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2012 Olympics MTB course preview - manicured track?
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Check this preview of the 2012 Olympic MTB course - ...manicured and smooth? 
Must have been built by a golf course designer/builder...?
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However the flip side is it gives plenty of places to overtake, the descents do look challenging and I guess it wouldnt be to hard to do something wrong if you were under pressure for exampkle.
29er hardtail heaven?
I reckon you could ride that MTB Olympics course with the Spesh Roubaix or any CX bike, with 26 mm / 1.8 tyres.....FAST!
I know it's really new so I'm hoping the weather really goes to work on it between now and the Olympics otherwise it will be quite a disappointing ride for all those World Class XC riders.
Of course the weather will get to it - it's England! ha ha
I really hope it does, not sure how much an Essex winter will affect it. Now if it we're back home in Yorkshire it'd be a different story. But then if it were in Yorkshire it wouldn't have been built by some Shandy Drinking Southern Poof* in the first place.
not that there is any thing wrong with shandy drinking southern poofs
Just another example of the UCI trying to turn XC into Cylcocross.
29" wheels? Check!
Wide smooth trails? Check!
Rainy pommy weather turning course into a bog? Probably...
Euro cool? Never!
Now I like a well groomed trail as much as the next rider, but that is just ridiculous.
Very very disappointing...... even by shandy drinking southerners.
CB
The best thing about our trails is the obstacles are just part of the terrain eg magic carpet at Ourimbah. It always seems a bit pointless when they have to build in technical features like rock gardens. It would have been nicer if they could find somewhere where they could work with the terrain. Maybe this would make tv coverage harder?
If someone buys Fabian Cancellara a mtb I know where I would put my money!
I actually think those type of tracks are the future particulary in urban built up areas. We all know that very few land managers are willing to let us build a track in pristine bushland, however I could picture that style of track getting approval at say western sydney parklands or any large sporting area complex. From a spectator point of view i think the track will provide interesting racing. I remember watching the stromlo race for the world champs and basically there was very littlle overtaking bacause of the amount of singletrack. I would quite happily sit on that hill with a few cans and cheer on the boys.
I just spent 3 weeks in the UK and it didn't rain once, sunny every day. By the look if it here it's been a bit of a rain fest
The trail does look a bit smooth but that will change, nice and long though. By the look if it it's open to the public (?) so potential for some decent bedding in and breaking bumps into the few corners there are. Gearing and tyre pressures will be a key factor I reckon, and hard tails FTW.
One thought that occured to me earlier was "built for television". More overtaking and passing room for sure, but note the relatively unobstructed views of the course which are good for cameras. I'm wondering whether we'll be seeing motorbike helmet cam footage a la Le Tour. Woudl be nice.
Why don't they just ride through Hyde Park instead of going out to Essex?
Sounds like there are a few fellow Northerners on this site.
They should have made the track in The Peak District or Sherwood Forest.
No chance, Peak District all the way (I grew up in The Peaks so not at all biased
)
Would be my pick, Ashton Court has a solid 10k loop which technical i woild bit great, that's were I would put it.
"I reckon you could ride that MTB Olympics course with the Spesh Roubaix or any CX bike, with 26 mm / 1.8 tyres.....FAST! "
Would a crosser actually be any faster than one of the 9kg 29er h/tail missiles these guys will be riding? I assume they'd run 1.9 tyres so is it really just a crosser with flat bars, forks and slightly wider rims? I wonder if there are any rules on what type of bikes they must run
Looks like they have made the climbs very smooth, wide and switch-back-ish. It's nice and open for spectators, and coverage. There will be some grow-back on the side where the grass creeps back in after building, and there will be some water erosion, but yeah, it looks like a smooth, straight, fast wide trail. Should make for great spectating. I'd prefer to come off onto that grass, rather than off the side of a Sydney fire-trail into trees, scrub and cliffs, so that would encourage me to try and go much faster on the dh sections. Might see some good stacks where they end up well into the crowds.