is that the end shot from 'Raiders of the lost Ark'???

is that the axe handle sticking out of his rucksack???

brilliant!

oh sure - but then again maybe a vague idea of what direction the rules might possibly take could affect the route decisions - no? personally, i plan on living at least another four years and something like this seems as good a use of my (limited) spare time as any - especially when it's likely to t...

just to clarify: i am genuinely suggesting that a route/event along the lines of an EDMBR could (should?) be organised and that i'd be interested in at least helping to make this happen should other people be up for it also. so..... 1. do we think that there'd be enough interest to warrant the time ...

Dyffers wrote:But by the current TD rules you couldn't go there. Sounds tougher than not going anywhere near your house!

Bugger!

based on a VERY rough calculation from the bottom of Spain to the eastern border of the Czech Republic (don't know why I stopped there) is about 3000 miles. but obviously it could be shortened/lengthened to as desired . for example from Spain up to Germany would be something more like 2000 miles. (...

take a look at this map:



that thick blue line is the Atlantic/Mediterranean watershed line!

how's about a 'European Divide Mountain Bike Race'.

anyone up for it....?

my old flat-mate (who just won the London and South East cyclocross title last season) rides a pretty much stock Jake and loves it! in other news: he's coming out this week for a visit and i've got the impossible job of trying to keep up with him while we're out riding (he's like some weird mutant s...

Last week I got an email form a guy in the south of the Ardeche who said that he’d been given my details by two people within an hour and so he thought he’d get in touch. Yann is a custom frame builder and avid bikepacker and so it seemed daft not to head down there, meet him and go for a ride. I co...

i'm going through some issues with one at the moment. it seems that whichever i ride (26er or 29er) i love the most! on the whole i think that the 29er smooths out the trails and climbs better but i can ignore the grin factor that accompanies the chuck-about-ability of my 26er. also, i think that a ...

if you don't mind me asking Ian how much did they set you back?

my Manitou 'Minute 29er' forks aren't quite cutting the mustard.

@Gairy- I know what you mean about confidence on the 29. Riding rigid over rough terrain can be iffy at times for me. I've been riding a SS CX bike for the last few years, so it shouldn't matter too much. I don't even have that excuse as my 29er has a whopping 80mm of travel on it's front-end! I to...

received!

cheers buddy.

that makes sense as I usually run my tyres on the firm side (being weighty) and so maybe i'll give 'em a whirl at a lower PSI.

Ian, that's interesting to hear.

The reason I've persevered with them is that they always get such good reviews.

I think I need to try some other rubber on there as it could be something other than the tyres that's making me feel less than confident whilst riding my 29er.

I've got Ardent front and rear on my 29er but I can't say that I've felt particularly inspired by them in anything other than dry hard-packed conditions (and even the cornering hasn't felt great). But.....they're just what happened to be on the bike when I got it and so I've got very little to compa...

Ok, so this is it, the final TransAlp post - thanks for staying with me. It's been a long trip-report and I think we'll all be happy to move on with our lives now that it's almost over! The final day was relatively short and tame (by comparison): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22241800/07/profile.jpg Mostl...

here's what John replied: The difference between the fabrics is that 1.1DWR and M90 are the most breathable. For humid/wet climates, they are the way to go to avoid condensation. M90 is much more durable than the 1.1DWR, so I usually recommend the M90 since its the best overall combination. M50 is t...

cool, looks like it might be perfect for me!

do you know what the differences (other than weight) are between the three standard bivi upper fabrics???

have emailed John and so we'll see what postage to France will be and then I think I'll be placing an order.

nice one Stuart - cheers.

those are two mighty fine looking new products.

i've already got a Tiger and am looking for a new bivi-bag - perfect!

So.....Stuart, if you could only have ONE bivi-bag (does that idea frighten you???) would you get this one....?

if not what would you get for around the £50 mark?

Bugger! Ok, here it is in full working order. Right, we're nearly finished..... Day 06! In a word 'LONG'. I began the day with a detour. There'd been snow overnight and the high mountain pass I'd intended to take looked a bit ominous and so I opted for a safer option. Below you can see the fresh sno...

how about now?

am about to go to bed and so i'll have to fix this in the morning.

many apologies!

nuts! those aren't working either??? ok, i'm on it..... it's weird as on the other computer (i'm now on the laptop but a few minutes ago i was on the mac) it worked when i wasn't logged in to my google account (as the images are stored on google's 'drive' thingy) and it worked - weird! any chance yo...

#Gairy to the forum# Can we see the pics? DOH! I've recently changed my image host and there are evidently still some teething problems :? ok, here we go again: Right, we're nearly finished..... Day 06! In a word 'LONG'. I began the day with a detour. There'd been snow overnight and the high mounta...

Right, we're nearly finished..... Day 06! In a word 'LONG'. I began the day with a detour. There'd been snow overnight and the high mountain pass I'd intended to take looked a bit ominous and so I opted for a safer option. Below you can see the fresh snow where I would have been heading: https://lh3...