Cannondale first, second and, err...

[Simon Brooke]

Well, on t'telly last night, it was nice to see Cannondale doing a one
(Cristophe Sausser) two (Roel Paulissen) in the mens' cross country.
Because I'd missed the fact that last nights programme started twenty
minutes earlier than Sunday's I missed the womens cross-country.

Cedric Gracia, also on Cannondale, was either second or third in the
men's downhill (I forget which and I can't find a website to confirm) -
however I don't feel so excited about that because it isn't really
cycling if you get a cable car to do the hard work.

I think the guy who won the four-cross was on a Nicolai but I didn't see
the bike long enough to be really sure.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; my other religion is Emacs

[Richard Goodman]

"Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
...
> Well, on t'telly last night, it was nice to see Cannondale doing a one
> (Cristophe Sausser) two (Roel Paulissen) in the mens' cross country.
> Because I'd missed the fact that last nights programme started twenty
>

On telly? Oh, bum, missed that altogether. Is there more coverage still to
come? Which channel? When?

Rich

[Simon Brooke]

in message >, Richard Goodman
') wrote:

> "Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Well, on t'telly last night, it was nice to see Cannondale doing a
>> one (Cristophe Sausser) two (Roel Paulissen) in the mens' cross
>> country. Because I'd missed the fact that last nights programme
>> started twenty
>>
>
> On telly? Oh, bum, missed that altogether. Is there more coverage
> still to
> come? Which channel? When?

BBC2 Scotland, and no, you've missed it. It was extremely well done, in
my opinion. Clearly not very expensively produced, and with a little
bit of acknowledgement of a non-biking audience - not much technicality
and apart from Honda no brand names got mentioned (although the
commentators did comment on the Lefties on the winning XC bikes). There
was some helicopter overhead coverage which worked well for the top of
the downhill and for good sections of the XC, and a lot of trackside
cameras at different points on the track - some obviously hand-held.
Although we only got coverage of the top few downhillers runs and of
that only about a minute and a half out of each (four and a bit minute)
run, we got about fifteen minutes coverage of the Mens' Crosscountry
(and, as I switched on twenty minutes after last night's program had
started and the Womens' XC coverage was just finishing) presumably
fifteen minutes of the Womens' XC as well.

The anchor was a rather gushing woman I didn't recognise, who did an
OK-ish job. The commentary teams consisted of one experienced TV sports
commentator and one experienced cyclist, and this worked well (wasn't
the same commentary team for all events). The commentators had done
their homework and were able to give bits of background on each rider,
and the cyclist was able to comment on things like lines and
technicalities. In the introduction to the downhill programme the
cyclist member of the commentator team did a run down the course
himself with a helmet camera and described it as he experienced it,
which was good watching.

The interviews, although quite brief, were quite good too, and it was
interesting to see the Irish chap from the UCI, and also the Sports
Minister, being interviewed. The implication from both interviews is
that we would see more high quality mountain bike competition in
Scotland and that there would be more promotion of it - the guy from
the UCI was extremely complimentary about the organisation of the
event, and about the crowds, which were apparently bigger (more than
10,000 - 15,000 got mentioned on last night's programme) than are
common at cycling events.

Personally I'd have liked to see much more about the bikes - the only
one we saw in much detail was the much-hyped Honda[1] (Greg Minnaar)
which won the Mens' Downhill. However all in all it was good television
- one hour forty minutes in all - which for a general audience I think
would have been at least as interesting as 'Ski Sunday', which, in
format, it very much resembled.

I personally didn't go much for the four-cross event - too short to be
interesting, I thought, although tactics were interesting (that Steve
Peat is a maniac - but a very capable maniac). The downhill probably
made the best television as television, although for me the XC was the
best bit. And what was really good about it, for me, was watching the
guys on the course on bikes not that different from mine and knowing
that in the immortal words 'I could do that' - not fast enough to
compete with those guys, of course, but there was nothing on the XC
course which looked technically beyond me.

Worth staying up late for.

[1] This bike has a bottom bracket gearbox of precisely the type I've
been suggesting for some time. However, because it's not a URT it has a
fairly complex chain-line which must cost a bit in efficiency.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
,/| _.--''^``-...___.._.,;
/, \'. _-' ,--,,,--'''
{ \ `_-'' ' /
`;;' ; ; ;
._..--'' ._,,, _..' .;.'
(,_....----''' (,..--''

[Richard Goodman]

"Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
...

>
> BBC2 Scotland, and no, you've missed it. It was extremely well done, in
> my opinion. Clearly not very expensively produced, and with a little
> bit of acknowledgement of a non-biking audience - not much technicality
> and apart from Honda no brand names got mentioned (although the
> commentators did comment on the Lefties on the winning XC bikes). There
> was some helicopter overhead coverage which worked well for the top of
> the downhill and for good sections of the XC, and a lot of trackside
> cameras at different points on the track - some obviously hand-held.

<snip>
> However all in all it was good television
> - one hour forty minutes in all - which for a general audience I think
> would have been at least as interesting as 'Ski Sunday', which, in
> format, it very much resembled.
>
<snip>
>
> Worth staying up late for.
>

Sounds like excellent coverage. I can see you're only trying to make me
feel jealous ;)

> This bike has a bottom bracket gearbox of precisely the type I've
> been suggesting for some time. However, because it's not a URT it has a
> fairly complex chain-line which must cost a bit in efficiency.
>
> --

Ah, that would be this one then:
http://img15.photobucket.com/albums/v45/Sylvain/1%20Fort%20Bill%20people%20a
nd%20bikes/cbikes12honda.jpg
Mmm. I saw some of your postings about bb gearboxes on rbt. Now that would
be an interesting toy to play with.

Rich

[AndyC]

Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
...
> Well, on t'telly last night, it was nice to see Cannondale doing a one
> (Cristophe Sausser) two (Roel Paulissen) in the mens' cross country.
> Because I'd missed the fact that last nights programme started twenty
> minutes earlier than Sunday's I missed the womens cross-country.
>
> Cedric Gracia, also on Cannondale, was either second or third in the
> men's downhill (I forget which and I can't find a website to confirm) -
> however I don't feel so excited about that because it isn't really
> cycling if you get a cable car to do the hard work.
>

Wish there was a cable car where I go downhill racing... it's all push back
to the top. And before you say "ride it", it really is too steep and a bike
with 38:11-26 gearing & 170 cranks that weighs 20kilos is a real bugger to
ride up hill. I use a XC bike for that ;o)

As a sport, I'd say it's more about sprint/strength than the more
traditional cycling and it's focus on stamina, hence the fact that Mr Garcia
enjoys a beer or three between each days racing, there's not such a focus on
fitness, although it's getting more competetive.
One of the real benefits of it is that at the moment it's quite fashionable
for kids to get a tough bike and take it downhill, meaning that they're
getting out and actually exercising, and on a bike! so it's good for that...

Of course I'm happy to take all the abuse about DH not being proper
biking... or indeed will answer any sensible questions posed.

AndyC

Aston Hill regular.

[taywood]

Simon Brooke wrote:
> in message >, Richard Goodman
> ') wrote:
>
>> "Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Well, on t'telly last night, it was nice to see Cannondale doing a
>>> one (Cristophe Sausser) two (Roel Paulissen) in the mens' cross
>>> country. Because I'd missed the fact that last nights programme
>>> started twenty
>>>
>>
>> On telly? Oh, bum, missed that altogether. Is there more coverage
>> still to
>> come? Which channel? When?
>
> BBC2 Scotland, and no, you've missed it.

We'll all be rushing for a Sky 'free to view' setup now.
They brag they have more TV channels than Freeview, but mostly
they seem to be all the regional variations of the main BBC terrestrial
channels.