Author Topic: Olympic mountain biking (Read 10876 times)

TimO · « **Reply #25 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:05:41 pm »

That was an amazingly close finish!

(click to show/hide)

All of these races just knacker me out watching them.

delthebike · « **Reply #26 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:09:09 pm »

Quote from: Domestique on 12 August, 2012, 03:02:15 pm

No saddle for the last few kms for the Italian

There was an overhead shot when he lost it. He might have been up for a sprint like the other two as he wasn't too far behind, certainly in sight.
Have the commentators mentioned it yet?

TimO · « **Reply #27 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:14:10 pm »

Quote from: delthebike on 12 August, 2012, 03:09:09 pm

Quote from: Domestique on 12 August, 2012, 03:02:15 pm
No saddle for the last few kms for the Italian
There was an overhead shot when he lost it. He might have been up for a sprint like the other two as he wasn't too far behind, certainly in sight.
Have the commentators mentioned it yet?

I didn't even notice that he'd lost it, nor I think did the commentators, who haven't mentioned it.

Did it actually entirely come off, or did the clamp just fail, and it dropped down?

Domestique · « **Reply #28 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:14:34 pm »

Quote from: delthebike on 12 August, 2012, 03:09:09 pm

Quote from: Domestique on 12 August, 2012, 03:02:15 pm
No saddle for the last few kms for the Italian
There was an overhead shot when he lost it. He might have been up for a sprint like the other two as he wasn't too far behind, certainly in sight.
Have the commentators mentioned it yet?

Nothing

delthebike · « **Reply #29 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:16:07 pm »

Quote from: TimO on 12 August, 2012, 03:14:10 pm

Did it actually entirely come off, or did the clamp just fail, and it dropped down?

Seatpost came out! It was on a short zig zag through rocks and it flew off to the left of the bike. A good souvenir for someone.

spesh · « **Reply #30 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:40:22 pm »

Quote from: TimO on 12 August, 2012, 03:05:41 pm

All of these races just knacker me out watching them.

Try riding in one.

My average pulse rate over the duration of a XC race would be somewhere in the region of 175-185 bpm. That was 87.5%-92.5% of my maximum heart rate at that time.

TimO · « **Reply #31 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:55:18 pm »

Quote from: spesh on 12 August, 2012, 03:40:22 pm

Quote from: TimO on 12 August, 2012, 03:05:41 pm
All of these races just knacker me out watching them.
Try riding in one.

My average pulse rate over the duration of a XC race would be somewhere in the region of 175-185 bpm. That was 87.5%-92.5% of my maximum heart rate at that time.

Nah, I can knacker myself out quite well just doing a full blast commute. I, unfortunately, tend to cycle in a very binary fashion, either stationary or moving, at full blast! I quite like group riding, because it forces me to slow down, and ride at a sensible pace. When I'm riding by myself, I overdo it on hills, and whatnot, and then find myself out of energy later on.

citoyen · « **Reply #32 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:58:32 pm »

Missed the women's yesterday but the men's was a great race, thrilling finish. Looked like so much fun too - I'd love to have a go at that - always been more of a road rider and apart from riding my BMX in the woods as a kid, the closest I've come to MTBing is riding my CX bike round the "easy" MTB trail at Fowlmead. I really like the look of the more technical stuff though. Wouldn't like to try it on my CX bike - not without front suspension.

I saw something come off the Italian's bike but didn't realise it was his saddle. No wonder he fell off the pace. And no wonder he was crying at the end!

d.

TimO · « **Reply #33 on:** 12 August, 2012, 03:59:10 pm »

Quote from: delthebike on 12 August, 2012, 03:16:07 pm

Quote from: TimO on 12 August, 2012, 03:14:10 pm
Did it actually entirely come off, or did the clamp just fail, and it dropped down?
Seatpost came out! It was on a short zig zag through rocks and it flew off to the left of the bike. A good souvenir for someone.

Yikes, that's a bit of a surprise. I would have thought the kit on these bikes is swapped out enough that stuff shouldn't get that old, and be worn out, and indeed would be checked over fairly carefully before races.

Oh well, I guess you're always going to get some random failures, which would have been difficult to predict.

I wonder how much that slowed him down? They didn't look like they were spending much time sitting in the saddle, but without a saddle, you haven't really got any easy way to keep you body in the right place, and you wouldn't be able to get the very short respite that just plonking your bum in the saddle for a few seconds would give you. I suspect even a couple of miles like that would be noticeably slower.

Domestique · « **Reply #34 on:** 12 August, 2012, 04:06:02 pm »

Might have been a carbon post that snapped at the seat collar rather than come out $:-\$

delthebike · « **Reply #35 on:** 12 August, 2012, 04:12:21 pm »

Here's the section starts from 1:40:19 as he goes through the zig zag rocks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w33b2

spesh · « **Reply #36 on:** 12 August, 2012, 04:28:01 pm »

Quote from: delthebike on 12 August, 2012, 04:12:21 pm

Here's the section starts from 1:40:19 as he goes through the zig zag rocks.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w33b2

Fontana loses it in the compression after the last bit of rock before they start the Breathtaker climb (1:40:23), and it just flops over, which suggests a breakage rather than jumping out. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the little step-down two corners previously on that descent is where the failure of the seat post starts, though that could be an optical illusion.

TimO · « **Reply #37 on:** 12 August, 2012, 05:03:04 pm »

Watching it, he doesn't seem to relax sitting down at all, which suggests that if it had already started to fail, he hadn't noticed, which seems unlikely, since something like that is going to feel very odd, very rapidly.

The other two had already started to add in significant time, and they were all climbing, so out of the saddle, very shortly after the saddle fell off, so I don't think he lost anything due to that saddle failure, excepting getting the Bronze with a slightly better time. He may possibly have had something left to get a better position, but watching it, I think they had more energy, and would have left him behind anyway.

TimC · « **Reply #38 on:** 12 August, 2012, 05:13:59 pm »

Quote from: citoyen on 12 August, 2012, 03:58:32 pm

Missed the women's yesterday but the men's was a great race, thrilling finish. Looked like so much fun too - I'd love to have a go at that - always been more of a road rider and apart from riding my BMX in the woods as a kid, the closest I've come to MTBing is riding my CX bike round the "easy" MTB trail at Fowlmead. I really like the look of the more technical stuff though. Wouldn't like to try it on my CX bike - not without front suspension.

I saw something come off the Italian's bike but didn't realise it was his saddle. No wonder he fell off the pace. And no wonder he was crying at the end!

d.

I shall persuade the kids that a day down at Hadleigh would be a great idea once the place is opened to the public!

That was an amazing race. I noticed that he'd lost his saddle, but I didn't see it go. Chapeau to the whole bloody field. Excellent!

bobb · « **Reply #39 on:** 12 August, 2012, 05:23:40 pm »

Well, for all those people saying they'd love to have a go - there's still room for one more in Team YACF in The Dusk 'til Dawn in October!

Thread here

Edit: robust bitch oab has first dibs on the last place if she's up for it. But if not, anyone else is welcome...

teethgrinder · « **Reply #40 on:** 12 August, 2012, 07:57:46 pm »

If anyone wants a go at mountain biking, a lot of the Forestry Commission trail centres have hire bikes.
Maybe we should have a YACF weekend near one of them?
Anyone for Cannock?

Kim · « **Reply #41 on:** 12 August, 2012, 08:00:07 pm »

Quote from: teethgrinder on 12 August, 2012, 07:57:46 pm

If anyone wants a go at mountain biking, a lot of the Forestry Commission trail centres have hire bikes.
Maybe we should have a YACF weekend near one of them?
Anyone for Cannock?

Oooh....

bobb · « **Reply #42 on:** 12 August, 2012, 08:09:34 pm »

Off road weekend with camping? What could possibly go wrong!?

Sounds good to me... Where's the nearest train station?

TimO · « **Reply #43 on:** 12 August, 2012, 08:24:02 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 12 August, 2012, 08:09:34 pm

Off road weekend with camping? What could possibly go wrong!?

Sounds good to me... Where's the nearest train station?

More importantly, where's the nearest A&E.

Kim · « **Reply #44 on:** 12 August, 2012, 08:33:13 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 12 August, 2012, 08:09:34 pm

Off road weekend with camping? What could possibly go wrong!?

Sounds good to me... Where's the nearest train station?

Probably Cannock or Rugeley or something - on a bike-friendly commuter line from Mordor Central. Ridable from Tamworth (or Mordor if you like traffic), this thread refers.

Cannock Chase Hospital has a minor injuries unit

citoyen · « **Reply #45 on:** 12 August, 2012, 09:24:00 pm »

Quote from: TimC on 12 August, 2012, 05:13:59 pm

I shall persuade the kids that a day down at Hadleigh would be a great idea once the place is opened to the public!

Will the Olympic race route be open to the public? That would be pretty cool.

d.

teethgrinder · « **Reply #46 on:** 12 August, 2012, 10:14:24 pm »

Any ideas for dates in Cannock?
I could do Friday and Saturday Bank Holiday August but I'm marshalling a road race on the Sunday. I could always miss Sunday and maybe do something Sunday evening and Monday.
I'm fully booked for September.

Quote from: citoyen on 12 August, 2012, 09:24:00 pm

Quote from: TimC on 12 August, 2012, 05:13:59 pm
I shall persuade the kids that a day down at Hadleigh would be a great idea once the place is opened to the public!

Will the Olympic race route be open to the public? That would be pretty cool.

d.

I just watched it. The route will be open to the public, but it'll be dumbed down a bit and they'll remove some of the more technical bits.

bobb · « **Reply #47 on:** 12 August, 2012, 10:22:47 pm »

Bank holiday is Mildenhall....

teethgrinder · « **Reply #48 on:** 12 August, 2012, 10:25:06 pm »

I'd rather go mountain biking than to Mildenhall.

citoyen · « **Reply #49 on:** 12 August, 2012, 10:44:09 pm »

Quote from: teethgrinder on 12 August, 2012, 10:14:24 pm

it'll be dumbed down a bit and they'll remove some of the more technical bits.

I suspected as much. Oh well, probably for the best... I can't afford reconstructive dentistry.

d.