Bratislava City Downhill Track Walk

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Bratislava City Downhill Track Walk

Jun 22, 2013

by Filip Nagy

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Starting right on the castle courtyard, the course runs down many sets of stairs and finishes on a square in the bottom right corner of the photo

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Hutchinson UR rider Fabien Cousinié outlined by the castle gate checks out the 15-foot start ramp right in the courtyard. Come next day, riders are going to be thrashing it all morning during the trainings and twice in the afternoon during the semi and final runs.

 

"It’s pretty unique starting in the middle of the castle. I think it‘s gonna be pretty tight too, really close times. Just don’t know yet if I’m gonna ride an enduro or downhill bike, so it’s gonna be a big question for tomorrow." - Fabien Cousinié

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg The speed from the steep ramp is will be enough to bottom out the suspension on the transition, but to clear the first big gap right in the big doorway, a good few pedalstrokes on the straight are vital.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg The first jump will offer one of the best views of the city and some cultural artifacts to admire. Unless you would be more interested in getting to the finish as fast as possible.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Big off-camber turn on the slick cobblestones points the riders towards the first sets of stairs.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Tracey Hannah is the only lady invited to ride the intimidating track. She wasn’t all smiles during the track walk as she weighed the risks of the course suffering a serious injury in 2012 and a broken collarbone earlier this year.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg It’s not the size of the main drop, but the angle of the landing, that had majority of the riders using all kinds of swearwords on the first sight of the beast."Oh my f—king sh-t the bed“ from Matti was the most creative one. "I don’t think I have a lot going on in my head anyways, but this is gonna be a highway to hell. That’s why I brought a heavy metal helmet and Datel (Slavik) a heavy metal shirt." - Michal Marosi

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Fourcross legend Michal Prokop checks out the transition to flat on his enduro 29er. Count in the speed from the actual huck and the G-forces are going to be massive.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg The course builder is the one to send all the jumps for the first time and adjust the spacing before they are anchored into the cobblestones for good. Filip Polc sends the drop in the last few hours of sunlight.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpgThe building of the obstacles was still well underway during the course walk as the the castle had to stay unobstructed for tourists for as long as possible. A giant wallride will send the riders onto the medieval stones and then back on wood.

 

Marcelo Guttierez: "It’s sketchy. Worse than I expected. You have to hop to the wall, and then hop off the wall and the lip is quite steep. It’s hard to say if it’s scarier or not [than the tracks in South America] but it definitely is scary.“

 

Matti Lehikoinen: When was the last time I did a wallride? About ten years ago? Tomas Slavik: What side do you do wallrides on? Matti: I don’t even know.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg 40-footer is now moved out of the walkers‘ way, expecting to be positioned and tested by the course designer himself.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Sketchy, narrow, unevenen and unpredictable stairs will punish the wheels for any loss of concentration of their owners. No spectators will be allowed in here as there is simply no room to spare. Matti Lehikoinen was one of two riders that were quick to grab their bikes and helmets and smash the sets before the sun went down.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Street art meets history. The theme of medieval structures littered with graffiti runs down the whole course. The flat take-off on top of three big sets of stairs had riders thinking which one of them is the landing. The trouble is, with no berm to push against at the end, even scrubbing the jump will make it very hard to turn on the bottom.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Everyone was hoping the young builders did a good job of anchoring this tiny berm into the ground. With the finish just around the corner, riders will be trying to push out of it with all they have left

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Only four feet high, but count in finish straight speed and count out any landing, and the rear suspension will have some rather unpleasant times dealing with this jump to finish.

 

HELLS BELLS this 1 is gonna be GOOD

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http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Bratislava-City-Downhill-Track-Walk.html

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http://youtu.be/JC3u12WIELc

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg The first practice run was enough to fill the space in front of the mechanics‘ tent full of unrideable machines.

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http://lp3.pinkbike.org/p1pb6168857/p1pb6168857.jpg Tomas Slavik kept referring to his 4-inch full suspension bike he brought to the venue as a jackhammer, making jokes, that if that feels like too much travel, he also has his hardtail bike on duty. Fate had caught up with him however, as he snapped the linkages clean in two during one of the first practice runs and had to resort to the unsprung hardtail. On which he has won the qualifying...