Guest Omega Man Posted April 19, 2012 Posted April 19, 2012 (edited) You guys are seroiusly temtping me to bust out the "emergencies only" credit card Do IT! Buy the ticket now. And then you'll have the whole of May, June and July to save the 8k or so that you need for the rest. Besides. If you spend a little less on the Night fighters in Lagos you'll have the money in no time at all. Edited April 19, 2012 by Omega Man
Peach. Posted April 19, 2012 Posted April 19, 2012 You guys are seroiusly temtping me to bust out the "emergencies only" credit card I wonder if my wife will let me spend the remainder of our wedding budget on this
patches Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 Do IT! Buy the ticket now. And then you'll have the whole of May, June and July to save the 8k or so that you need for the rest. Besides. If you spend a little less on the Night fighters in Lagos you'll have the money in no time at all. Night fighters.... bwahahaha, I haven't heard anyone call them that in a while. Maybe the danger of the night fighers is the reason I'm only spending 1 night in Lagos, haha! I wonder if my wife will let me spend the remainder of our wedding budget on this Well... being "wedding money" you do realize that if you spend it you will be paying it off in someway or another for the rest of your life
Guest Omega Man Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) Well... being "wedding money" you do realize that if you spend it you will be paying it off in someway or another for the rest of your life This is a tough one. And while it's worth pretty much any abuse to go spending wedding money would be a bridge too far. On the other hand when the divorce eventually happens your free time and holiday money would immediately multiply so... Edited April 20, 2012 by Omega Man
DaveMD Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 Sweeeet. What airline are you going on? What king of bike do you have? Full on DH or AM? Flying Emaritz. riding scott gamble DH.
Guest Omega Man Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) Flying Emaritz. riding scott gamble DH.Sweet. they have 30kg checked luggage and 7kg carry on. and you can carry your lid in your hand. Some advice from experience. Don't bother with a bespoke bike box. they are very heavy. This is my packing strategy. Bike packed in a cardboard bike box. I've got a shop that does it for R100 and they do a much better job than i ever could. That should be abt 20kg. then pack as much clothing and kit in the box as you can to take it up to 29kg. For your carry on make sure you have at least 1 kit, riding shoes kneepads and whatever else you ride in. Just in case your bike doesn't arrive and you rent for a day or 2. (Happened to me last year) Remember to pack any tools necessary to reassemble your rig. Plus of course your helmet/handbag in your hand. Take your peak off. There's apparently a free restaurant if your stoppover is longer than 4 hours in Dubai. Which is nice. The only shitty thing about Emirates is that the Dubai - Geneva flight lands at 2pm so no riding on day 1. But you get to build your bikes at a leisurely pace and sleep so you can smash it first thing in the morning. Edited April 20, 2012 by Omega Man
Guest Omega Man Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 (edited) The nice man from the Post Office just dropped off my shiny new Hope V2's bought specially for France. Edited April 20, 2012 by Omega Man
patches Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 ..and so it begins! Peach and I bought our tickets to Geneva last night Got them for a bargain too! Just under 6k on Emirates
Guest Omega Man Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Jees that's cheap. Nice one. We're gonna have to create a thread called France 2012. My Visa appointment is this morning. That's gonna be fun. Right so now for the bad news boys. Your bodies and bikes are gonna get hammered. No place i've ever been shows up a shonky bike like Morzine. So some tips. * Make sure both rotors are 203's. The tracks are steep. but more importantly they are long. very long.* Get your fork serviced and make sure your bike is in tip top condition. Bike spares are expensive and labour is beyond ridiculous.* ODI Rogues. I'm not 100% sold on this one but my mate reckons these are the grips to have. they are fatter than normal grips but soft. So you won't get MDH but the trade off is armpump which was not a problem for me last year. Get them now if that's what you gonna do. Which brings me to my next tip.* Don't experiment with equipment. Have a setup that you are 100% familiar with.* Take lots and lots of anti inflamatories.* Make sure you have a VERY good travel insurance policy. Most normal ones don't cover "extreme sports". Flight centre have a good one that covers all leisure activities. To give you an idea. The rescue chopper costs 20000 euro. Just to come pick you up. You DO NOT want to be in a Swiss hospital without excellent cover.* Watch that Mutzig. That **** is lethal. I'm serious. And the worst part is it's such a nice easy drinking beer.* Take a dropper post if you have it. There's some light xc between Morzine and Les Gets and between Morzine and Chatel* The grading system isn't consistent. a black trail in Les Gets is difficult. A black trail in Chatel is ABSOLUTELY BONKERS.* Keep your eyes open for diverts and illegal trails. The locals do a lot of unauthorized building.* Don't be ashamed to ride the green and blue trails. There will be days that your hands are so funked that you can't smash the hard trails. In fact my 2 favorite trails in Chatel were Blues and Rock and Serpentine. Both easy trails but so much fun.* watch the lift closing times if you go to Chatel, Morgins, Crosets, Champery. And make sure you leave them with plenty of time to get back. You don't want to have to push your bike up an alp to get home.* Don't judge a book. It's impossible to figure who's fast and who isn't on the trails. Some okes look like sponsored pro's and are kooks while some dudes on xc bikes will school you. So don't bother. just ride. It's unlikely you'll ever get passed on a trail.* Keep your eyes open. Last year we saw Nicolas Vouiloz and Lorick Bruni at Les Gets and Bearclaw and Semenuck were behind me in the lift queue at Chatel. Lots of world cup teams base themselves in the area so you might spot a local hero.* Take a rain jacket. It's the Alps. It rains 1 day in 3 and it can get cold. Even in summer. Edited April 30, 2012 by Omega Man patches 1
patches Posted April 30, 2012 Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) Jees that's cheap. Nice one. We're gonna have to create a thread called France 2012. My Visa appointment is this morning. That's gonna be fun. I think a 2012 France thread is definitely in order! So far the guest list looks like this: Omega ManDaveMDSuper_milPeachPatches any other hubbers eloping to the alps? EDIT: 2012 thread created Edited April 30, 2012 by patches
geecee Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 damn you all.altho my firts alps trip will be a snowboarding one. maybe after that ill be joining some of you on that trip. first things first i need a better bike
MTBeer Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 Sweet. they have 30kg checked luggage and 7kg carry on. and you can carry your lid in your hand. Some advice from experience. Don't bother with a bespoke bike box. they are very heavy. This is my packing strategy. Bike packed in a cardboard bike box. I've got a shop that does it for R100 and they do a much better job than i ever could. That should be abt 20kg. then pack as much clothing and kit in the box as you can to take it up to 29kg. For your carry on make sure you have at least 1 kit, riding shoes kneepads and whatever else you ride in. Just in case your bike doesn't arrive and you rent for a day or 2. (Happened to me last year) Remember to pack any tools necessary to reassemble your rig. Plus of course your helmet/handbag in your hand. Take your peak off. There's apparently a free restaurant if your stoppover is longer than 4 hours in Dubai. Which is nice. The only shitty thing about Emirates is that the Dubai - Geneva flight lands at 2pm so no riding on day 1. But you get to build your bikes at a leisurely pace and sleep so you can smash it first thing in the morning.can you give me the name of that shop that does the bike packing - I'm riding in the Himalayas in October for 11 days and taking bike along - same airline.
Beer4Recovery Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 This is from an email I sent a mate who's coming with too. Big up for posting this man! Since the other thread was posted, I am on the net every night looking at the riding vids / pics, gotta do this sometime soon....VERY soon!!!
Guest Omega Man Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 can you give me the name of that shop that does the bike packing - I'm riding in the Himalayas in October for 11 days and taking bike along - same airline. The shop's name is Speedy Cycles in Wynberg. 021 797 5674. Ask to speak to Kurt. He did an amazing job with my bike last year and I'll be using him again this year.
MTBeer Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 The shop's name is Speedy Cycles in Wynberg. 021 797 5674. Ask to speak to Kurt. He did an amazing job with my bike last year and I'll be using him again this year.thanks
MTBeer Posted May 7, 2012 Posted May 7, 2012 The shop's name is Speedy Cycles in Wynberg. 021 797 5674. Ask to speak to Kurt. He did an amazing job with my bike last year and I'll be using him again this year.sorry, one more thing. What about bringing the bike back - is it easy enough to repack the bike yourself?
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