^ Good stuff, we'll need a benchmark time for the 2nd run : )

It looks like Sept would suit more riders. If it was early Sept I could ride to Turin from Eurobike before getting bogged down with that period of work. Early autumn in that area should be lovely. 6th September then. Will pop a date on the site so it's done. A date-fixed copy of the poster by return...

It was pretty hot in the far eastern area droppoing down to near Dronero and as we got close to the south coast in mid-late July last year, not unbearable but maybe 35 or so.

Good point. Early July or early Sept in that case.

Before I fix a date on the site, the other option would be the full moon of mid Sept, start date 14th. Less daylight and cooler, a nice time in the Alps usually. Any preferences for that as a sort of season-ender?

FLV, good stuff. The site has the basics, it's a pretty simple site but covers most apart from the date and the route (ha..) the date is 17th June, the route is getting a few tweaks and will be sent out later. Any q's let me know. There's a 'Contact' page on the site that I'll use to collect emails ...

Going for a start date of Friday June 17th. That gives us benefit of a full moon over the weekend, cheaper mid-week flights and just one weekend away. Avoids finishing in Nice on a weekend, for all but the fastest.

Like the look of that, a lot. 700km in 5 days if you're quick. Really? That would imply it's quite tough going then... Averagely quick and enjoying French/Italian lunches or social bivies, rather than 'proper quick' : ) The climbing per 24hr period would make it hard if you aimed for ~2.5 days and ...

Got the event poster finished. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/747/22854723817_ba33759248.jpg (edit - basic site now up, http://torino-nice.weebly.com/ ) For anyone interested in mixed terrain routes, the plan is to run a version of our Turin-Nice last summer as a rally ride / checkpoint-free Randone...

Think you're right Stu, most quilts seem more wrap-round than I expected, I had more of a wrapped foot and blanket top idea in mind. That was what I sent to phd when the mail about ideas went out not long ago. I think it looked like any other quilt when sketched out tho.. Idea being that if it's col...

^ image not displaying here? Klymit I'm not sure about for the 50-60g saving, would go for CCF to minimise weight and stop time if I was that keen I think. Useful to see a 200g quilt may work, - do you take custom orders?! Trouble with something like this is justifying it based on use level. Need to...

Not a great pic but these are 46cm woodchippers with an 8l bag, there's room there
IMAG3255 by james*o, on Flickr

I have some useful contacts in Taiwan via work so I got a set made to my spec to try out. 47cm c-c width, loads of space for a full 8l stuffsack or enough for a rolled-down 13l. If the Cowchipper comes in 46cm they'd be worth a look if the Woodchippers aren't the right shape.

the merge function on the options pop up window

... see, I've just not really looked around that site enough have I : )

I tried the woodchippers, found the angle of the whole hood/hook area meant that you had a very wide drops section compared to the levers area, ie the levers were angled inwards a fair bit and that has pros and cons, one con was less bag space than expected. I have other bars now that give more leve...

Alpinum, useful info, thanks. So if your still thinking something super light, 500 - 550 g seems realistic imo. - seems like I'd not really get any lighter than my curent 560g set up but still of interest for less faff generally. <450g would get my interest, for ~100g less on the bars. There goes an...

^ clever thinking Ian. I'm not sure it'd allow me to correct or improve longer routes but as a method of rough-to-final drafting that's great.

^ That's unfortunate, doesn't seem like they do a great job of it to start with. Garmin Connect is a waste of time for me, I just use my 800 as a sim card reader.

Cheeky Monkey, thanks, useful info, had forgot about the closed foot section design. I use a bit of foam to cover the foot area and sit on etc so could carry on doing that. 4) is interesting, think I'd need to try one to see how it works for me. Stuart, will have a look at that. I guess the re-sale ...

OK I'm no techie but fwiw .. Bikehike is really useful ime, I like it and find it very easy to use, have created a number of long routes in Europe using that. The switch between satellite and OS view is good, an overlay would be even better. The 2-screen view bikehike has works ok, not perfect but c...

Slight deviation, a q for those with quilt experience - if I find a PHD Minim Ultra good for most of my bivies, I don't use the hood a lot and if needed I can add range to it with a down gillet inside or over the top/hood area, what quilt should I look at to save weight / pack size? The M.U. is ~350...

Not the prettiest bikes but far from the worst. tbh I like a bike that looks like someone specced it up to put bars etc where they needed them rather than slamming the stem for fashion and looks then never using the drops - less ugly, but more stupid : ) edit, OK, 'not the worst' rather than 'far fr...

hummerlicious, another option used by a number of racers is Lloyd and Roger Payne, 2 great guys that can arrange a pick-up run to/from Lordsburg or other places, they know the drill. I have an email for them but it's a couple of years old, google will find them if the mail doesn't work. PM me if you...

… you hear some of the veterans talking hokey-like about ‘transcendence’ and all the philosophical mumbo jumbo. The suffering can put you on the roller coaster real quick-like. Perspective, emotional equanimity, rational, sensible thinking are key to not letting the roller coaster sap your mojo. Da...

^ Great pics. Anyone who says the route is dull or boring as 'it's all fire roads' hasn't been there. As Matt Lee said, "Mom nature puts on quite the show for those watching."