Olympic course - opinions??

covelove
covelove Posts: 209
edited March 2011 in MTB general
Have just watched the 8min clip of the track. Is it just me or it looks like a family orientated ride round the local country park. I think it will test fitness (which any track will if you go hell for leather round it) but where is the mountain biking?
does my tail look hard in this?

cove stiffee

orange 222

Comments

  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    covelove wrote:
    but where is the mountain biking?
    Wales/Scotland/Lake District etc etc..........definitely not Essex :roll:
    Big mistake by the organisers :?
    Lynskey R480

  • turpinr
    turpinr Posts: 255
    ibbo68 wrote:
    covelove wrote:
    but where is the mountain biking?
    Wales/Scotland/Lake District etc etc..........definitely not Essex :roll:
    Big mistake by the organisers :?
    :D all the country to choose from and they pick essex
  • Ber Nard
    Ber Nard Posts: 827
    turpinr wrote:
    ibbo68 wrote:
    covelove wrote:
    but where is the mountain biking?
    Wales/Scotland/Lake District etc etc..........definitely not Essex :roll:
    Big mistake by the organisers :?
    :D all the country to choose from and they pick essex

    Not really. It's London 2012, not Great Britain 2012. Surrey might have been a better choice, though.

    Rob
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    edited March 2011
    You can just see them all around a table.
    "Right mountain biking now,where shall we have it"?
    "Mmm,mountain biking...m.o.u.n.t.a.i.n..b.i.k.i.n.g.....Mmmm tough one let's think...Got it Essex"!
    "Sorted,let go for a pint"
    Ber Nard wrote:

    Not really. It's London 2012, not Great Britain 2012. Surrey might have been a better choice, though.

    Rob
    OK so why are people outside London paying for it then?
    At the Beijing Olympics the sailing was 600kms away from Beijing :wink:
    Lynskey R480

  • concorde
    concorde Posts: 1,008
    Where's the video?
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    http://www.london2012.com/videos/2011/m ... mplete.php
    It does look a bit tame :lol:
    It's also on the BR main page :wink:
    Lynskey R480

  • The Northern Monkey
    The Northern Monkey Posts: 19,174
    ibbo68 wrote:
    http://www.london2012.com/videos/2011/mountain-bike-course-complete.php
    It does look a bit tame :lol:
    It's also on the BR main page :wink:

    thats lame.
    Santa Cruz Butcher
  • concorde
    concorde Posts: 1,008
    That is a bit garbage!!!! Haha.
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    The vid on the BR homepage is longer if you can stay awake for 8 mins :wink:
    Lynskey R480

  • The Northern Monkey
    The Northern Monkey Posts: 19,174
    http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/v ... urse-29698

    That vid looks much more promising.

    I'll be surprised f they leave the downhill-esqe rock garden in there though lol. Some fo those rocky climbs look fairly tough too.... but you could just go around them :lol:
    Santa Cruz Butcher
  • yoohoo999
    yoohoo999 Posts: 940
    i asked a question about this very point in the lad who races XC's One -One whippet build thread.

    I was wondering how much the courses are dictated by modern XC bikes.

    I was shocked when I went to the WC at Dalby last year, my girlfriend's bike would have got round that course, it was a test of speed and endurance, but not much else (admittedly there were a couple of tricky climbs).

    But when I looked around at all the bikes, they were designed for ultimate light weight, nothing else.

    So, have we got to the point that if you did stick a couple of shady rock gardens in an WC/Olympic XC course then it would destroy half of the field and all the teams would complain.

    XC does't win MTB many non riding spectators, since it's generally soul destroying to watch (other than that video I saw of the race at Molfre recently!).

    I went to watch a cyclocross race last year with a mate of mine who was competing. To be honest, it was more interesting to watch and seemed to test the riders skill more (rather than ability to just turn the cranks). It looked brutal though!


    EDIT: also, i've ridden the Dalby WC course. That says it all in terms of how technical it is. :lol:
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    Some riders originally said they would turn up on Cyclo-cross bikes in protest when the plans for the course were first unveiled :wink:
    Lynskey R480

  • altern_8
    altern_8 Posts: 1,562
    i thought the olympics where suppose to benefit everyone in england/britain,not just the people who live near london...why build a course when you have the best w/c course in the world at dalby forest.
    Biking pics
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    altern_8 wrote:
    i thought the olympics where suppose to benefit everyone in england/britain,not just the people who live near london...why build a course when you have the best w/c course in the world at dalby forest.
    That's debatable.I've not seen the WC course but if the rest of Dulby is anything to go by I'll give it a miss.
    Don't forget it's the LONDON Olympics.They want the rest of us to pay for it and British athletes to compete for BRITAIN but it's the LONDON Olympics :roll:
    When it was designed it was all the usual bollox of "proximity/ease of access"etc.Basically they want everything as close to the Capital as possible :?
    Lynskey R480

  • mak3m
    mak3m Posts: 1,394
    ibbo68 wrote:
    http://www.london2012.com/videos/2011/mountain-bike-course-complete.php
    It does look a bit tame :lol:
    It's also on the BR main page :wink:

    that video is just embarrasing the the hell were those riders

    38 seconds 2 of them pedal mashing up a gentle incline
  • Johnny Napalm
    Johnny Napalm Posts: 1,458
    First time I've seen the course. Who the hell did they consult for that? Fair enough, blasting around there at full pelt will be a test of fitness and endurance, but there isn't one technical section on there.

    I like biking etc., but that's just tedious, and I can't imagine sat watching that will win any new converts.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Marin
    SS Inbred
    Mongoose Teocali Super
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    ibbo68 wrote:
    Don't forget it's the LONDON Olympics.
    I don't care if it is the London olympics. There were several non-London venues shortlisted. If they made it that far, then surely it being in London wasn't a top priority.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I think we should help the organiser clarify what mountain biking is....

    Mountain(s)
    5206638653_a7babc489f_z.jpg


    Field
    Forney_Field1.JPG

    Now, which one does Hadleigh most resemble, honestly?
  • Torres
    Torres Posts: 1,266
    I was a bit dissapointed with the course too, it even seemed tame compared to some of the world cup courses.
    However, XC has always been a test of fitness and this course will do that, the few technical features should spread the field out a bit. However it isn't a great showcase for the sport, but then again it was never going to be. Untill downhill or 4x is included then the masses are not going to see a decent example of bike handling ability; however there is very little chance of this happening soon.
    What We Achieve In Life, Echoes In Eternity
  • altern_8
    altern_8 Posts: 1,562
    ibbo68 wrote:
    That's debatable.I've not seen the WC course but if the rest of Dulby is anything to go by I'll give it a miss.

    i should of said,as voted by the riders/media/teams from last year :oops:

    it will be of interest to see how many will go.
    Biking pics
  • cloudynights
    cloudynights Posts: 351
    that aint cross country its more like going round my local park, if thats the best they can come up with then i would be ashamed to put my name to the course
    anthem x with many upgrades

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