As a half way house, you can send money through PayPal without creating an account using a card.

Thanks Paul, how that work then, I've only paid for ebay stuff by following the PP card option, no clue how to pay to an email address.

It looks like you might need him to send you an invoice which puts you back to square one unfortunately

jameso wrote:

motty wrote:Looking forward to my first Torino - Nice Rally!

I was thinking of arriving (very) early and doing a loop taking in the gravel roads around Thuile/Mont Cenis and doing colle sommelier and Monte Jafferau before getting the train back from bardonnecchia. I was wondering if anyone knows how easy it is to get over from colle nivolet to valsavaranche (internet research suggests about 2km downhill hiking but doable) and also if anyone has done any off road climbs around thuile/mont cenis/bardonnecchia and if they have any tips for the area.

Oh yes, and anyone is welcome to join me friend who I was going with has already bailed on me!

This sounds like a winner of a plan. I've been looking up a few links in that area, Sommeiler towards Mont Cenis mainly. Hiking trails there are unlikely to be gravel bike friendly but it'll be a nice enough walk. Interested to hear how you get on and happy to compare notes or share some links I have, just short GPS files that look realistic (but will include hike a bike).

I looked at this whole area in detail for the ride that became the rally route and there just isn't that continuity of road and 4x4 track, you'll be on some pretty wild MTB or hike a bike terrain in a fair few places so I stayed a bit further SE where there aren't as many barriers formed by the long chains of peaks.

Yeah there does seem to be a bit more unavoidable hike-a-bike required to avoid the valley roads. I've found http://www.cycling-challenge.com/ really useful as well as vttrack website. I've pretty much finished the route now but still undecided on which way to take from mont cenis to sommelier. Currently looking at going from Le Planay to col d'etache and then down to rifugio scarfiotti.

Anyone bothering to take any sort of lock to this... and if so, what?

I was considering a litelock or an ottolock but they don't seem much better than the crappy pram lock I usually carry on longer events (and bloody expensive to boot).

Yes - I carry a lock. Nothing amazing, but hopefully beyond the range of a domestic set of wire cutters.

Greetz

S.

Can't remember needing one last time I did it.

A cafe lock for supermarket trips is surely a must

Just a quick check for BB crew, is there anyone on here wanting to ride who signed up but hasn't yet filled out the entry form online (it's gone, entry closed when it went over a set limit) and actually entered? I'm tidying up the entry list now and will get a confirmation mail out over the weekend. We're at max numbers already but now's the time to say if you want sqeezing in. No promises as I want to be fair to all, it's a juggling act at the mo, but there's a reserve list and +/- 5 riders won't kill the Alps.

JustinF wrote:A cafe lock for supermarket trips is surely a must

Can't remember any of those either ;-)

I didn't tae a lock and the only time it crossed my mind was on the final day outside a supermarket in Nice. If you are lucky enough to find a cafe serving food at a time when people like to eat, it'll either be somewhere very quiet, you'll be sat outside ... or simply too stunned to oder owt

If the photos are anything to go by, by the time you got to Nice it looked as though anyone coming within 50m of you or the bike would have been treated to a medley of Communards hits and then murdered with an axe so I think a lock would have been superfluous.

If the photos are anything to go by, by the time you got to Nice it looked as though anyone coming within 50m of you or the bike would have been treated to a medley of Communards hits and then murdered with an axe so I think a lock would have been superfluous.

motty wrote:Looking forward to my first Torino - Nice Rally!

I was thinking of arriving (very) early and doing a loop taking in the gravel roads around Thuile/Mont Cenis and doing colle sommelier and Monte Jafferau before getting the train back from bardonnecchia. I was wondering if anyone knows how easy it is to get over from colle nivolet to valsavaranche (internet research suggests about 2km downhill hiking but doable) and also if anyone has done any off road climbs around thuile/mont cenis/bardonnecchia and if they have any tips for the area.

Oh yes, and anyone is welcome to join me friend who I was going with has already bailed on me!

Hello, sorry if I see your message just now.

From Nivolet to Pont Valsavarenche, it's more 7 km than 2, but it's not difficult anyway. It took me two hours from the pass to the asphalted road again. The first part is rather flat, rideable from time to time. At a point it goes decisively down, and you'll have to walk with the bike (unless you're a DH champ ). To me a much better option than 150 km on the valley roads.

that James can find me a space after my monumental registration cock up...

Cock up, as in not actually signing up to start with? sorry... but I will look at how many reserves and whats fairest asap.

Got my email. Just reading about the places for food / route info etc and getting legit excited.

Got my email today as well. Good job as I've booked and paid for a week's camping in Villenueve Loubet for MrsPB, train ticket from Nice to Turin on the Sunday and a room in the Tomato hostal for the night before. It seems well over subscribed, what is the cut off number btw? Any other Boners doing it apart from the ones that have declared recently?
Ps my offer to store bike boxes for those flying to and from Nice still stands, numbers are limited to how many will fit under our camper van so about 6 unless they can be nested.

Received email here as well. Room at Tomato hostel was already booked. Flight to Turin booked, just need to decide how long I think the ride is going to take me and then book flight back from Nice.

BigRingGrinder wrote:Received email here as well. Room at Tomato hostel was already booked. Flight to Turin booked, just need to decide how long I think the ride is going to take me and then book flight back from Nice.

pistonbroke wrote:Got my email today as well. Good job as I've booked and paid for a week's camping in Villenueve Loubet for MrsPB, train ticket from Nice to Turin on the Sunday and a room in the Tomato hostal for the night before. It seems well over subscribed, what is the cut off number btw? Any other Boners doing it apart from the ones that have declared recently?
Ps my offer to store bike boxes for those flying to and from Nice still stands, numbers are limited to how many will fit under our camper van so about 6 unless they can be nested.

if you'd got the entry form in on the site recently and saw the confimation message pop up then that was it, you were in just took me a week or so of figuring out the duplicates and the queries to get a reliable mail list to confirm. Cut off number was/is 200 - 60-65 more than last year. 50 more than next year probably too and only that high as it has got to the point where interest is past what the event should probably accept each year but it wouldn't have been fair to limit it to only that first round of entries to keep it uder 160 or so. A few will drop out before Sept though. The total 'sign-up for info' mail list was ~800.

I think a few tweaks to routing over the first 2 days will cope with it w/o issues anyway, riders always disperse fast so my only real concern is daft or too-obvious bivi clusters in the valley after the Colombardo on the first night. Might be worth noting the picnic spots on the lower slopes of the Finestre - bins, BBQ brickwork, benches and a water station not far away - about here from memory
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Str ... d7.0631598
see you there perhaps..

I heard the Tuscany Trail had 700+ this year but this is a bit different. Though aside from being non-profit so having no need to get too big I can't put my finger on exactly why it's different. Just feels like the right thing to try to keep it relatively small.

Thanks for the bike boxes offer PB. Logistics help like that between riders is always appreciated.

I've just bought a slightly smaller crankset (just two teeth) to hopefully give me a little less pain up some of the hills.

If I can't get up them with 18.7 gear inches then I'll just have to walk and enjoy the view.

Richard G wrote:I've just bought a slightly smaller crankset (just two teeth) to hopefully give me a little less pain up some of the hills.

I didn't know they made chainrings so small!!!

I know the hills are tough but personally I think you may be guilty of having gone too far

lol

There's TLS and then there's taking your 30t ring and shearing off 28 of 'em to save weight

Greetz

S.

TNR specific cranks?