They have been talking about Wiggo all afternoon on the italian coverage (Rai 2)

Hold-up…jens voigt face plant owwwwww!

wide, I have both road and MTB versions as they fit my fat feet

….and go to the beach if you are there for 6 days

Don't eat in restaurants with photos on the menu

Roasting over here in Italy ;0)

chakaping – yep, Pila has been better but from what I hear its not nearly as bad a PdS, they just had a load of rain so it should be better now.

Sauze d'Oulx seconded, more flowey than the downhill stuff at Pila although IMO the resort is a bit small for a whole week for your family.

Lake Garda, you could scare yourself on the 601 trail while your wife and baby lie on the beach….

Pila (Aosta) in Italy would work well in this respect, and you would be welcome with the baby wherever you go as it is Italy (Restaurants etc.)

The bubble lift goes from the centre of town, takes 15 mins and gives you a 1 hour descent, so only 2 hours away from the family and you would have a top ride. Nice up there for a stroll with the family too, and good food/views

Pila is a bit dry, dusty and hammered this year but it still kicks ar*e…

On the way to Pila right now (camping-site in france tonight), sauze d'oulx also on our list, actually those two are the list…

My 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee will take 3x 5″ full sussers in the back with the wheels on (Back seats fold down completely flat). I believe it has a wider entrance at the back than other 4x4s. 2.7 CRD is reasonably efficient too if you drive smoothly, very comfy too.

With the back seats up I can get the wife, 2 kids, one dog, luggage for all of us, two full sussers and a trailer bike, all inside.

no worries, the Gurten looks good for a ride thursday evening – do I just rock up to a car park and explore?

Just wanted a recommendation of somehwere on the way Bern – Lausanne that I can stop of at with an uplift and get in a couple of hours of decent singletrack before driving over to Pila in the evening

Cheers

RHS – friday afternoon / evening?

will do

cool – might check that out – cheers

website: http://www.maxiavalanche.it/ seems to be down.

Would also be interested in this as I am in Pila from a couple of weeks time…

nice – seconded the white forks

BBQ after 10pm on a school night…rock and roll 😀

08 5.5.2. here, most fun bike I’ve ever had, needs a reasonable amount of TLC though.
I find it climbs ok for a downhill orientated bike, but I’m 14 stone so the weight penalty is less obvious!
Taking it to Pila in Italy in two weeks…

The Brigon MTB ride is indeed v.good and a pretty relaxed pace, have joined the a few times myself
I wouldn’t worry about me pulling your legs off 😉

I had no idea it was that bad!!
Just goes to show that it certainly makes sense to consult the STW massive.
Decision made – no way
Cheers
Woodey

Depends which campus you are at, if you are out at Falmer you’ve had a bit of luck as Stamner Park has some nice singletrack.

Anway, the answer is yes, decent riding here and easy to get out onto the downs from anywhere realy.
Can meet up for a ride if you want (not friday), home office so no problem with weekdays 😀

“I’ve two little ones, & no amount of cash, trimmings, career progression or lifestyle aspirations would get me to put them at risk.”

Me neither mate, thats why I am trying to understand if the risks are realy that bad or just being whipped up by the media.

The UK is hardly the perfect coutry either eh?

yep, one minute at full bore, one minute spinning – repeat 2/3 times in your first session, then build up to 7/8 repetitions over time. You can also try 2 minute full bore, one min spinning etc.

Find a small hill / use a turbo trainer.

Interval training realy helps with this, gives you more short burst power for those tricky bits (and to recover and keep climbing afterwards)

M, fair point – pretty stable, its for the West African Cable System (New fibre optic sea cable between UK and SA currently under construction) – I would be working for the consortiun (SA Gov, Cable and Wireless and various major African telcos), negotiating contracts with major telcos across europe for them – hence the job would move back to europe after 2 years

Thanks M

It would be a new job, working indirectly for the SA government and after 2 years we would definately return. Trying to decide whether to go to an interview at the moment.

The posts bear our own feeling, the heart says yes but the head no….

cool – are your photos from that area?

alpine girl – Northern italy – Lake Como / Maggiore area, north of Milan

I am no fan of cities so would work from home / travel a least a couple of days a week, just wondering if living a decent distance from the city would be safer / more acceptable for the family?

cheers guys, the job is based in Joburg (haven’t interviewed yet but 99% sure if I did I would get the job), so I guess I would need to be in the city at least 2-3 days a week although my work includes a lot of international travel.

We would need to live within commuting distance of the city and I was wondering if there were any mountains in this area, I know there are some great mountains but don’t know if they are in the Joburg region?

Flatboy – do you remember how close to Joburg you were?

I believe http://www.canyon.de deliver to Austria too, v.good bikes

Great front row forward, crap at riding up hills…..

nice – not lime green is it?

aha, Saltdean here

mmmmmmm 601:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ICdCBXsAug&feature=related&pos=7>

“Ever since the utilities got privatised, our infrastructure has been left behind compared to similar European economies. “

Sorry mate, but that is so wrong….

This is about addressing what is called the “Digital Divide”, all major developed coutries are doing the same things. The main reasons are:

1) Key research bodies (eg. OECD) have clearly showed the correlation between the economic success of areas and the access of businesses and citizens to broadband. Many businesses in our rural areas may start losing out to competitors abroad if we fall behind. It is also important in attracting inward investment (ie. jobs) to poorer areas.

2) Education: Access to broadband is increasingly important for children (not just at school, also for homework). If a kid in london has access to broadband at a decent speed and his counterpart in a rural area only has access to dial-up (always sh*t performance) the rural kid will be increasingly disadvanted in the coming years.

3) Goverment services: More and more of these will become exclusively online, many will be time sensitive and dial-up is NOT sufficient.

And on another note we have across England, in general, the fastest broadband speeds in Europe: FACT

I am driving down to italy (Pila etc) first week of July with room. Could meet them in Aosta valley (I am based in Brighton)

in a word, crashes

“because in their infinite wisdom the government installed a twisted pair infrastructure, most of mainland europe uses a coax system to a certain extent (it think)”

Nope, copper all over europe

£15 at my LBS (Baker street Bikes Brighton)

eat ’em of course 🙄