olympic mtb course your view?

chez_m356

supersonic wrote:

And a 29er at that ;-)

But the womens on a 26er hardtail.

on a 26er with suntour forks don't forget

sigorman85

Well done

njee20

I was there yesterday, and it was absolutely brilliant, the set up of the course, being in the open and in a small area is fantastic, you can follow the race the whole way round. The climbs are absolutely brutal, the camera just doesn't do them justice, and the speed Kulhavy/Schurter/Fontana rode them, every lap, was insane. Yes it all looks very unnatural, but that made for a superb spectacle that XC just can't normally achieve.

The surface of the course really isn't smooth, there's a reasonably smooth line, but the whole of the rest of the trail is covered in crushed rock, which wasn't too inviting.

The technical sections are pretty impressive, I'm sure plenty on here could ride them, but considering the bikes they're being ridden on, the completely unrelenting nature of the course (there's a really steep climb into the rock garden for example, absolutely no rest at all) just adds a whole new dimension though.

Far more technical than any trail centre I've ridden. No it's not 3 miles of rocky, technical terrain, but it's a race course.

bails87

No. You're wrong. It was really easy and I, along with everyone else on the internet, am a better rider than those 'so called' professionals.






I enjoyed it really. Much more interesting than the womens, because it was an actual race.

junglist_matty

My balls are bigger than yours so I went to rip at a secret location with my other super talented fast rider friends..... Dam, I just woke up!

njee20

I enjoyed it really. Much more interesting than the womens, because it was an actual race.

+1, and the speed they ride up the climbs is humbling!

BigJimmyB

cooldad wrote:

I've never had to wait at trail centres, maybe because when inferior riders see me coming they genuflect (look it up) and make way for my earthshattering skills which are obvious to all. As it should be.

Looked it up. Learned a new word.
Thanks!
Genuflectations to your superior vocab

Chris`I

Some competitors decided to make it harder on themselves. Mucho respect for the no footer



To be fair the course at the technical parts looked harder than it does in the pictures and vids on the net. And the elevation changes were pretty steep even if just for short bursts rather than miles long. Was very good as a spectator there which is what they were trying to achieve.

liquor box

supersonic wrote:

And a 29er at that ;-)

But the womens on a 26er hardtail. So can't conclude anything really - well, apart from ride what suits you. But we all knew that already. Was really hoping Absalon was going to win, but DNF.

I may be wrong but the commentry in Australia (Phil Ligget)said there were no dual suspension in the womens and only one in the mens. Maybe the mens winner was the only smart one?

liquor box

I really liked it, I had never watched MTB XC before and was really impressed, the Mens race was great action from start to finish.

I really liked the course and am now thinking seriously of buying a MTB and having a go off the normal road riding I do.

There are some things that a first timer like me would have changed though!
Instead of using actualy rocks in the downhill technical sections I would rather see a man made cement version made on a cast that can be repeated. Why have 3 lanes of different skill when you could have 3 identically hard options, this would also allow for overtaking in the technical section. I think it would be possible to build man made structures that would allow more overtaking options.

I would have loved to see some bigger jumps, instead of the tunnel at the rabbit hole, why not jump the other track? It is possible, the Mens BMX in Bejing had a jump over a track.

Why no water? Is it not allowed? I would have liked some kind of water feature at the bottom of a hill, it would only have to be 5-10cm deep to look great on TV and you might actually get some mud on your face!.

All in all, it was great

supersonic

Jump over the track in an XC race?! Even though I thought more technical sections were needed, I don't think big jumps are.

njee20

I may be wrong but the commentry in Australia (Phil Ligget)said there were no dual suspension in the womens and only one in the mens. Maybe the mens winner was the only smart one?

Yeah that's wrong, dunno about the women, but I've got several photos of different FS bikes from yesterday. Several S-Works Epics for a start. Mainly hardtails, but that was always going to be the case on that course, no one made a secret of that.

YeehaaMcgee

I really enjoyed it, just technical enough to be challenging, but still allow great racing.
I retract most of my earlier comments about it, except the ones that wgree with what I'm saying now, obviously.

natrix

The topless ladies were a great addition

Chunkers1980

Where's the money shot/pause then?

VWsurfbum

natrix wrote:

The topless ladies were a great addition

That was a french bloke with dreads, i remember now, he had his glasses on top of his head the whole day
Anywhoo,

Deans drop was actually the most technical bit, i didnt see our guy break his ankle but watching the last 2 laps from there i think i would give it a go, but certainly more technical down (and steeper) than anything at CYB or Afan.
http://youtu.be/lc5kl6pxiQU
the rock garden was hard but i think most people would be able to do it alowing the bike to do the work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8n-BFYggFQ

YeehaaMcgee

VWsurfbum wrote:

natrix wrote:

The topless ladies were a great addition

That was a french bloke with dreads, i remember now, he had his glasses on top of his head the whole day
Anywhoo,

Deans drop was actually the most technical bit, i didnt see our guy break his ankle but watching the last 2 laps from there i think i would give it a go, but certainly more technical down (and steeper) than anything at CYB or Afan.
http://youtu.be/lc5kl6pxiQU
the rock garden was hard but i think most people would be able to do it alowing the bike to do the work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8n-BFYggFQ

Wow yeah, those videos show your point very clearly :roll:
I may as well film my garden for a few minutes, stick that up, and offer it as a view of hadleigh farm.

ddraver

Watching the mens race again...2 things occur

1) It's a good enough race to hold my attention a second time around. I partly attribute this to Ed Leigh and Chris Boardman (who i did nt hear yesterday because i couldnt get BBC coverage) who provided some excellent commentary.

2) Burry Stander had a HUGE ride, to come back to the front group that many times after people in front had screwed him up! Should have a gold medal for balls!

VWsurfbum

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

natrix wrote:

The topless ladies were a great addition

That was a french bloke with dreads, i remember now, he had his glasses on top of his head the whole day
Anywhoo,

Deans drop was actually the most technical bit, i didnt see our guy break his ankle but watching the last 2 laps from there i think i would give it a go, but certainly more technical down (and steeper) than anything at CYB or Afan.
http://youtu.be/lc5kl6pxiQU
the rock garden was hard but i think most people would be able to do it alowing the bike to do the work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8n-BFYggFQ

Wow yeah, those videos show your point very clearly :roll:
I may as well film my garden for a few minutes, stick that up, and offer it as a view of hadleigh farm.

thats the trouble, you cant tell from videos or photos how steep or gnarly those sections are.

YeehaaMcgee

Especially when those videos are incredibly badly filmed, eh?

VWsurfbum

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Especially when those videos are incredibly badly filmed, eh?

Yep, i forgot my camera and was watching rather than filming!

wheezee

The restrictions on mechanical help were disappointing. One puncture and your race was effectively over. Half a dozen quad bikes scooting around the fields with trailers full of wheels wouldn't have hurt. Well, actually they might have hurt a lot, but you know what I mean.

cooldad

Yeah, one broken ankle and your race was effectively over. Should have had reserves.

chez_m356

cooldad wrote:

Yeah, one broken ankle and your race was effectively over. Should have had reserves.

if it had been an american he would have carried on and won :roll: i was actually joking by the way

cooldad

chez_m356 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Yeah, one broken ankle and your race was effectively over. Should have had reserves.

if it had been an american he would have carried on and won :roll: i was actually joking by the way

If the Americans had done what they do best and bombed the course it would have stopped all the whining here about it being too easy.

sigorman85

I was just having a another look at it on bbc I player. I can't remeber who they were talking about but they said that one rider had his nostrals drilled so he can get more oxygen ...wtf!?

cooldad

I have a drill if you want to have a go.

paul.skibum

I think I could get way more air if I drilled straight into my lungs through my rib cage.

Lets try.











No that is definitely not working.

njee20

The restrictions on mechanical help were disappointing. One puncture and your race was effectively over.

Why? It's a feature of racing. They can carry CO2 canisters if they want, I've fixed a puncture in less than a minute before. You need to be self sufficient. Quads on the course is one of the worst ideas ever, well done!

wheezee

But seriously, why do think tyre integrity is more important than stamina and skill and the training that goes into competing for a medal once every four years? I'm thinking of Absalom in particular. He probably knows how to fix a puncture, if not as quickly as you, but he had to throw in the towel.

I don't doubt you're an experienced racer, and knowledgable contributor to the forum, but I'm just a casual spectator, so perhaps you can enlighten me.