London 2012 Olympics

beardwithabike

So i got an email through today telling me how much tickets will be for 2012 and as i had indicated i was interested in all things cycling they had put a bit of a flyer on the right hand side of the email about mountain biking.

Now is it just me or have i been missing out on the the awesome mountains that are hidden away in Essex? Maybe they are building some especially?

Why couldnt they have the event somewhere that will actually test the MTB skills and not just because its near to London?

Jokes.

Stuey01

gogogoftw wrote:

Why couldnt they have the event somewhere that will actually test the MTB skills and not just because its near to London?

Maybe because it is the LONDON Olympics? Not the Yorkshire Olympics, or Wales Olympics, or Scottish Borders Olympics

beardwithabike

OK well yeah i appreciate that and maybe shouldnt have phrased it in that way lol. But what i mean is that surely the majority of the mountain biking community would have liked to see the event elsewhere but still England based? I guess it does all have to be around London but that just seems to defeat the object of having a mountain biking event where there arent any hills.

electric_blue

There are plenty of hills in Essex.

kona_matt

FFS, how many times will this be discussed :roll: choosing an olympic venue isn't just about choosing an area that is traditionally known for that sport. it's about a whole host of variables such as access, spectator view points, transport, security, safety and most importantly in my opinion, legacy.

Hadleigh has good access and transport links and open ground so that spectators can actually see the racing (not easy in forested areas) and security staff can see the spectators. In these times of international terrorism, i feel security must have played and very important role in the selection of this site. Other options close to london, such as surrey hills, would be problematic with regards security, how do you keep an eye on everyone in a forest?

as for your comment regarding essex being flat, yes, it is, in general, but believe me, the chosen venue is not! i've ridden that area for many years and the hills are short and sharp, perfect for an olympic/world cup XC loop. plus the features they are building are as technical as anything I've seen at UK trail centres.

IMO essex needs the legacy more than other areas surroundng london. there are lots of mountain bikers here and our access to trails is awful.

personally, my problem with the recent announcement is the price of the tickets. £45 is too high to watch XC. it's not the most exciting of spectator sports is it? basically everyone chasing julian absolom. i'll probably still go.

rant over

beardwithabike

Amen to that!

I might just stickto the main events in the city if its £45 a ticket. Thats pretty ridiculous! I thought it might even be free like a lot of MTB that doesnt even get watched at the best of times. Its a shame really.

njee20

Well it's £20 or £45, which is presumably trackside or grandstand respectively, I'll definitely be going, doesnt seem too bad to me.

Can't be arsed to get into the argument yet again, it's all been said up there, the biggest thing is that they can do whatever they want with a new venue. Swinley Forest was being touted as a potential venue but they can't control entry and it's not spectator or tv friendly. Also, as said, it's the London Olympics, like it or not and the IOC are really quite strict on that. It'll be good, and if you don't wanna go it just makes it easier for me to get a ticket!

specialized989

should be ihn fort william!!"!

kona_matt

specialized989 wrote:

should be ihn fort william!!"!

:roll:

kona_matt

njee20 wrote:

Well it's £20 or £45, which is presumably trackside or grandstand respectively

Ah, yeah, you might be right there, i'd assumed 20 was for kids. I think i'd rather be out somewhere on the course than in the stand anyway so i hope you're right

njee20

Me too, much better!

I think they've done alright, every event has tickets for £20, which seems very reasonable to me.

Anonymous

njee20 wrote:

Swinley Forest was being touted as a potential venue but they can't control entry and it's not spectator or tv friendly.

Which is odd given it's popular with well organised Gorric races (okay, not a big spectator thing I guess but I don't see why it couldn't be), and the estate has had numerous film companies on the site and been able to bring in big equipment and keep visitors out of areas they don't want them in. The place is self contained and has good facilities with good access roads for TV trucks and in easy reach just off the M3.

They could have done it easily, but I suspect Her Maj wanted more money to use the site than some farmer in Essex for his crappy little field with a tiny bump of a so called hill

Other Gorric race areas around the big wide open MoD land in the area would have been good too and facilities almost ready made, as are the courses.

But then we've been through this all before. This is XC stuff. People uninitiated with the sport just think "Mountain" biking means a big hill has to be involved. Reality is you can use a mountain bike in all kinds of situations. XC on open flat land on a controlled course is easier and cheaper to get the cameras and crowds in. Still think there are better places near London even for that, but anyway.

Not what I'd be interested in myself. Show me a DH event and maybe, but if they are doing one I really can't see how it can be any good going by the pictures of the site I've seen so far.

njee20

Nope, they want a cloverleaf style course so spectators see the riders multiple times, and it's much harder to set up TV cameras on the existing stuff than starting from scratch. You can't stop people wandering in either, so there's undoubtedly the revenue protection. Parkings bad too.

njee20

There was a big argument about that, but there's not really anywhere closer with the facilities.

Stoo61

Isnt Glasgow getting the football too?

Bar Shaker

Hadleigh will be a great venue and the work on the track is coming on well. I think people should wait and see. The first venue (North Weald Park) was rightly rejected by the IOC MTB officials and Hadleigh has been accepted as meeting the standards that they require for a course. To be a good MTB course it does not need to be a ride up the Aiguille du Midi and back, it needs to have various gradients and technical sections that will challenge all of the riders equally. If a course provides those features but isn't suitable for letting the rest of the world see the action and see who is winning, until someone crosses the finish line, then it won't make good entertainment.

I have registered for tickets and will buy grandstand seats for the best view, if I can.

Yes, there is football at Hampden Park. Why I don't know as Paris would have been nearer to London and easier to get to, if events are going to be held outside of England, let alone London. With so many good football stadiums in London, I am surprised that Coventry, Manchester and Hampden have been chosen over Highbury, White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge. But the question is not why Hampden Park but HTF did football ever become an Olympic event?

I was on the Park yesterday as my company are building some of the venues and the shopping centre (the biggest in the world). The park is impressive but the Velodrome is the jewel. The building is stunning.

wobbem

Will it stay open for the general public to ride after the show has left- doubt it.

kona_matt

wobbem wrote:

Will it stay open for the general public to ride after the show has left- doubt it.

Possibly not in the form of the exact course as it will stand for the games but they have committed to a legacy. Local mtbers and organisations like cycle southend will be fighting hard to ensure as much of the course as possible is left behind. I can see some of the more technical sections going unfortunately, can't see the land owners wanting to risk getting sued when someone hurts themselves :roll:

Anonymous

kona_matt wrote:

can't see the land owners wanting to risk getting sued when someone hurts themselves :roll:

The eternal problem with MTB trails.

We so need a law that lets people ride on land with no risk to the the land owner, so long as you are aware of the risk and waive your rights.

chedabob

Can't believe they went with Ticketmaster for tickets. No doubt this £20 price for cycling doesn't include the numerous fees Ticketmaster will add on.

I'm looking forward to staring at the "Server Not Found" message when tickets go on sale, which happens every single time a big event is put on Ticketmaster.

/rant

Pokerface

kona_matt wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Well it's £20 or £45, which is presumably trackside or grandstand respectively

Ah, yeah, you might be right there, i'd assumed 20 was for kids. I think i'd rather be out somewhere on the course than in the stand anyway so i hope you're right

Kids prices are based on their age. So if the kid is 9, the ticket price is £9. Kid is 6, ticket is £6, etc. Up to age 16 and at over 200 events.

Bar Shaker

And don't forget, you can only buy tickets with a Visa card.

njee20

When I was working on it the whole point was that the ticket price also included all travel within London, or out to the peripheral venues, which makes them stonking value. Not seen that mentioned, but it'll be interesting.

kona_matt

njee20 wrote:

When I was working on it the whole point was that the ticket price also included all travel within London, or out to the peripheral venues, which makes them stonking value. Not seen that mentioned, but it'll be interesting.

Good point, haven't seen that mentioned either.

birchy

IMO they shoud have used the world cup course at dalby all the facilities are in place for it spectator parking etc the uci loved the place so did the riders :?
But no instead lets waste some more money in these hard times building a course that like you say will most likely be scrapped after event. :roll:

will2580

yeh i also think they should have it at dalby forest around the world cup course. it would be great!

Anonymous

We should cancel the whole bloody thing, and put the money into helping to offset some of our national debt.

njee20

Dalby isn't London. The IOC are really anal about the spread of venues. It is not, and never has been the England or UK Olympics. Yes the sailing is in Weymouth, there's no closer venue. I can't believe how often this comes up!

kona_matt

njee20 wrote:

Dalby isn't London. The IOC are really anal about the spread of venues. It is not, and never has been the England or UK Olympics. Yes the sailing is in Weymouth, there's no closer venue. I can't believe how often this comes up!

+ 1

will2580

can't they sail in the thames????

Anonymous

yeehaamcgee wrote:

We should cancel the whole bloody thing, and put the money into helping to offset some of our national debt.

+1

njee20 wrote:

Dalby isn't London. The IOC are really anal about the spread of venues. It is not, and never has been the England or UK Olympics. Yes the sailing is in Weymouth, there's no closer venue. I can't believe how often this comes up!

Thames estuary is much closer, Solent, Pool, anywhere around the Isle of White is closer. I believe the sailing at these locations is pretty good.

As for the MTB. Epping Forest is actually partly in London. If they could build a course from scratch in Hadleigh they could have built one there.

In the winter olympics at Vancouver, there were nearer mountains but Whistler was used because the facilities are better. Why not go to where the mountain biking facilities are best?