Olympic X/C countdown

[Bernard Smith]

Scott 650B hardtail w/bar ends? Thomas Frieshnick's boys are a flashback.http://live.redbull.tv/events/33/ucistop1-xc2/
bernie

[ihateplaindave]

"Track: 5.5km long 280m altitude variance per lap." Man, talk about your made-for-TV event.

[Bernard Smith]

I thought the course design was great, maybe the man made rock sections were the best (log drops reminded me of poto). What really stood out was the terrain. It remined me of glaciated terrain like Boyne. The rocks appeared to be ground roundish, like glaciers produce, rather than busted shards of rock like you see in true mountain regions. Is there a geologist out here that can elaborate? The rolling terrain was perfect for creating switch backs, separating the true climbers. Nino mentioned that he felt his advantage was in the techy rock downhills. Kinda funny hearing a hardtail guy having an advantage over full sus on those dh rocks. Looked to me, his advantage was his fittness & light bike, for the climbs. Happy to see a hard tail/flat bars w/bar ends making a strong come back.
James Huang posted this today http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/nin ... 50b-wheels Not sure about the white walls making a come back.
bernie

[Bernard Smith]

World Cup #2, http://live.redbull.tv/events/39/uci-ho ... e-xco-men/
Talk about a compressed area to pull off a tough course. Course demonstrated an advantage of smaller wheeled hard tails, over 29'r & full sus bikes. Think of Torn Shirt trail/mutated from too many steroids. It would probably be impossible to optimize a confined terrain, more than was accomplished here. The set up was best for spectators & broadcast logistics but looked like, if you compressed endurance event down to a max anarobic endurance, this is what is possible. Like the commentator said, "this venue is known as the Paris Roubaix of mtn biking". I don't think the Olympic course will be this tough. It was good to see they left the tree stumps & roots on the down hills.

[bones]

Not sure about the white walls making a come back.

Hey Bernie, I think those are Dugast tubular mtb tires they are running now in world cup races ...really low pressure. Considering all the hassle we have with Stans goo and such, can you even begin to imagine us weekend warriors having to glue our own mtb tires up like that? - Bernie (the other one)

[ihateplaindave]

Cool to see bunch of Icemen there.

[kyleRIG29er]

It would be cool if more races had better viewing for spectators. (My gf complains a lot about that.) What are the best races for spectator viewing?

[Kampfire]

Pando and State Games of Michigan have pretty good viewing spots.

[jonw9]

Pando and State Games of Michigan have pretty good viewing spots.

Pando is good because of the short laps, so you go around a lot. Ruby is good too. You can get by the water and watch both crossings, or close to the start, from there you could see the racers 3 times per lap.

Peak to Peak is cool if you can take the lift to the top of the mountain.

[kyleRIG29er]

Thanks guys, I'm running all the mmba races, so I'll run the burg and pando both.

[jlrotax583]

At the Sweat Shaker (MidMichCommCollege) you will want to be up behind the tennis courts on the knolls.
The trial passes by there 2-3 times and depending tree cover you can see quite a bit of the course.


-Jon

[ReidRules18]

Pando and State Games of Michigan have pretty good viewing spots.

Very true, the State games has great viewing. Make sure to make it out June 23rd

[BigGear]

I hope they cover the olympic race for more than a few minutes. I remeber whatching a x/c ski race and they skipped most of it. Didn't know this was even an olympic sport. Really excited to see this on tv! Wish there were alot more coverage of mtn. biking on tv.

[redwoods22]

I just read somewhere that NBC will be steaming EVERY event live this year.. saw on twitter sometime in the last 2 days.. I'll try to find it and post..

[redwoods22]

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/04/2012 ... m-live-but