Its not set in stone that it will remain after the games, should look a whole lot better once all the other infastructure is in place around it.

Some people seem to be confusing being able to ride the course with being able to race it quickly, on an xc bike with a heart rate above 90% of max.

Not having huge extended hills will make it better to watch. If the course is too selective it will just be a procession after a couple of laps.

This is a one-off chance to have a world level race venue built in the south east, an area of the country lacking in top quality natural riding. It might not be worth diving hours to ride it, but its only an hour away from central london so it could provide a great local venue for a huge number of people.

Looks great to me. A XC course that has to deliver on a set day – whatever the weather is like on the day itself or has been over the preceding weeks

Agree with above. Looks miles better than some recent World Cup courses, e.g. Champery. They could keep it for racing after the Olympics if it’s required. Dalby would have been good I guess but maybe it is too far away from the main event.

It’ll serve the purpose it was built for I reckon.

I’m surprised more people on here don’t like it, seems to be what many drive out at the weekends after posting on here to see what the conditions are, what tyres they’ll need and if body armour is needed.

Yeah we could all ride it piss easy, but on a race day i’m sure that the terrain isn’t going to matter as much as the pace.

Errr, no you couldn’t. There’s a couple of the sections involve significant drops if you take the hardest (and fastest) line. Not beyond many, but certainly well above average skill level required to ride the entire course. And then there’s the rock garden climb, which you have zero momentum going into. It’s an arse I can tell you!

It’ll serve the purpose it was built for I reckon.

Precisely my thoughts having ridden it. It’s pretty far from my favourite trail ever ridden, but then it’s not designed to be nice in any way. It’s designed for a purpose, to be a bit of a bugger when the riders are tired. You CAN NOT relax on this course, trust me, and I was going about 1/2 the pace (if I’m lucky) that the Olympic riders will ride it. Relax on it, and it’ll have you off. The motorway wide sections in parts are mainly to make sure there’s ample overtaking room, but they’re not long and they go by quickly.

Anyone ridden any XC race courses in the UK that would prove tricky on a CX bike?

Well the gorrick 100 last year used the deerstalker as a decent, I’d like to see anyone ride a CX bike down there at speed!

Although admitedly I spent the other 95% wishing for a CX bike in the mud!

<edit> saying that there were a lot of people walking sections as they became unrideable.

Anyone ridden any XC race courses in the UK that would prove tricky on a CX bike?

Dalby World Cup course?

Anyone ridden any XC race courses in the UK that would prove tricky on a CX bike?

Brownbacks Series @ Lee Quarry

um…if theyre ridable on the cross bike your not going fast enough…
seriously no one gets this concept of speed of racing,i dont mind because this isnt a racing forum but at least people agree that its a raceable course with interesting sections
Bruce

Well done mboy, good write up 🙂

Thank God for that, well said mboy!
And nice work volunteering to go ride it for STW as well. 🙂

Too many people are confusing XC Racing with “I’ve ridden my bike on well’ard gnarl core, that looks rubbish”. There are very specific rules and regs re the course, it has to be able to cope with the influx of thousands of cars/trucks/spectators/TV. From the pics I’ve seen it looks like a good course.

mboy – Member
There’s a couple of the sections involve significant drops if you take the hardest (and fastest) line. Not beyond many, but certainly well above average skill level required to ride the entire course. And then there’s the rock garden climb, which you have zero momentum going into. It’s an arse I can tell you!

You CAN NOT relax on this course, trust me, and I was going about 1/2 the pace (if I’m lucky) that the Olympic riders will ride it. Relax on it, and it’ll have you off. The motorway wide sections in parts are mainly to make sure there’s ample overtaking room, but they’re not long and they go by quickly.

Sounds brilliant, just have to hope i get some tickets now.

With all the talk about Legacy for the venues after the games are over it doesn’t look like something I’d drive miles to ride

I’d suggest the legacy is more about attracting new people to the pastime, not to pander to cynics like your good self.

I fancy a few laps.

“Certainly well above average skill level required”

For me that remark is the main concern. Olympians are the top 0.1% (or fewer) of sportsman/women. The concern is that it’s just too easy for them.

But I guess at race-pace it’s a different story.

Drac – Moderator

It’ll serve the purpose it was built for I reckon.

I’m surprised more people on here don’t like it, seems to be what many drive out at the weekends after posting on here to see what the conditions are, what tyres they’ll need and if body armour is needed.

+1

In a country with an abundance of easily accessible mountains it is a travesty having that course.

I’m sure the race will be fast and furious though, and the local community will have a nice playground afterwards. I couldn’t imagine bothering to drive any distance to use it though.

In a country with an abundance of easily accessible mountains it is a travesty having that course.

Mountains do NOT make an Olympic (or even a normal) XC race course! It’s not the same as a bunch of middle aged slightly overweight giffers (aka ST Forumites) going out for a weekend “epic”.

There are very strict rules about the amount of climbing/descending per lap, the length of the lap, the number of technical sections, the width of the track etc etc. And it has to look good on TV – having a splintered group spread over half a mountain doesn’t fulfil that part of it.

+1 to everything Crazy-legs said!

For me that remark is the main concern. Olympians are the top 0.1% (or fewer) of sportsman/women. The concern is that it’s just too easy for them.

Watching Liam Killeen and Kenta Galagher, they managed very well on each of the sections I saw. The girls struggled a bit more on the very technical sections though, there were very nearly a couple of offs!

But at race pace, riding sub 20lb bikes with fragile wheels and lightweight tyres, these sections will be VERY tough. They were quite a challenge for me on a 28lb full sus bike with 2.2″ tyres on…

Is it open to the public currently or closed off?

Good write up mboy. Sounds like it’s spot on to me.

Closed off, and will remain so until after the Games at least.

If they had used an existing course/venue on a mountain or whereever, it would be closed to the public from about now until the event – imagine how many people that would pee off.

As it stands there’s a new course that wont intefere with normal routes, and maybe available after.

Looks good to me.

How are they going to stop people riding it – brash it? 😀

Could be the ultimate cheeky trail

crazy-legs – Member
…Mountains do NOT make an Olympic (or even a normal) XC race course!. It’s not the same as a bunch of middle aged slightly overweight giffers (aka ST Forumites) going out for a weekend “epic”…

So it appears. Fancy us being so misguided to think that anything called mountain biking would be best done on a mountain – must be because we’re middle-aged and can remember what the word’s original meaning was.

Not some hillock designed by a pillock for TV moundbike racing.

Fancy us being so misguided to think that anything called mountain biking would be best done on a mountain

Yes, fancy that! 🙄

So you know nothing about XC racing then come on to whine about the course simply because the word ‘mountain’ appears in the name of the sport and there are no mountains?

Do you also whine because there are no steeples in the steeplechase?

Sorry, but the sport of XC mtbing is not usually done on mountains. Get used to it, or STFU this has gone on far too long.

EDIT now I’ve looked at those new pics, it looks bloody brilliant! I love the fact that there are no trees and you can see loads of the course. And those fast bermy bits will be a hoot with riders battling for position.. it’ll be like XC meets 4X 🙂

looks like the course could provide a great race to watch, if we cant have 4X, why not make the XC a bit more open rather than tight

its a race after all, not timed laps

am i interested in riding there – not really, id do a lap or two if i happened to be there with a bike tho.

molgrips – Member
…Do you also whine because there are no steeples in the steeplechase?…

I thought that was because the steeples had got away…

This seems a sensitive point, so yeah, I’ll STFU now.

Easy to confuse the design parameters of this course with trails we enjoy riding but the two are very different. The Olympic course needs to be reasonably close to London, which is no where near the mountains we covet. Technically, it looks challenging enough for XC whippets at race speed. Multiple laps of a short course allow familiarisation for the riders and more consistent spectating once the field thins out. Spectators need easy access, parking, good views, portable toilets, burger vans. TV crews need truck parking space / media village, open views to limit camera numbers. All of these can be had at the chosen location but are less than easy to set up at yer average FC trail centre. Look at the commitment required to provide reasonable TV coverage at Nevis Range events. It’s murder and they’ve got gondolas.

Good article on the course, it looks really good to me, should provide some great fast racing.

Its cross country racing, anyone who thinks it looks easy should try riding at 90-100% effort for 2 and 1/2 hours round that course and see how easy they think it is then.

As for XC racing not being representative of what mountain biking is in this country? What do you propose the Olympic event of Mountain biking comprised instead, how about a group of overweight middle aged men in pads and armour wobbling round a trail centre, stopping every 10 minutes to stand around chatting b*ll*cks about compression ratios and tyre choices? Because that would make great TV would’nt it?

Yes J – medals awarded for mincing, sitting in the saddle like a sack of spuds on technical bits, having your saddle too low, and the ratio of bike cost to ability.

The more magazine reviews quoted, the more points you get.

On and seriously though – big long climbs would make rubbish TV, which is why this flatter venue is good I think. I love to ride at Margam but wheel to wheel thrills it was not.

I was interested about the line choice and the easy/slow and hard/fast lines. How do you think the riders will play it? I would not fancy risking some of those lines on light weight wheels, seat up my arse and with a big penalty if something goes wrong. Am i just underestimating the strength of a light weight XC bike. In which case why do I bother riding a 28 pounds bike?? Is it usual/allowed for them to have pit stops to change wheels and the like?

Is it a permanent course or just for the Olympics. In general I think it should have been the UKs games not London. It is not as if London needs more money but hey ho can’t do much about that. Good job the rest of the country does not have to pay for it (Ironic comment)

“big long climbs would make rubbish TV”

Having thought about it, I also now understand the point of having constant changes between climbs and descents. They are maxed-out up and down, and constantly changing riding position rather than sitting into a steady cadence. No doubt they can manage the terrain technicalities, but this course design makes energy management very technical indeed.

That course looks mint for a mountain bike race. Very spectator friendly.
By hell, what a miserable, negative place this website has become.

looks good, i hope they have normal races on it afterwards. hardest i raced last year was in a flat xc race. mountains have their place but don’t always make for good racing.

I was thinking the same as monksie. Would I get by the gap jump and ‘whoo!’ every time someone jumped it, or go by the big rock drop and ‘ohh!’ every time someone dropped it? Either way it looks like a fun day out for the spectators…

How do you think the riders will play it? I would not fancy risking some of those lines on light weight wheels, seat up my arse and with a big penalty if something goes wrong

You underestimate XC riders. They will ride every single second of it absolutely flat out, up or down. Their wheels are light but they have the skill to not break them. They are amazingly fit but also unbelievably skilled riders. They will move faster than you ever thought possible EVEN with flat bars and their seat up their arse. I am always amazed at Gorricks and this is the Olympics!

As for pit stops – again, XC racing is so utterly mental that there simply isn’t time. A mechanical, will most likely ruin your chances. It’d be like sprinters stopping in the 400m to tie their shoe laces 🙂

Go see the event and I am sure you will gain new repsect for the sport of XC!

So do you get fitter from constant say (50m up 50m down)x10 more so than 500m up and then 500m down at the same pace? I used to live in Sheffield so my usual old ride used to be big climb – undulating – big descent. Now the highest point I am riding is 170m and lowest 50m but with loads of steep valleys in between. I am sure I am fitter now but after living in Sheffield I did not have a car for 3 years so was riding an extra 40km to the woods and back and I ride to work everyday.

+1, well said molgrips

I knew this would get emotional – that’s why I stayed out of it.

As far as the sport of “Mountain Biking” being a majority composite of mincing, leisurely paced, opinionated bloaters – I would agree. But then sports are represeneted by the majority aren’t they? Or is it just an elite few?

BTW – Leisurely paced and feared of drops I am… but then I wouldn’t describe myself as being any good.