking descents. As it is nothing flows as you have to stop every couple of minutes to lift you bike through. I hope it will dry out in the summer as it has the potential to be a good loop. I think I must have fallen off no less than 3 or 4 times negotiating the sharp corners on the climbs. One of the disadvantages of clips on mud I guess. The ones on the descents were sharp but could be ridden OK.

0.2 download & 0.2 upload. And yes, it is very poor service that we have to pay the same price as everyone else. If we even had a mobile signal it might help but have to go 6 miles to get even 2G

Yep. All my chainrings are marked as 9/10 speed

It is impossible to say on Snowdon anything other than a few days in advance. At this time of year though you HAVE to plan for the worst. There is a very high chance it will have snow lying at the top and unless weather is settled then the risk of snow-rain-hail-hurricane winds-plagues of locusts etc is ever present in Winter. Unless your mates are experienced winter mountaineers then I would suggest they seriously consider giving it a miss until later in the year. There are plenty of lower level rides in the area which will be adventurous enough and are likely to be rideable in any weather. On the other hand it could just as likely be a calm sunny beautiful day with no snow and would be fine. But you cannot plan for that.

Having a go “because we drove all that way to do Snowdon, so we might as well risk it and see how it plans out” is generally a bad idea. Remember only a fool learns from his own mistakes…..

I bet he is now KOM as well :-)

Grab yourself a heart rate monitor if you don’t have one yet. They really help focus the training. I got one from Lidls for about £12. There are a couple of apps out there which are OK to get you started and stem the boredom. I use one called Turbo Tour. Very simple but does the job for a few times till you want to try something else. There is also a neat little app called Impetus which allows you to create your own custom intervals. It is basically a glorified stop watch. Since I got my Turbo early in Jan I have been on it most days and I think it really helps with my base line fitness.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry, that is rubbish. All modern smart phones have a GPS chip in them, exactly the same as a Garmin, and in some cases far better. The GPS funstion will work anywhere in the world where there is a view of the sky (or not once they have a fix).

Toughened Smartphone, decent navigation app (I use AlpineQuest), all the maps/satellite images you need on an SD card, take along a usb power pac /solar charger… why would you need a GPS as well? I am guessing you will have a mobile phone anyway?

The streams there are very rapid going up and just as quick going down. If it has not rained heavy for 24 hours or more there is a good chance they will be fine. Otherwise a risk. Worst case is that the pipes are blocked with debris so even after the rain stops they are still fords until someone digs them out.

Mine, taken back when the weather was playing ball. She has changed a bit since then but no more recent pics unfortunately

PS, despite all the rain there wasn’t single puddle on the track last weekend

This is Blaen Garw in a nutshell…

http://app.strava.com/activities/112219788

Lower loop is the blue (very nicely made with fast surface and big berms) while the upper loop is the black (quite a tough climb and some fairly rocky sections in the middle on the way back down). There looked to have been a new black run in the making adding a more direct descent from the top of the black to the blue ascent track but we didn’t try that. Top is very exposed so not the place to be in bad weather

After a few trips skating around on the mountain I have stuck the High Roller on the back and a triple compound Muddy Mary on the front. It is fantastic in the wet/muddy natural stuff but hard going on roads/gravel/trail centres.

We tried out Blaen Garw on the weekend. Nice trails but not enough there to keep you busy for more than a couple of hours. Be great for a summer evening if you were in the area but probably not worth a special trip. Did W2 the other day, all good despite weather. The new drop back to Glencorreg is great and very fast. Not tried the new routes at Cwmcarn yet but will be straight down there when they are open.

Have been caught out with the auto brake assist on my BMW several times now. Cracking on through the lanes and meet a tourist coming the other way in the middle of the road looking at the view. Hit the brakes to scrub some speed to pass safely and the next thing you know the car is stopped on the spot with your eyeballs on the windscreen. I have to learn to get on the brakes more slowly!

I found the routes at AS to be tougher in the grades than at BPWs. I had a major flat at the top on the last run and choose to walk down the far right Black. I can never see a time I would be able to ride that!!!!!! I rode everything else there though, albeit without skill or much confidence at times lol. I would say AS is much less forgiving and harder on the bikes. But there are also less trees to hit!

Negatory

Don’t know how good your German is (google translate will help). There are 4 tours here and if you can follow the links you can download gpx files for them to use on your Garmin or phone….

The ride along the ledge on Tour 4 looks wild :-)

http://www.mountainbike-magazin.de/touren/touren-der-mountainbike-redaktion/spanien/mountainbiken-im-val-d-aran-in-den-pyrenaeen-infos-tourentipps-gps-daten.669214.2.htm

There were some nice routes in a German mag I read last month. Most of it looked pretty straightforward. There are a number of companies out there specialising on uplift assisted riding. Google is your friend

Just love the Vercors. Will be following with interest. I once broke down at the top of the hill before Grenoble coming out of the Vercors and managed to freewheel my car about 15 miles down into the outskirts of town before calling a tow-truck :-)

I have the same issue with my Elite trainer. Wonder if there is any internal adjustment that could be done to make it tougher? Or fit new chain ring?

Can I put in a vote for the Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2. Had mine now for a couple of months. Basically a Galaxy S2 under the rugged case. Waterproof to 1 metre for 30 minutes (I use it in the bath and it gets a wash at the same time). Can be dropped on Concrete from 6 metres (not tried it yet but have dropped it a few times). Has good GPS on it with A-GPS and Glonass. Good HD video. Only thing I feel lets it down is the 5MP camera which has not impressed me yet. The 5MP on my old HTC was far better. I bought it for around £200 notes sim free. I think Vodafone do them on business contract but at mega bucks. Plenty of (attempted) destruction tests on Google.

My Blackspire chain rings are all stamped 9/10 speed