[Closed] What BBC channel is the Olympic mtb on?

After watching that event nothing would make me want to travel down to ride the course as most of it was dull

I suspect it's a hell of a lot harder than you think. Try watching the weekend warriors Go Pro shots of the Slab at Dalbeattie etc. Several sections of the Olympic course looked a lot harder than that.

Also why do you think that a XC race should be technical? The clue is in the title is a [b]XC[/b] race. Not a trials course, not a DH course. This is what short course XC racing is. Not trail centres. I think 170m of climbing in a 4km circuit should give you a clue that it's not easy.

And speed is what makes it hard. These riders are going about twice the speed that any of us could do it. Ride round Brands Hatch on a motorbike at 50mph and it'll be dull. Do it at 100mph and it gets anything but.

Who's never raced elite? What are you on about?

It's also very predictable that the roadie types would like that course. We are all different and that what keeps the world interesting.

It's a very smooth track with a few rocks laid out in paved lines with rocks jumbled around. Personally one lap and I'm sure I'd be bored.

It doesnt matter if you find it boring or not .Do you think the girls on the podium minded whether it was interesting or not ? .They raced hard for 1 1/2 hours on a hot day to win medals .It doesnt say on the back of the medal this counts for sod all because singletrack didnt like the course

I can't believe that people are daft enough to say that its not technical when they are judging it by the tv pictures.....we all know how much the camera appears to flatten terain out. Whether or not you find it boring is irrelavant though really.....what's more boring than watching a TT-everyone was pretty chuffed for Brad though!

It was a boring man made course. Not saying it wasn't hard physically on some of the climbs but it also had as much to come downhill too with it been a loop. There is no denying the majority of the course was wide gravel paths requiring no technical skills what so ever other than being able to balance on a bike, pedal and have level of fitness.

Not taking anything away from the racers, they'll race on the tracks provided to an elite and pro way.

Didn't aim to offend anyone, on here just think it could have been a little better. Been competing in this sport for 24 years in every discipline going and think with the level of tech now in bike designs the courses should have developed further

Xc racing is great and so is dh, 4x etc.

They are worthy Olympic champions who were the fastest around the course provided, but it could have been better (in my opinion)

Xc racing is great and so is dh, 4x etc.

It doesnt say on the back of the medal this counts for sod all because [b]some tragic bellend that uses the[/b] singletrack [b]forum[/b] didnt like the course

Thing is though craig, these guys/gals ride the downhills just as hard as the uphills, sprinting after any slowing down etc. I raced last year in the sport category (mid pack at best) and even with my crap skills and average fitness, I can't remember a race where on the decents my heart rate dropped more than a couple of bpm.

Have you ever raced an xc race?

It looked fairly technical from where we were standing at the bottom of the rock garden. Could really tell who was confident technically and who wasn't. The serface was very loose in front of us, and took out the Austrian woman. I'm looking forward to watching it on th tv later to see how it compares.

Bol, I'd really like your feedback as watching it on TV it appears to be mainly a safe gravel path. Some more technical parts could have made the more skilful riders take advantage to make it a more allround race

More technical stuff would have spaced out the field even more, not created anymore of an all round race...

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bunch of miserable gits.

looks a lovely ride some bumpy bits, some swoopy bits a few short sharp climbs, some sunshine, if it had a pub it could be perfect

#rather-be-riding-my-bike

I'll accept that the TV coverage didn't show every last metre of the course and that it largely concentrated on the leading trio so to those people who've not been to the venue or seen much elite level XC in general, it may have painted a slightly one sided picture.

I was at the test event and you're able to see large parts of the course from just a couple of vantage points so it's easy to see how different riders are taking different sections. Being close up to them shows just how hard they're working and how much they're suffering. The course demands 100% concentration throughout, I can guarantee you that it is way harder than it looks on TV. One tiny mistake and you can lose massive amounts of time or really hurt yourself.

XC racing is notoriously hard to televise. Put it on singletrack in a forest and spectators can't move around, viewers can't see anything and its rubbish. Put it on a wide open lovely amphitheatre setting and it's brilliant for spectators but looks dull on TV (even though that was some of the best televised XC I've seen). And, ad has been discussed in the hundreds of other threads from cynics and muppets who know nothing about XC, it's the Olympics. The course HAS to have a certain minimum and maximum width, be between 3.5 and 5 km in length, have x metres of climbing, a certain number of technical sections, some open stuff etc etc. That course delivered on all counts.

I can think of maybe 3 regular forum users who could even come close to riding that course dab free (on any bike) at the speed those girls were doing.

It seems all the "elite xc" riders are jumping on the back of anyone questioning it and labelling them fat i.t consultants. Say what you like about cameras flattening things out but it's quick obviously not a very technical track, not even by XC standards. Any way you cut it, it was a sanitised, not very technical track. Even xc mtb should be technical enough so that it's not just a test of cardio. Road is over that way >>>

Mont Saint Anne

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La Bresse

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Pietermaritzburg

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So how about helmet or bar cameras, I guess they'd all have to have one or a dummy box of the same weight, but that might show it better. Still think the Beeb(if it was them) have done a good job on it, just a bit too much aerial view flattens the perspective.

As soon as it's open to the public,I think there should be an STW posters event. It would be great to see how fast some people are on that boring gravel course.I suspect that a lot of them would lack enough orifices to breathe out of. 🙂

So if they make it more radgnarr the riders carry the bikes? Yeah, that'll look good to the average spectator with no mtb experience...

Maybe they should have an all mountain Olympic race, with hills to push up and similar judging to the synchronized swimming for styling it up and being adequately radical...

Would I be right in saying that the course was gravely to avoid a mud bath, if it rained?

Even xc mtb should be technical enough so that it's not just a test of cardio.

a bit like the photo posted by muckytee.. which makes your photo's look a bit mincey..?

[i]Have you ever raced an xc race?

[/i]

You gotta wonder, most of this lot would be stopping to drop their saddles at first sight of a rock/slope...

I suspect the Tv coverage missed lots of crashing and running as it concentrated on the leaders who were making it look easy (because they were in the lead!). I spectate at lots of XC races and the best are 'races' where there are groups of riders who stick together rather than big gaps like this one. Still more interesting than watching a tdf stage mind...

yunki

a bit like the photo posted by muckytee.. which makes your photo's look a bit mincey..?

Does it? Does it really? A tiny drop off on mild downward gradient as opposed to steep off camber rocks and rock gardens?

Did anyone else see any rounds of the UCI XC world cup this year? The same criticism being leveled at the Olympic track just doesn't apply which tells you something.

I don't think it was the best possible showcase for xc. Like it or not people can and will have opinions and guess what, they might express them on a forum.

Does it? Does it really?

especially when you look into the distance, where there appears to be a rock garden to at least equal the rocky sections in your pics..

maybe there's not quite so much moss though..?

EDIT: actually, having compared the shots again, I would say that your photo's rather support the olympic course's gnarliness

here's an unrelated photo to add confusion 😀

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I think the fact that they can all ride it on 80-100mm hardtail hybrid's in the main with virtually slick tyres shows it wasnt technical enough. Im not expecting them to need 140mm trail bikes to get round but equally I dont think it should be so easy they can use what they can.

I seems to me that the courses are designed to suit their bikes rather than the bikes responding to the courses.

I can think of maybe 3 regular forum users who could even come close to riding that course dab free at that speed

I was with you up until that^^^ crazy-legs.
There are hundreds of regular forum users, I think you'd be surprised how many could.

80-100mm hardtail hybrid's

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^^^nice, balanced argument, well done 🙄

Chrismac, you do know what a cross country bike is don't you?

I seems to me that the courses are designed to suit their bikes rather than the bikes responding to the courses.

Yes it's designed as an XC course for XC bikes. What were you expecting from an XC race?

Whippersnapper Yes thanks. Things like Giant anthem's, Spesh epic's, scott spark's, trek top fuel's they are cross country bikes according to their manufacturers.

This thread is seriously funny!

One is left supposing that a race featuring 6 inch travel bikes, with super tacky 2.5 knobblies which conforms to the Olympic course spec, would be far more interesting to watch.

Please, carry on, it's most amusing.

This thread does show that Mountain Biking in the UK seems to exist in some lonely microcosm where there is only "one true way" and it involves Yorkshire-built filing cabinets.

Whippersnapper Yes thanks. Things like Giant anthem's, Spesh epic's, scott spark's, trek top fuel's they are cross country bikes according to their manufacturers.

And do these same manufactures call the kind of bikes raced at the Olympics today 'hybrids'?

This thread does show that Mountain Biking in the UK seems to exist in some lonely microcosm where there is only "one true way" and it involves Yorkshire-built filing cabinets.

*round of applause* well said that man!

'I'll be riding in that Olympics as soon as they fix the track up for me bike'
'Ah, right you are, I can see you're an athlete from a way away, would you like to wear my hat while you do?

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I watched the first 30 mins or so and thought it was a good course considering all the constraints that are on the organisers such as

the course has to work in all weather ,dont forget 2 weeks ago it rained non stop a mud slide fest would look terrible

all the security aspects proberly ruled out a lot of possibles

I am sure that the people who are saying its too easy wouldnt say so if they had been hammering around it flat out for one lap let alone for an hour plus and as we all know what looks easy on TV is far from it.

Well as a spectator event I thought it was really very good. Everything worked, park and ride, the race, food, space, weather all spot on.
Hard to fault anything.

Well as a spectator event I thought it was really very good.

that's where you've failed!

you should be sat at home on the computer saying how gash it was based purely on the fact that you can wobble around a trail centre slowly with a 5" travel skill compensator before heading to the cafe to eat your substantial bodyweight in bacon butties. 😀

Shall I take it that you haven't ridden a race then?

that's where you've failed!

muckytee - Member
Good thing about XC is that you have to have the lungs as well as the skill, and to my mind that makes it more of a sport than DH for example (not a stab at DH just an example).

Try racing Fort William without a good set of lungs and see how you get on

CBA getting into the course debate - it didn't look very interesting to me but I don't know much about XC racing and haven't seen it in the flesh. I do reckon a 'gravity enduro' type race would be much better viewing, but it would be quite hard to film well I suppose.

But.................. given all the massive evangelism/hype about 29ers being so much faster/better (including lots of people on here) - how come it was 26ers in 1st (and 3rd)?

One fault I just remembered:
£45 pound didn't seem to do any more than a £25 ticket, unless I missed it.