Commonwealth Games mountain biking today from 11:30am

Some good tunes playing

Those from lesser know mtb countries were struggling in places and a few fell off going over the stegosaurus rocks (taken the wrong way so downhill slightly).

Spose it’s all relative as the riders were mostly on the edge of exhaustion all the time. Of course they’re trained for it etc but it must make obstacles a bit harder than most riders out cruising on a 150mm+ gnar machine.

The fact they are racing obviously adds to the level of technical difficulty but I think the Commonwealth games courses are deliberately less technical than the Olympics or World Cup because the level of ability of the riders is a bit more varied.

Yep to the above. A few of the mens bikes were very old school looking geometry wise and seemed to be very twitchy over anything slightly rough.

Didn’t get close enough to see what they actually were but, the leaders were lightning quick and composed by comparison.

A good watch for the bits I saw.

Saw a post race interview with Evie, and she hoped it would inspire more to take up MTB-ing, as it’s a ‘cool sport’. Even with World & Olympic champions, there’s not a lot of riders coming through in the sport.

Been over the Chase most of the day.
Some good racing.
Watched the replay and surprised to hear the commentator saying the course designers have made it less technical so you (the public) can ride the course after the games – going to be some disappointed people turning up at Cannock.

Was really looking forward to watching the race on the iPlayer. I’ve never been to Cannock Chase, but I’m afraid that watching this wouldn’t make me hurry to get there. It must be hard work for the commentators to make it sound more exciting.

At least there’s plenty of spectators.

Bit of a naive question but did the men and women race the same course over the same number of laps? Asking because Evie beat the men if they did.

I, for one, am amazed that no one has threatened to cancel their STW subscriptions as a result of STW having an article about riders whose bikes cost more than £199 and whose shoes hadn’t been found in the back of a skip. If this sort of things goes unchecked, where will it end?

Bit of a naive question but did the men and women race the same course over the same number of laps? Asking because Evie beat the men if they did.

I think the Women’s race was 8 laps and the Men’s 9

Bit of a naive question but did the men and women race the same course over the same number of laps? Asking because Evie beat the men if they did.

same course but men did more laps. 10 vs 8 I think

Men’s were 8 laps. Women’s 7

Edited

BBC vid

Ahh well, I thought there was a good story there but I was wrong

@johnhe don’t be put off by the fire road sections.
Cannock has a fair bit to offer if you’re prepared to look for it.
Just don’t expect to ride Deers leap…..

Blimey they don’t hang about!

Blimey they don’t hang about!

They’re in competition with Thetford for the UK’s lamest “Black” route. Thetford has the “Beast” which is quite possibly the most terrifying thing since super soft toilet paper.

Gutted! I was looking forward to riding it. Still saves me a trip to Cannock, so silver linings and all that.