Headshot Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 For me its track dependent. I eventually got tired of the carnage on the Leogang DH (and Rob Warners commentary - by the way he's breathless on the XCO too). Muddy very steep slopes are hard to ride but not that spectacular. I did enjoy seeing the skill differences between the riders in the DH - careful and balanced vs flat out and risky. I think the Lourdes, Val di Sole and Andorra tracks are way better to watch. As far as XCO is concerned, Petropolis is my favourite so far. Had some challenging features and that fast descent to the finish was awesome. The Olympic XCO course was also lovely to watch. Time to ditch the old school tracks like Leogang?
DieselnDust Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Headshot said: For me its track dependent. I eventually got tired of the carnage on the Leogang DH (and Rob Warners commentary - by the way he's breathless on the XCO too). Muddy very steep slopes are hard to ride but not that spectacular. I did enjoy seeing the skill differences between the riders in the DH - careful and balanced vs flat out and risky. I think the Lourdes, Val di Sole and Andorra tracks are way better to watch. As far as XCO is concerned, Petropolis is my favourite so far. Had some challenging features and that fast descent to the finish was awesome. The Olympic XCO course was also lovely to watch. Time to ditch the old school tracks like Leogang? a season needs a good balance of different tracks that plays to different skills, so no, i think we need more races with more variety of track on offer, including old style tracks. This years season is the longest one in history at 9 races + World Champs. We need maybe 12 races in a full season with races spaced every 3 weeks at different styled tracks and conditions Edited June 13, 2022 by DieselnDust Headshot 1
Headshot Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 I just wish SA was be back on the calendar. My only XCO as a spectator was at Coetzenberg. DieselnDust 1
DieselnDust Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 3 hours ago, Headshot said: I just wish SA was be back on the calendar. My only XCO as a spectator was at Coetzenberg. Hopefully someone picks up the dropped ball after the 2018 fiasco. Not making money out of any event htey didnt charge admission for seems pretty catch 22. PS: On the coverage I reckon they need more on the bike footage to give the audience a better riders perspective. There were sections of the Leogang course that are super steep and very technical, e.g THe Skicircus, roots and -31% descent, It was tight and wet as well. I guarantee very few weekend warriors would be able to ride it but you don't get that perspective from the TV footage Headshot and ChrisF 1 1
tinmug Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 21 minutes ago, DieselnDust said: Hopefully someone picks up the dropped ball after the 2018 fiasco. Not making money out of any event htey didnt charge admission for seems pretty catch 22. PS: On the coverage I reckon they need more on the bike footage to give the audience a better riders perspective. There were sections of the Leogang course that are super steep and very technical, e.g THe Skicircus, roots and -31% descent, It was tight and wet as well. I guarantee very few weekend warriors would be able to ride it but you don't get that perspective from the TV footage What's the 2018 fiasco (the fact that they made no money?)? As for footage: it would also be interesting to be able to track live speed, watts and heart rate at times. Who knows what we'll have next year (and at what cost). Rowl 1
DieselnDust Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 11 minutes ago, tinmug said: What's the 2018 fiasco (the fact that they made no money?)? As for footage: it would also be interesting to be able to track live speed, watts and heart rate at times. Who knows what we'll have next year (and at what cost). they made no money then decided to not host it in 2019 and 2020 - effectively cancelled the contract. That was after they told the public they were coming back in 2020 bigger and better. The event was due to be held the same weekend as CTCT so it would not have been affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. Might be a while before SA gets an opportunity to host again if the calendar of events doesn't grow tinmug and Headshot 2
splat Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 On 6/12/2022 at 3:47 PM, Hairy said: Alan is putting in a good fight today Fantastic ride ! https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/22765667/ babse, Headshot, TheoG and 4 others 7
babse Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 7 hours ago, Jewbacca said: All this talk of the track being boring, but there was some serious Gnar in places. Big steep climbs, gnar, loose corners, multiple lines..... It was quite a thing. More technical climbs? More technical flats? How could they make it less boring? Surely the racing dictates that? I reckon the coverage is what makes it boring. They spend the whole race watching the front 2 or 3 who are so evenly matched and the chasing group pingpong just gets ignored. The techy bits are also over so quickly it's difficult to do them justice and the front guys all get through it mostly unscathed, so it just looks like repetitive loops of the same same with 2 guys following each other and 1 or 2 more just behind. Pro sport has begun to become pretty robotic throughout. As science pushes performance, analytics and technology are readily available for all, everyone knows everyone's weaknesses and strengths and has plans to counter them etc... I'm not sure how they could dress the racing up differently to make it less monotonous. They tried with XCC and even that gets slated by people as being mickey mouse or whatever they decide is wrong with it. I do also think that we, as an audience, have changed. We are far more vocally dissatisfied with everything. It takes more and more to satisfy the collective and having the strongest, most scientifically advanced humans racing for seconds isn't a recipe for excitement. Get a bunch of less fit hackers together to duke it out and it would be way more exciting to watch for us Who said this track was boring and non technical? Don't think those okes watched the correct race 🤔 OVERDRIVE, ChrisF, DieselnDust and 1 other 2 1 1
milky4130 Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 2 minutes ago, babse said: Who said this track was boring and non technical? Don't think those okes watched the correct race 🤔 probably never race XCO before either so have no idea 😝 Danger Dassie, Jewbacca and OVERDRIVE 2 1
babse Posted June 13, 2022 Posted June 13, 2022 1 minute ago, milky4130 said: probably never race XCO before either so have no idea 😝 Hahaha im 100% walking that steep rooty section 🤓 Headshot, Jewbacca, ChrisF and 2 others 3 2
Headshot Posted June 14, 2022 Posted June 14, 2022 Ya, that steep descent would be interesting on my enduro bike with an Assegai up front never mind a Rekon Race 🙂
TheoG Posted June 14, 2022 Posted June 14, 2022 15 hours ago, babse said: Hahaha im 100% walking that steep rooty section 🤓 That make at least 2 of us 🙈 babse and ChrisF 2
DieselnDust Posted July 8, 2022 Posted July 8, 2022 That was a great race Rowl, OVERDRIVE, babse and 2 others 5
babse Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 Lekker Alan, you smoked that ou pert Nino in the sprint 🤭 Look forward to Sunday. I think fluckiger is going to be the man to beat kosmonooit and DieselnDust 2
DieselnDust Posted July 9, 2022 Posted July 9, 2022 2 hours ago, babse said: Lekker Alan, you smoked that ou pert Nino in the sprint 🤭 Look forward to Sunday. I think fluckiger is going to be the man to beat don't discount Alan, he always goes well in Lenzeheide. This is where he won his U23 World Championship a few years ago. Fluckiger is a safe bet though while Nino looked properly tired I noticed Candice was also there in the ladies field. Hairy and babse 2
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