It just been made clear it’s possible to watch the mountain biking at cannock without a ticket.
Does anyone know how much can be seen of the event without one
I’m off work on Wednesday maybe worth a drive down (from NW) a bit closer then cycle in

I did try and get tickets but failed did anyone get any?

My riding buddy has got tickets, presume they are for the start/finish or climb or something, he doesn’t actually know. But yea you can stand by the course for free.
Most of the residents of Malvern might be there to support Evie
https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/malvern/20230166.birmingham-2022-no-need-tickets-watch-richards-commonwealth-games/#:~:text=FANS%20of%20Malvern’s%20very%20own,Games%20in%20Birmingham%20in%20August.

It’s just the arena bit that is ticketed, you can stand anywhere along the course.
I’m gutted coz I’m going on holiday to wales tomorrow and I live 35 mins away.

Have a look on the official webpage and there are a couple of maps on there.
Tickets get you into the main start/finish area. The free to view spectator points are colour coded, possibly 5/6 different areas iirc. It’s a small course with hardly any elevation so you’ll easily get to see all the different available parts of the track if you wanted.

We really enjoyed watching the Glasgow XC – really fun spectating, great atmosphere at the finish, a lot of love for the underdog/those running in with punctures etc.

anyone know if it’s going to be on the main telly, or red button? assuming BBC will cover it?

Not sure about TV etc but when I was round there a few weeks ago they were building a rock drop off.

Looks nasty and quite big, I certainly wouldn’t ride it.

Interesting to see if it is on tv or you tube just how big it looks.

only the arena is ticketed

Where would I find the starting lineups for the mtb race?

Couldn’t find them after a Google and look through the official Commonwealth games website.

https://www.facebook.com/739324342838427/posts/4849292191841601/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-62397139

https://www.birmingham2022.com/results/day-by-day

https://www.birmingham2022.com/results/day-by-day

Click on the MTB event, it then shows the Mens & Womens events. Click on the + to see the line up.

Why no Annie Last?

Is this going to be shown live on the BBC coverage? Or is there a scheduled slot for highlights?

Looks like it yes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/commonwealth-games/62239236

I’m sure it’ll be via the red button if not the main channel.

11.30-4pm.today

Men’s 11.30, womens 2pm

Hmm. Accessed via Red button / today but just a frozen banner.

Anyone else with more success?

Watching via red button now

BBC online link here.

Can’t see beyond Sam Gaze..?

BBC Red Button. Cross Country Finals, sounds exotic. Had to turn the Wifi’s on in the TV and everything.

Got halfway there and had to turn back as M5 closed due to a fatal accident.

gotta say, listening to rochelle’s commentary is underwhelming. she’s the Daria of commentators.

the racing is quite exciting, if you imagine rob and bart commenting.

Not that I could do much better.

the racing is quite exciting, if you imagine rob and bart commenting.

It is what it is….

In my opinion the course was disappointing, commentators beyond dull and field a little empty being a little devoid of ‘star’ riders with 5 or 6 exceptions. Disappointed Mariske Strauss and Anton Cooper were laid up with Covid.

Pleased with the end results though.

In my opinion the course was disappointing,

Well, those Rock gardens are a lot more complex and “bigger” than they look on the TV, but other than that the course I raced and gave up on felt more challenging than all the flat-ish stuff we saw this afternoon – I only recognised the Twin peaks. I do know from experienced Trails look very different on the telly / at social pace, I know people that say Hadleigh is easy to ride around, but try it race pace and ouch!

BBC can’t match some of the commentators I guess and people are on hols / at work on a Wednesday so do we really expect big crowds? With regard to riders, most of them are focused focused on the World Champs, so a trip to the UK may have been disruptive and also a covid risk that they don’t want to take.

Wow, that was a really dull course.

It was pretty disappointing to see such a small field particularly in the women’s race. I know there are bigger priorities for the top riders but surely the home nations could have sent some more riders partly for younger ones to gain experience at a big event but also to flesh out the race and give the crowd some more riders to cheer. It might be the only experience a lot of those attending will have of watching XC racing – for cycling fans the commonwealths are an after thought but for the general public its probably the race that gets the most coverage and attention outside the Olympics. Jersey had more riders than any of the other nations!

As for Rochelle Gilmour – awful commentator and im surprised the racist tweets a couple of years ago didn’t end her broadcasting career on the bbc.

Don’t understand how Jersey and Guernsey can field 5 riders in total but Wales managed 0. What’s that all about?

Don’t understand how Jersey and Guernsey can field 5 riders in total but Wales managed 0. What’s that all about?

They had an “athlete nomination policy”
I’m guessing no welsh riders met Welsh cyclings overly ambitious standards. Big own goal IMHO.
The policy can be found here.

Welsh Cycling publish Athlete Nomination Policy for Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022

Quotas innit. Wales had a max total number of athletes it could field across all disciplines. I think the system is designed to make sure that the larger richer nations don’t drown out less affluent countries or something.

It’s been the same for a load of events – like the mens 10000m which was had a tiny field and the Marathon where there are Welsh runners with PBs not that much slower than the winning time (eg like my Son in law) albeit on flatter courses.

I had a fun day with my 2 kids in the arena, luckily with a big umbrella for a bit of shade but the event was a total flop for me
– stupidly small fields and not competitive
– no para event or anything else going on
– couldn’t get near the bits/ team zone from the arena so didn’t see the big name riders until 2 mins before race started
– totally un-necessary helicopter flying about but hardly being used for footage. Makes a joke of the ‘try not to drive’ message
– bit of a boring course, no features in the arena area so we actually paid to see the worst bit of the course
– no access to riders post race except a couple who broke out of their pen to see family
– lots of kids trails, BC coaches standing about and messages about bring your kids’ bikes which we did, only to be told they couldn’t come in the arena or lock outside so had to go back to the car

Will there now be some sort of legacy event using the trail? I’d be up for that, flat and boring suits me!

Wasn’t all flat and boring

From that pic, they should definitely have had a side on view for the live footage!

You could see how steep that bit was, but it doesn’t make up for the rest of the track!

Spent all day there, brilliant atmosphere all around the course. Thousands watching.

For what is just a small low level plantation / woodland that has no place in international sport the course was great, that cant be seen on TV, the Heli camera showed riders going over a lump that was actually an 6ft plus gap jump for example ( which was actually a rebuilt cheeky trail) Some of the men / women didnt ride the more difficult sections, but thats the just the more inclusive nature of the games I guess.

Shame about the number of riders but it was held inbetween two North American races so to be expected. Evie was so fast.

Had a strange talking to from some forestry helpers about avoiding ground nesting birds by the course areas after diggers, dumper trucks etc had spent a month in there.

So a great event that has had an unbelievable amount of resources thrown at it. £600k iirc to start with, Im sure that went months ago and more got allocated.

Didn’t go to the grandstand area, that looked piss poor on TV.

Commentator gold for me was “and here’s the last placed rider… oh no it’s not is Evie Richards” 🤣

I was there all day yesterday, went with 3 mates, took bikes and parked at castle ring so biked in via Monkey and Follow the Dog. Had tickets so watched start of men’s race and the end of women’s race + medals from the arena, spent the majority of the time at the rock garden and rock drop, which were impressive to watch, much tougher in real life than came across on TV. Underwhelmed by what the £22 ticket brought, but was good to see Evie cross the line and receive her medal at the end. Still a great day out though! Plus I saw myself on TV afterwards 😎

Had a great day out with some of the kids, parents and other coaches from my Go-Ride club…

The atmosphere was ace, with so many people packed in all cheering and encouraging all the riders, although most people were a little disappointed by the lack of riders in the women’s field. But seeing Evie racing was brilliant… she certainly knows how to ride a bike!

Oh, and have to say, the rock garden was definitely not as tame on the flesh as it looked on TV… and was way harder to ride slower by the looks of it as well. The big drop was also impressively big, although did look easier than the rock garden when you got up close.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any chance of follow up events on the same course… Deers Leap has already gone, as I presume has the rock garden before it. And as I understand it, all the other additional features are being or have already been removed.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any chance of follow up events on the same course… Deers Leap has already gone, as I presume has the rock garden before it. And as I understand it, all the other additional features are being or have already been removed.

Good old England and its progressive thinking 🙂