I raced on the course at the test event last year, my legs are hurting here thinking about what they’re going through and my arm is hurting remembering how hard that rock was when I hit it!

it’s really not. dull as shit.

The camera angles somehow aren’t doing the course justice though no matter how good they are….

This course needs an uplift for it to be proper mountain biking

A longer course would have been better for tv, but for those who paid for a ticket a shorter one might be preferable. I was drifting off a bit till I read this..

bratty – Member
Is it just an optical illusion, or does the french girl have see-through shorts on?

bratty – Member
This course needs an uplift for it to be proper mountain biking

You being the arbiter of what is “proper mountain biking” I presume?

Actually, I think they have really done a good job of the course. I was a bit mystified as to why they did not use the south or north downs as a location, but all things considered, it is a decent enough XC course.

Is it just an optical illusion, or does the french girl have see-through shorts on?

So far pausing at key moments on my Sky Box has yielded nothing (not noticeably so anyway).

Er, I was being facetious – why would you need an uplift on an xc course?

(Must remember that irony does not always work on the net)

Er, I was being facetious – why would you need an uplift on an xc course?

(Must remember that irony does not always work on the net)

Too subtle for dumb **** like me!

I turned it off ad its too boring. What a lame event.

If I’d never ridden a bike before after watching this I wouldn’t buy a MTB. Not very exciting, a lot of it is nothing more than riding fire roads but I suppose there is only so much you can do with something man made to be viewable on TV. Iirc the China one was just as bad to watch.

For all the people complaining that it’s dull- what exactly were you expecting an Olympic xc mtb race to look like?

Course looks good ,photography good ,lots of lycra in mtb is good (especially on fit chicks),Cant see why it was sold out though looks like there is loads of room for more spectators

Would it inspire a none-mountain biker to take up mountain biking? I realise that isn’t the acid test for the event but curious as to how it would be perceived by none-mountainbikers.

…Saying that would watching a World Cup Downhill round inspire a none mountain biker to buy a mountain bike, or just terrify the life out of them?

crazy-legs

But other than that, this is what World Cup and Olympic XC MTB racing looks like.

Yes and no I think. Petermaritzburg, MSA, Windham were much more technical. Despite the Olympic track having impressive looking rock features built on to it, it’s tame. I think the level of technical difficulty would be more akin to a national race. But, it’s xc.

I can’t help but think though since they built the entire course from scratch surely they could have built some massive/spectacular/unique features to sex it up a bit without compromising it.

Needs more riders in a race to make it exciting. The men’s race should be good.
Another 26″ wheel winner tomorrow too 🙂

Cant see why it was sold out though looks like there is loads of room for more spectators

There was only 20k tickets, venue could take 50k I reckon.

I expect issue was with parking/ traffic etc rather than space for spectators round the course

If I’d never ridden a bike before after watching this I wouldn’t buy a MTB. Not very exciting, a lot of it is nothing more than riding fire roads but I suppose there is only so much you can do with something man made to be viewable on TV. Iirc the China one was just as bad to watch.

Remember it is a RACE, it is not about scenery, uplifts etc.

As i have said before and been flamed for it DH is as bad if not worse than XC. You don’t even see riders racing against each other, I find clock watching events far worse than races with multiple competitors on the track at the same time.

Some wet sections might have made it more interesting as would more technical single track sections with different route options. As it was it is most of the course was just smooth climbs and descents. 4x racing would make a better viewing and do more to promote the offroad cycling

The venue could hold 50,000, it’s just the challenge of getting them all there and the size of the park and ride facilities.

I thought that was good. TV angles were impressive, commentary was mostly OK, it was obviously a brutally tough course just from watching the race, the crowd seems to have enjoyed it and the feedback from the riders after the test event was that they loved the circuit.

29ers the preferred choice. No surprises there, I guess.

And the winner rides on 26″…

Top 10 finish, not to be sniffed at. Well done Annie Last

4x strikes me as an event for those who arent sure if they want to downhill or Bmx

Personally I find 4X dull as **** to watch but each to his own!

I thought it was great. Looking forward to the men’s race tomorrow now. I preferred it to watching dh events as, to me, it felt more relevant to the trail/xc mountain biking that I am familiar with.

to me, it felt more relevant to the trail/xc mountain biking that I am familiar with.

+1

For those who are saying its not rad or gnarr enough ,isnt it just like Ashton Court and the like which many people wax lyrical about ?

Saw 10 mins near the end and it looked dull as dishwater .

I preferred it to watching dh events as, to me, it felt more relevant to the trail/xc mountain biking that I am familiar with.

As a Downhiller predominantly I’d obviously rather see a DH event so I agree with the essence of your statement ultimately. I’m more interested in how none-mountainbikers would perceive the sport.

i enjoyed that (and well done to the winner/annie last also 😀

looking forward to the men’s race tomorrow.

I’m more interested in how none-mountainbikers would perceive the sport.

looks a bit hard can’t do that.. pass me another beer and the remote, what channel is the footy on…..

looks a bit hard can’t do that.. pass me another beer and the remote, what channel is the footy on…..

Sounds about right. The event was a raging success then.

Not too bad, looked a smooth dull course, but the techy sections made it interesting. I liked it 🙂 Want to go out and ride my bike now.

29ers the preferred choice. No surprises there, I guess.

And the winner rides on 26″…

and has a SR suntour fork 😯

Wasn’t looking for rad or gnarr just something more exciting. What was the most exciting part of the race? The breakaway groups, the challenges or the daring overtake on a technical sections? None of that it was just spread out as the fittest person on the day took the lead and the others fell back through not been a contender or flats.
If you ride canal towpaths all the time then it will have looked exciting. MTB biking takes more than just fitness, it has technical skills too, I dare say a lot of the road riders could have placed highly on that course without having the ability to climb or descend tricky sections.

As it was most of the course was just smooth climbs and descents

It really wasn’t but it’s difficult to get the cameras into the singletrack sections. Either you have good TV and a nice amphitheatre to see the whole race (then run the risk of it being termed ‘boring’) or you have loads of lovely singletrack and no-one can see any of the action in which case you’ll still call it boring.

🙄

It was a very technical, very tough course which produced a worthy winner. And surely that’s what the Olympics is about.

XC races at that level are always ridden hard and get spread out .As it says above hide the race in trees and no one can see it

I was stuck in toys’r’us looking for wooden alphabet toys.. 😐