DH World Champs – Norway -SPOILERS

Brycelands race run

It’s not that black and white, at all.

Take Gee, he is a successful racer, fast as hell. Yet you barely see any GT’s at the races, or anywhere in fact.

Go to the races, there are Gamblers everywhere. All the kids want to ride like Brendan. That’s why he gets good contracts, because he sells a truck load of bikes for the brand he’s riding for.

It’s not just about being fast (which he is, still, ridiculously so, considering his lack of interest in pedalling).

All true – but the number of Scott Gamblers gathering dust in five years’ time is not the same epitaph as ‘World Champion’, though, is it?

You can still be stylish (Josh), or wild (Blenky), do a bit of fitness work, and put in a good performance.

Sure, Fairclough may have worked out a way of getting paid without having to do so much of the hard yards – good for him. It is more about what you want to be remembered for. He just frustrates me.

Neko’s chainless run and Josh’s nice little rest go to show that this pedaling lark is overrated. Bren does more than enough to justify his position. Even if his race results do frustrate his fans as they/we do think he’s not quite living up to his potential, he gets more than his fair share of great riding vids out there and he’s always repping.

Yes, but that fitness work also helps to yank that bike upright when you’re 90% of the way down the hill and need to pop out of a corner or suchlike.

As I said – he has a great lifestyle and is so talented it hurts, but it is about what he wants to be remembered for – bike sales or world cup/champs results. I know which I would choose if I had half the bloke’s talent………

I like the tail end of the audio on that go-pro footage

Ratboy: I didn’t want to brake for that last jump
Minnaar: I noticed
Ratboy: Did you brake?
Minnaar: I had a flat…

That Go-Pro footage is, like Sam Hill’s Meribel run, nuts. So much speed everywhere.

And you left the “Aww, ****” off the end of that transcript cookeaa 🙂

Shhh there might be children within ear shot…

In other related news, Rachel’s face in this photo:

She’s not a happy girl…

Ouch!

Ooof.

Why’d you have to try and do an ET impression Bryceland?

🙁

Man – he missed that that transition my such a small amount!
How the hell did he stay on his bike!

Yes, but that fitness work also helps to yank that bike upright when you’re 90% of the way down the hill and need to pop out of a corner or suchlike.

Just a follow up to @danny – fitness impacts decision making too as well as motor skills, if you are tired your ability to make all those little adjustments is significantly impacted and at race speeds on an MTB those margins are significant. F1 drivers are incredibly fit now its not because they need to pedal the car is it !

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-josh-brycelands-hafjell-gopro-run-2014.html

Felt dizzy just watching the head cam.

scunny – Member

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-josh-brycelands-hafjell-gopro-run-2014.html

Felt dizzy just watching the head cam.

Was just about to post this after having just watched it.
The helemt cam really showed how crazy some of those rock sections were and also how much momentum Josh was carrying through them.

Loved the bit at the very end were he’s talking to Greg Minnaar:
Ratboy “I didn’t want to brake for that jump”
Greg “I noticed”
Ratboy “did you brake?”
Greg “I had a puncture”
Ratboy “aw w**k”

Hope it heals well and quickly for him.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-josh-brycelands-hafjell-gopro-run-2014.html

Yeah incredible run

so fast

Great result for British MTB – 1,2,3 in the ladies is a hell of a result.

Part of me is glad that Gee won just because of the nationality thing, but I’m not a fan. Like others, I just find him a bit dour. Was gutted for the Rat though – what a season he has had. To be honest, I thought his career was going to go the way of Brenden’s – loads of talent but not the results to back it up. But something has clicked / changed.

Hill’s crash in those rocks looked awful.

That Gopro footage of Bryceland is insane!

http://i.imgur.com/wcyonWQ.jpg

What a day. 😛

Anyone know if a pedal/pedal axle broke, or he just slipped off it? Can you slip off clips??

Can you slip off clips??

Yes you can be ejected from clips. It is not a pleasant experience

You can see the pedal is still attached to the cranks in the video so he was ejected from it rather than snapping it clean off. I don’t think it made much difference to that foot though.

What’s most astounding is that the footage actually looks properly fast even though it’s a headcam, which must mean it’s in fact super duper mega insanely fast.

Just a follow up to @danny – fitness impacts decision making too as well as motor skills, if you are tired your ability to make all those little adjustments is significantly impacted and at race speeds on an MTB those margins are significant. F1 drivers are incredibly fit now its not because they need to pedal the car is it !

Exactly. It all adds up and it all contributes. As they keep saying over and over the WC downhill has moved on from the Warner/Peaty (early Peaty) years. You cannot be unfit and expect to win now. Someone like Gee probably has 90-95% of the skills of Fairclough, but he’s doing the grunt work and that more than makes up for what he ‘lacks’ in ‘radness’.

Come on Brendan, knuckle down and let us see what you’re really capable of, please. You could be the best for a good few years, you’ve got the bit that you can’t acquire through hard work (god-given if you subscribe to such notions), so surely a bit of effort in the gym can’t be too much to ask?

Someone like Gee probably has 90-95% of the skills of Fairclough

You’re talking as if Gee was some middling racer who’s got to being a double Downhill World champ and multiple time Rampage finalist just by getting dead fit and sprinting everywhere. Ge has insane riding skills and is very much as good as Brendog, it’s just he tends to be a little less showy over a race weekend. I’ve been privileged enough to watch them both in their early careers and they’ve both impressed me equally with their riding and that’s understating it somewhat.

I guess you could probably say that Gee’s focus is winning and Brendan’s is having fun and both are equally valid paths.

It’s almost a clips v flats thing. ;o)

Thing is, the line between “Hero” and “Zero” in the DH world is now incredibly thin. You have to take amazing risks to win, but balance those risks against the chance of them not paying off.
There can’t be that many sports where the difference between sitting on the top spot of the podium, and a career ending injury is so fine! And remember, Ratty is a young gun still, he’s still learning his race craft, making the mistakes that everyone has to make to move up.
I’m sure the more experienced racers like Gee and Gwin seem a bit colder and more calculating simply because they are! They know, understand, and probably play the risks better than anyone.

You’re talking as if Gee was some middling racer who’s got to being a double Downhill World champ and multiple time Rampage finalist just by getting dead fit and sprinting everywhere. Ge has insane riding skills and is very much as good as Brendog, it’s just he tends to be a little less showy over a race weekend. I’ve been privileged enough to watch them both in their early careers and they’ve both impressed me equally with their riding and that’s understating it somewhat.

I guess you could probably say that Gee’s focus is winning and Brendan’s is having fun and both are equally valid paths.

It’s almost a clips v flats thing. ;o)

You’re jumping off at the deep end. Obviously Gee has almost unbelievable skills as well. I’ve seen him do plenty of amazing stuff, but he is not quite as naturally talented as Fairclough, in my opinion. Maybe it would be closer to 98%, it would be stupid to try to be ‘exact’ on something so subjective.

I also think a lot of the difference is ‘up top’. Gee is a professional race winner. Brendan is a professional rider. I’m not being very clear. Look, I just want Brendan to give himself a chance to be at the top of the leader board. As I said before, selling a few bikes and being ‘rad’ in videos is great, but sooner or later someone else will come along who is more ‘rad’. If you’ve pitted yourself against the best riders and bikes in the world at that particular event and come out on top, you (and everyone else) know you have been the best.

I have about 0.1% of Brendan Fairclough’s skills on a bike, I’d love to see him say “here I am, I’m as fit as I can be, I’m gonna f-ing win everything”. Just to make the most of his talents. What’s wrong with that?

I have about 0.1% of Brendan Fairclough’s skills on a bike, I’d love to see him say “here I am, I’m as fit as I can be, I’m gonna f-ing win everything”. Just to make the most of his talents. What’s wrong with that?

Absolutely nothing, me too.

I was probably just reacting to the general level of Gee bashing that goes on on forums.

Quote: “Gee probably has 90-95% of the skills of Fairclough, but he’s doing the grunt work and that more than makes up for what he ‘lacks’ in ‘radness”

I disagree: as a racer, Gee is more skilled than Brendan. Whips don’t win you races and style tends to slow you down.

Brandon Semenuk is probably the most talented person on a mountain bike at the moment in terms of doing tricks but could he win a world cup? I seriously doubt it.

Would’ve been interesting to see how Blenki would’ve got on if he didn’t hit the jumps up top with such style & just flattened them, Danny Hart is another who’s got a lot of style in the air, & obvious speed & talent but has yet to put a world cup win together…

Hart was up in split-1 until he came unstuck in a corner….there were a lot of ‘what ifs’ at this WC….

….i’d love to see a WC where Hart, Gee, Bryceland, Fairclough, Hill, Blenkinsop, Brosnan etc all put in their perfect runs, no crashes, no mechanicals, just these riders at their best….i reckon Hill would just edge the rest of them.

deviant – Member
Hart was up in split-1 until he came unstuck in a corner

Sounds like every race he does these days, he was probably 1mm away from it at Champerry.
Watching the helmet cam of Bryceland it’s never seemed that wild or that do or die just solidly committed all they way until that last moment. Hopefully the likes of Hart can take a bit from that and put a lot of work in over the winter. They all have a 2/3 month headstart on Ratboy now.

On the Atherton thing, he is a great racer but has the misfortune to look miserable a lot and look like he is sulking if things don’t go his way. Imagine how long the face would be if he had been beaten by a 1 footed Bryceland.

What’s most astounding is that the footage actually looks properly fast even though it’s a headcam, which must mean it’s in fact super duper mega insanely fast.

What’s amazing is how much drive he gets out of the berms. I don’t think he’s pedalling so he must be giving it a huge pump but he seems to magically gain massive speed out of the corners.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10672344_10152249043490303_6107800711252867186_n.jpg?oh=31a26d89c9c1af857478c992a5813c8d&oe=548FBC8E&__gda__=1418444696_2a1b96d73f603a7e039ca540a83e0a3f

Maximimum respect to all of them.

Are you Brendan’s dad Dannyh?

If not (or even if you are) try to accept that not everyone can be the best at what they do, and natural talent is only one part of the jigsaw – along with motivation, physical potential and the whole mental side of the race weekend.

Who cares if Brendan isnt winning WC, hes off to Rampage soon to huck another 900ft death gap to uphill landing !

As for Gee, I’ve been to Revolution quite a bit and simply cant understand the skill to ride that quarry line.

The fact that Britain has so many top racers and freeriders / whatever should be celebrated.

Are you Brendan’s dad Dannyh?

If not (or even if you are) try to accept that not everyone can be the best at what they do, and natural talent is only one part of the jigsaw – along with motivation, physical potential and the whole mental side of the race weekend.

Not quite old enough for that, not far off, though.

There is a little bit of me that thinks “I hope someone shows this to Brendan”. I’d just love to see what he is really capable of on a bike in a race sense. The funny thing is that your second paragraph agrees with my points about natural ability not being the be-all and end-all nowadays.

It’s probably incredibly pompous of me to think that Brendan might even give a shit what I think (why should he), but simpletons like me don’t want to watch rampage or slope style events to be told that he under rotated the third 360 and will lose style points. I want to watch people race over mind blowing terrain to decide who is the winner. I think Brendan could have won a World Cup event by now. I think he could have been a regular in the top five overall as well. He hasn’t, I’m jealous of his talents, I don’t want to see them wasted!

Steve77 – Member

What’s most astounding is that the footage actually looks properly fast even though it’s a headcam, which must mean it’s in fact super duper mega insanely fast.

What’s amazing is how much drive he gets out of the berms. I don’t think he’s pedalling so he must be giving it a huge pump but he seems to magically gain massive speed out of the corners.[/quote]

I had to keep checking to see the footage wasn’t sped up – it looked impossibly fast – the fact the sound of the fans shouting and generally making a racket wasn’t distorted proves it, but it still messes with your head.

As others have said, there were a lot of “what ifs”. Really good to see the camaraderie within the SPS Syndicate and, IMHO, I think Gee was truly gutted for Brycleand.

is there antwhere ican watch a rerun?

Gee at Rampage is one of my favourites to watch, his lines are proper top to bottom runs rather than 3 or 4 big stunts with fluff in between.

Can’t remember what year it was but back in the Commencal days he built that weird (awesome) hip to wall ride, which was used the next year by 2 or 3 other riders in their runs.

@kimbers – read the thread its on RedBull TV website

EDIT: Link to whole thing, highlights available too if you wish

here you go