Olympic XC Race

ian220476

Hi,

I keep reading that the course will be completed soon enough and that there will be some kind of test race on it. Does anybody have any details on this test race?

Keen to know if it is open to anybody to enter or whether it will be by 'invite' etc. Also when is it likely to happen and how would you be able to enter if it is open to general admission.

I might have misunderstood but would love to know!

Thx
Ian

njee20

Talking to those 'in the know' it's likely to be invite only sadly.

Pirahna

The bloke responsible for handing over a few of the Olympic sites rides with my road club. He's already had a test spin on the velodrome, when I see him I'll ask about the mountain bike venue.

ian220476

Pirhana - That would be fantastic - thank you if you could find out

njee20 - we can only hope its not true. Would be a real shame if they did as there are a lot of riders in this part of the country without a big choice of natural terrain who would love to have the opportunity. Fingers crossed they open it up!

VWsurfbum

I think after the'll open it up but i cant see them letting it get used too much before the big event, and ive also heard that its invite only. hopefully i'll hear about it in time to get down there to watch

SiLanc

I have to agree with NJee and Surfbum, invite only and opening it up would only happen afterwards I would have thought, unless they really needed it bedding in.

bigdawg

ah finally were back..

right they are supposed to have three test races prior to the olympic race - grass roots, national and international to get opinions on the course - but they should have had at least one of them by now so I guess theyre 'breaking' their own rules... The bejing course was changed three times prior to the olympic race as many riders thought it was unsafe...

SiLanc

I think Liam Killeen thought it was unsafe ;-)

njee20

Well NPS3 was a 'venue in the South TBC', which suggested to me they were thinking about it, but it's now at Wasing Park again.

They used an NPS at Dalby to bed it in and show up some of the flaws, so an open access race could work.

bigdawg

there is always the poss they are going to do all the test races in 2012, but I think theyll be pushing it a bit...

Thewaylander

I spose it needs some use and bedding in before the event, imagine a wet day there on the race day and the trail starts to wash out and not drain.

I reckon it will be allowed to ridden into just to make sure it bed downs well in time for the event.

njee20

Nah can't see them doing that, it'd get trashed. More likely they'll do a race there, that'll also show any bottlenecks and what not as well.

VWsurfbum

31 July 2011
Cycling - Mountain Bike
Hadleigh Farm International
Hadleigh Farm, Essex

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic ... 397066.stm

njee20

Sounds like an invitational event to me, which is what I've heard from those in the know.

VWsurfbum

njee20
well do let us know if you get an invite

bigdawg

the course is an all weather course, rain may make it a bit slippy but def wont effect the riding of the course - in fact in july august it will be very rideable even in a downpour...

Theyre keeping that test event very quiet, theres nothing locally about - prob so they dont get the locals wound up - wholl try and cancel it...

Need to find out more about this...

njee20

well do let us know if you get an invite

Sherwood NPS is a UCI class 2 race, so there's points on offer there, if they do it like that, so there may be a strong UK contingent!

bigdawg

does anyone know if its being run as part of a series, national, international..??

njee20

No, no one knows anything concrete, but everything I've heard is that it'll be an invitational event.

The name on the test schedule "Hadleigh Farm International" doesn't suggest an all-comers race to me, so I can't see you'll be racing the course before the Olympics.

bigdawg

bugger...!

Dont international races usually have support races too..??! They def used to...

njee20

World Cups often do, but this isn't a normal race, I don't think you're going to see a 250 rider mass start race with the world's MTB press arriving on scene.

bigdawg

the initial point of the test events though is to ensure everything is ok, including parking for the teams, access roads etc.....

Ill get on there somehow.... :twisted:

njee20

But it's not a world cup event with all the teams, expo area etc, it's the Olympics, which will have less of the accompanying 'festival'.

VWsurfbum

bigdawg wrote:

Ill get on there somehow.... :twisted:

This

Thewaylander

njee20 wrote:

But it's not a world cup event with all the teams, expo area etc, it's the Olympics, which will have less of the accompanying 'festival'.

You mean almost none of the festival

bigdawg

so has anyone worked out what the differnece between the £20 and £45 tickets are..??

njee20

Grandstand on the finish line and trackside?

bigdawg

that was my thought but they say the £20 tickets are the limited ones.

VWsurfbum

Opener today, i missed the invite dammit that STW were running yesterday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic ... 433617.stm

bigdawg

stw was down most of yesterday...

bugger...! I so want to ride this course.

xcwanabe

I spoke with the guy running the event the other day and the test event will be an international invite only. Riders at the test event will have to be of the same standard as those riding in Olympics, so that's all of us mere mortals out.