Olympic MTB Race

[avanti]

What no mountain?

It appears TV coverage is the main criteria in selecting a site.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mt...lling-The-Olympic-Mountain-Bike-Venue-Myths-0

What is your opinion of the course?

 

[LugHugger]

What no mountain?

It appears TV coverage is the main criteria in selecting a site.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/mt...lling-The-Olympic-Mountain-Bike-Venue-Myths-0

What is your opinion of the course?

The race will be an off-road criterium. No mountain I'm afraid. I believe that the max height gain is 30m. The reasons for not using the original course are specious to say the least. There is ZERO difference in proximity of this site to the main Olympic site than there was from the original site. In addition the original site is an already established MTB venue and would not have required so much investment and ecological disturbance. I'm not saying that a new venue is not to be welcomed, just that the reasons given for deselecting the original site are a load of old tosh.
And the MTB race organisers missed a trick in not exploring sites on the Downs in Kent and Sussex or using Box Hill or Leith Hill in Surrey. At least they could have leveraged a bit more elevation.

The phrase 'couldn't organise a p*ss up in brewery' springs to mind.

 

[DirtyWorks]

What it isn't

Remember, the UCI's goal is to package the sport for entertainment consumption. That's ***completely*** different than what mountain bikers would like to see.

I know I want to see Mont-Sainte-Anne difficulty, but it's not going to happen. It looks like courses are trending towards entirely artificial construction just like a golf course.

Also, let's say the total rise works out to 30m between the lowest and highest point. The UCI wants short blocks of climbing no matter what. It makes better TV.

The best riders will still make gaps over 30m of climbing altitude. 30m is enough to open gaps but not turn the event into a yawner.

This is not what we who like riding steeps and descents are looking for at all. And that's entirely according to plan.

 

[BroDeal]

Buck up, little dudes. At least it is not yet as lame as Olympic triathlon.

Give it a few more years and we'll be talking about which sprinter to put on the Olympic MTB team.

Or maybe they could put a jump on the course in front of the grandstand so the riders can do tricks that will be scored by a panel of judges and result in shaving seconds off the riders' finishing times. The riders could wear bandanas around their faces like they are about to hold up the town bank before riding out to their box canyon hideout. Baggy clothes will be a must, especially if they can be printed to look like denim. And they will have to guzzle a Mountain Dew or a Red Bull before every race...

 

[hubbard]

70m climbing per lap. that's not livin. that's not MTB either. olympics mtb race means nothing anyway. the only one day title that matters is the world championships.

 

[Rip:30]

The phrase 'couldn't organise a p*ss up in brewery' springs to mind.

What? This is hilarious. What does it mean?

 

[DirtyWorks]

Now You've Done It

put a jump on the course in front of the grandstand so the riders can do tricks

Now you've done it. The UCI will be all over that idea. Your idea will go straight to Switzerland where memos will be written, meetings will be called, and presentations made. About 2020, it will be done.

The cat's out of the bag now....

 

[philcrisp]

And the MTB race organisers missed a trick in not exploring sites on the Downs in Kent and Sussex or using Box Hill or Leith Hill in Surrey. At least they could have leveraged a bit more elevation.

But they would have been on the other side of London from the athlete's village.

Having said that I'd agree with a lot of what's been posted about the difference between elite courses and what grass roots racers would like to race.

 

[LugHugger]

But they would have been on the other side of London from the athlete's village.

Having said that I'd agree with a lot of what's been posted about the difference between elite courses and what grass roots racers would like to race.

That's no reason for choosing such a useless piece of terrain. There are rowing and canoeing events in W London, soccer in Glasgow for crying out loud, tennis at Wimbledon and sailing down on the South Coast at Weymouth. It's a pitiful course and a laughing stock considering some of the alternatives available.

 

[MTBrider]

I don't think the pictures do the course justice. By race day I am sure it will be a wicked course that will film really well.

It will be a course that the best riders will win on.

 

[BroDeal]

I don't think the pictures do the course justice. By race day I am sure it will be a wicked course that will film really well.

It will be a course that the best riders will win on.

Yeah, sure. That's what we should all be worried about: Whether the course films really well.

The Olympics should remove MTB. They already have BMX. They don't need another BMX race with larger tires.

 

[Rip:30]

Yeah, sure. That's what we should all be worried about: Whether the course films really well.

The Olympics should remove MTB. They already have BMX. They don't need another BMX race with larger tires.

Haha. Nice one. Pretty much agree though. Why stop there though? Olympics should remove all cycling, since they already have running. They don't need running with wheels between the legs.

 

[dsut4392]

For the Olympic Mountain Bike Event to be considered a success, tickets have to sell out, television viewing figures have to be high, there has to be a legacy of increased participation in the sport and mountain biking has to be seen to have reached a new audience. And you won't achieve those objectives by putting the World's most prestigious mountain bike race in the middle of nowhere, with a pre-existing facility, an established following and a low population density.

With this in mind, a compact 5km course where it's possible to see half of the track from any one vantage point was the only sensible option and something which the UCI are also committed to beyond the Olympic event. Their vision is redefining the notion that cross country mountain bike racing must be in a remote location, surrounded by trees and as a result difficult for TV crews to access.

options to base race broadcasts on Formula One production values - a benchmark in the industry

To paraphrase:
Our intention is to change XC racing so it no longer has anything to do with mountain biking because it will get us more money from TV.

"Worlds most prestigious MTB race", what an utter joke.
Increasing participation by telling the grassroots to go jump, priceless.

If they really wanted to base production values on a relevant "industry benchmark", they should try getting the Collective involved (regardless of the difference between shooting live action broadcast and moovie footage). Applying a Formula One aesthetic to MTB course design and TV broadcats will be infinitely dull to watch.

 

[BroDeal]

To paraphrase:
Our intention is to change XC racing so it no longer has anything to do with mountain biking because it will get us more money from TV.

"Worlds most prestigious MTB race", what an utter joke.
Increasing participation by telling the grassroots to go jump, priceless.

Their own words say exactly what they intend for MTB. As I said before they want BMX with larger wheels.

It is only a matter of time before 5km seems too long then 3 then they will put it in a stadium.

I think they are going down the same road that triathlon went with the ITU. The average triathlete could not care less about the ITU world championships because the short loop courses with drafting make that format fundamentally different than what average triathletes think of as triathlon. A short MTB course with a few small climbs of ten or twently meters is fundamentally different than a longer course with a significant climb, and it is light years from the enduro races that are becoming ever more popular.

 

[MTBrider]

Yeah, sure. That's what we should all be worried about: Whether the course films really well.

The Olympics should remove MTB. They already have BMX. They don't need another BMX race with larger tires.

Actually since very few of us are going to be their live, a course that films well is important.

The Beijing course was a wicked course, it was super tough, technical and allowed the best riders to come to the front but it filmed terrible. On camera it looked slow and easy. Those of us who were there in person saw a course that was technical and very difficult.

The worlds course in Canberra was really not that technical, easier then the Beijing course, but it filmed great. It made XC racing look fast, which on is rare on TV.

 

[The Hitch]

Anyone know in what area the olympic mtb track will be?

 

[LugHugger]

Anyone know in what area the olympic mtb track will be?

Hadleigh Castle Country Park, Basildon

 

[The Hitch]

Hadleigh Castle Country Park, Basildon

Thanks.

FFS, thats not even in London. Way out to the east somewhere.

 

[LugHugger]

Thanks.

FFS, thats not even in London. Way out to the east somewhere.

I know! Having said that, I don't think that there is any site within London that's suitable. The only site that I think that might just have been excusable is Greenwich Park due to it's proximity to the Olympic Village. But then the course would have been just as lame as the one that is currently being finished.