Just watched this and left in awe.
The speed, the smooth lines, the (seemingly*) effortless ability.
Makes me realise how so very very pedestrian I am on a bike.

Also makes me realise and understand how the stakes can be so very high if crashing at such speeds.

*clearly not effortless, just she makes it look easy.

Blimey.

It’s OK, I’ll do the link you for 😉

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQP3aSckoBw[/video]

Ha, thanks.
I never could get the linky thing working….

Effortless = Mastery

What I always have difficulty getting my head around is the difference in apparent speed between that video and watching the coverage. There appeared to moments when even the fastest riders seemed to stall, but the speed of the POVs is just insane.

Wow!

What…… they stole my video and editted Rachel into the end of it 😕 😕

I wish!

I like how she is straight out of the gate “**** the countdown I’m racing”

Gee’s run also makes for interesting viewing.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59y7qwGB0ao[/video]

And to think the elite men are around a minute faster on her!! Bloody warp speed!!

It’s the speed of change from light to shade that I can’t fathom – I’d be blind!

That’s 300 seconds during which I would have been freaking out the whole time and thinking my life was about to end !!

What amazes me is the amount of time spent in the air. I guess one way of reducing the likelihood of crashing on a rough surface is to fly over it 🙂

DH, particularly the UK female participation deserves soooooooooo much more recognition here….

That’s what 73rd in the mens race looks like 😯

… she beat her brother 😆

I was just thinking watching Dans run that they should have a little graphic showing wheels on ground/wheels off ground!

Did he clip a pedal?

Gees run?

Yes, he told Minnaar at the finish line he clipped a pedal.

Don’t get me wrong – I couldn’t begin to ride it

but

there are several sections on there that look like, for them, they’re pretty much piss easy.

It was a loooong course (and I know Warner & CLaudio were raving about it but even so). Was there a point in starting above the dual carriageway ? They could’ve had the start hut on that bridge and not lost out much content, or so it seemed to me.

Reminds me of an argument I had with a mate a few years ago. After watching womens WC DH he declared they looked slow and he was definitely faster than Rachel. I’m gonna post this to his FB and see if he still thinks so.

It’s not all about technicality Scaredy P: It’s a test of fitness as well.

When did they lift the ban on helmet cams again? Didn’t last long, wonder if gopro/red bull had words.

Rachel’s line choice is so decisive and smooth, she rarely fails to straight line and shorten things where possible, women and machine in perfect harmony! That GT Fox setup seems to be bang-on and ploughs through things!

Watch Manon’s videos on the same tracks as comparison, much more steering input, getting jostled about and an all over the trail feel, still fast though.

I tip may hat to both they are fast and at a level I could only dream of!

jimjam – Member
Reminds me of an argument I had with a mate a few years ago. After watching womens WC DH he declared they looked slow and he was definitely faster than Rachel.

Must have been about 10 years ago in Morzine spotted her at the top of the Plenny, dropped in behind her and felt I was riding well. On each of the first 4 corners she must have put 1s into me, some better lines to follow but she probably wasn’t even trying – then she jumped out of a corner and went down one of the bonkers off piste lines – I chose not to follow 🙂

For some more mortal comparisons…
The seeding run results for the Masters WC are up
http://vallnordworldchampionships.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/seeding-round-master-dhi.pdf
This was a week before, I think the only thing missing according to a mate were the 2 big jumps in the open.
Fastest was 4:36 on a dry track before the big ruts appeared. Only 21 guys were faster than her on that run….

I think I could mince down there in about 25-30 minutes as long as the gaps had chicken runs. Might need a bit longer to stop and let the brakes cool down a couple of times, but surely stopping the timer for that is allowed. 😉
Different sport at that level, bears little resemblance to what I actually do on a bike.

Amazing. I love the fact we get stuff like this now. The GoPro is responsible for some of the worst stuff on YouTube but then footage like this comes along and makes up for everything. I’m going to lie down now and sob about the state of my riding.

Love that link Mike put up. My favorite:

26
248
ESP19670828
TUNON PEREZ Emilio
MEN 45-49
SPAIN
45:26.856
1h56:29.422
1h51:20.896

that steeper stuff toward the bottom looks fun

Looks insanely fast 😀
It would be great to see the POV view cut in with shots showing the gradient / steepness of the track.

It’s the speed of change from light to shade that I can’t fathom – I’d be blind!

But once you’ve learnt the course well then going blind temporarily isn’t a huge thing IME (provided the conditions you learnt it in were similar to those that you race).

The heavy breathing by Gee both during his run and then after the crash gives an indication of the fitness levels required.

All of that run is amazing but theres a bit where she takes a line between two trees (smallish tree to the right of the course not long after the big boardwalk bit – about 1:15) that’s just beyond belief. Whether she meant to take that line or not to get through that gap at that speed and just carry on like nothing happened…blimey.

make them do it on hardtails with 120mm forks. That’d sort ’em.

prawny – Member
When did they lift the ban on helmet cams again? Didn’t last long, wonder if gopro/red bull had words.

Ah but this is a UCI sponsored helmet cam for use by them in their promotional activities not one of those RIDER/TEAM helmet cams where the RIDER/TEAM gets to manage their output.

UCI sponsored helmet cams are completely safe.

She makes me go weak at the knees!

Not sure I could date a girl who’d get so bored waiting for me at the bottom of every hill (and probably the tops too)*.

I know what you mean about effortless OP. It just seems to easy to the pros.

*my wife wouldn’t be happy either.

Mental woman, but truly awesome. There is no way I would be able to go that fast down the same track.

Just watched this and left in awe.
The speed, the smooth lines, the (seemingly*) effortless ability.

Somebody’s gots the hots for Miss Atherton – Gone off La Barnes have we?
Some people are so fickle. 😉

She is awesome, all the UK women are. Ride like a girl? 😆

Incredible. She should so win BBC sports personality this year…but obviously won’t.

Incredible, wish I could ride that at any speed. Just can’t imagine trying to pick lines through the wooded bits at their race pace.

Meanwhile back near the start, Whitestone is contentedly pedalling across the first bridge 😳

I know that the eyes adjust quicker than camera sensors to changes between light and shade but even so. Plus going through trees at that speed is just crazy.

She should get quite good if she sticks at it.

I want to see Michael Jones’ cam – to see where that shortcut was!

Different gravy.

The speed through the trees is just horrible, even if I could do it I wouldn’t but I can’t and never will be able to so that’s OK. I remember doing a video of me at fort william and just started captioning the bottom with the point where pros would have finished, and I’m like halfway down at the point where the mens’ winner is sitting on the hotseat… But it’s one thing to go “Oh I’m 3 minutes slower” and another to see what making up that 3 minutes actually means, it’s not a second here or there, it’s literally go twice as fast almost all the time. It’s a totally different game tbh, you can be a decent normal rider but you’re just not doing the same thing as a great rider.

(I can say from experience I genuinely am faster than some of the women on the worlds circuit… but most would hand me my head in a bucket. And most of the dudes could stop for a nap halfway down and still beat me)