I don't know any Christians who think they are "protected". This is not found anywhere in our faith.
Sorry to perpetuate, I'll go over to the lounge now...
Val di Sole 2012 - Official Thread?
- Thread starter slyfink
- Start date
Sorry to perpetuate, I'll go over to the lounge now...
Agreed, I think Gregor made up a second or 2 on Gee in that last section.
And just for Dublin...
Hopefully they will come out with a new flavor: Monster Hate
It'll be just be piss, vinegar, and dirt.
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Actually, christianity may lend a hand here...if you look at VALS typology (psychographics, understanding how and why people behave as demonstrated through the values, actions and lifestyles), he may fit the 'believer' type. Mindset is everything, maybe he's using a mental model that works for him.
Thread over. Points to the winner.
One of Gwin's wise men has given us gold here folks, 100% pure gold. This only happens every 2000 or so years, so lets just take this in and savor it.
gwinbo?
What Gwin makes so fast is Red Bull.....
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It's not like I think this has anything to do with Gwin's winning ways, but ever heard of Jamie Pierre? He definitely thought he was protected. Turns out he wasn't.
That was a side of Minnaars riding I haven't seen in a long time, or ever maybe. He looked almost out of his comfort zone in a couple spots, which is rare for such a conservative and precise rider.
Trend I've noticed: On the super steep and technical tracks like VDS and Champery, the top 5-10 riders are usually in a cluster of a few seconds. The only guys who seem to be able to pull runs that are many seconds ahead of the best in the world are guys who are generally shorter (Hill, Gwin, Hart). I don't think any of them are over 5'10". You don't see the real tall lanky riders excelling to that degree on those sorts of tracks. I could see that lower CG making someone comfortable enough to go 4-5% faster where a taller rider is having to fight being pitched over the bars more.
Trend I've noticed: On the super steep and technical tracks like VDS and Champery, the top 5-10 riders are usually in a cluster of a few seconds. The only guys who seem to be able to pull runs that are many seconds ahead of the best in the world are guys who are generally shorter (Hill, Gwin, Hart). I don't think any of them are over 5'10". You don't see the real tall lanky riders excelling to that degree on those sorts of tracks. I could see that lower CG making someone comfortable enough to go 4-5% faster where a taller rider is having to fight being pitched over the bars more.
i agree. a lot of riders looked on the edge of blowing up but Gwin made it look like he was riding in his back yard.
nope. the only way it could get worse is if Tippie was in there
hells no. tippie is pure awesome. genuine unharnessed enthusiasm. he was announcing wades excellent adventure this w/e (super fun enduro race on the shore) - bombing around the mountain on a moped in the classic fro wig. so much radness (wicked event too):
As much as I understand and respect Tippie listening to him makes me want to kill him. I talk very fast and tend to get very enthusiastic, I like warner but Tippie often behaves like he had had coke pancakes every morning.
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I've thought for a long time when looking at DH training: "What the hell are these guys doing?"
I understand that there are a lot of variables at play, mental focus, confidence, strength, fitness, bike, bike setup, etc...
That said, when Gwin started showing up in pre-season vids 2011 looking like 15+ pounds muscle heavier... I thought to myself "finally somebody is getting it."
Riding hours and hours on road bikes and XC bikes and motocross bikes will give someone great fitness, no doubt. But, in a sport that requires one 3 to 6 minute burst of full body power, it makes good sense to me to train for 3 to 6 minute bursts.
Watching BMXers train for the Olympics is to watch people train properly for their sport. There is NO effort wasted on innefficient or counter productive body conditioning. It's: wake up & eat, stretch/yoga, gym (explosive lifting/plyo), eat, nap, light spin & stretch, BMX track practice (gate starts & 100% race runs, followed each time by rest and close monitoring of heart rate). The result? A body 100% prepared to race BMX.
When GM showed up this season looking minus 15 pounds, my first thought was "Man I hope he plans eating like hippo and lifting for a couple months after PMB, 'cause twiggy ain't the body type for most of the other tracks this season..."
From my admittedly humble perspective, Gwin is properly trained for DH, and none of the guys who are close to him in the results are to the same degree. I don't believe this is the only factor in his success, but it is a big one.
I understand that there are a lot of variables at play, mental focus, confidence, strength, fitness, bike, bike setup, etc...
That said, when Gwin started showing up in pre-season vids 2011 looking like 15+ pounds muscle heavier... I thought to myself "finally somebody is getting it."
Riding hours and hours on road bikes and XC bikes and motocross bikes will give someone great fitness, no doubt. But, in a sport that requires one 3 to 6 minute burst of full body power, it makes good sense to me to train for 3 to 6 minute bursts.
Watching BMXers train for the Olympics is to watch people train properly for their sport. There is NO effort wasted on innefficient or counter productive body conditioning. It's: wake up & eat, stretch/yoga, gym (explosive lifting/plyo), eat, nap, light spin & stretch, BMX track practice (gate starts & 100% race runs, followed each time by rest and close monitoring of heart rate). The result? A body 100% prepared to race BMX.
When GM showed up this season looking minus 15 pounds, my first thought was "Man I hope he plans eating like hippo and lifting for a couple months after PMB, 'cause twiggy ain't the body type for most of the other tracks this season..."
From my admittedly humble perspective, Gwin is properly trained for DH, and none of the guys who are close to him in the results are to the same degree. I don't believe this is the only factor in his success, but it is a big one.
word, I've been at two events in the past two weekends that Tip was MC'ing, and he was awesome. He had everyone is stitches and made people finishing an absolutely grueling xc race feel like a million bucks. the only people that seem to hate on him are interweb dweebs that have never met him. That being said, I'm fine with him not commentating WC's!
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Warner is one of the reasons I watch. Id love to see/hear him narrate other r things. I wonder how much id have to pay him to follow me around and narrate my life for a day.
I thought "riding some moto in the offseason" was the best way to train for downhill mountainbike racing.
Great comeback world cup for Big Horse, 6+ months off a MTB of any kind and only a couple of weeks back on a DH bike and he podiums on one of the "man tracks". That photo of him getting wild, while still clipped in, on "Hills corner" just tops it off.
Since I get hater PM's for me being a superfan of my wife, please do not read the following:
Leigh did a spiral fracture of tibia on 1st day of practice at the 1998 world championships, she did 2 days of voodoo swiss therapy (acupuncture and lots of fancy kiniesiology(?) tape)...no practice, she ended up racing the finals and got 8th, with a ton of mistakes, back in the day when the womens field was at its deepest.
Point of the story, Pro athletes are at 'another level'. and I gotta give it up to Gee big time, he is constantly beat up-hard, and keeps coming back...amazing athlete that guy is.
^Wasn't she riding a 'just broken at the top of the run' leg at one of the norbas at mammoth as well?
I catch this excruciating clip on OLN in hotels when I'm down there working, with her whimpering down a dh run on the old velocity trail. I'm actually getting chills right now typing this remembering it. I gotta turn the sound off every time the fvcking clip gets shown. She's obviously riding on some sort destroyed body part. Of all the 'local sports' clips to run..........
I catch this excruciating clip on OLN in hotels when I'm down there working, with her whimpering down a dh run on the old velocity trail. I'm actually getting chills right now typing this remembering it. I gotta turn the sound off every time the fvcking clip gets shown. She's obviously riding on some sort destroyed body part. Of all the 'local sports' clips to run..........
The girl they had doing the interviews sounded like she writes a lot of the Rocky Roads press releases.
I think she blew a hip gasket that day, I forget...I know she lost 4-peating national titles with that fall.
I am headed to fort william tomm, supposed to be rainy all week, I will be tweeting pics of things.
P.S., we are headed to Tahoe for vacation/GRT the last week of July, lets shred.
As much as her interviews sucked, they were loads better than the girl last year that asked one question that might as well been, "what is that thing that you were riding on?". Still horrible though.
Whatever it was, it was gnarly. Whoever runs the local programming in mammoth needs their nuts kicked.
Bring the trail bikes.
I'd say her comment during the Rachel iterview "Wow, you almost crashed during your run? How was that?" is up there somewhere.
Sure, she was hawt, but damn. I actually closed down the feed just as she started talking to Gwin, the previous interview was just too damn embarrasing.
One thing I noticed, how happy Gwin and Minnaar were. All smiles and congratulating each other. Greg commentated also Gwin's run as mind blowing and that he was speechless about his performance. I think it's awesome to have such humble guys on top of the podium.
I've seen Minnaar in person in the Honda days at Snowshoe Nats when he won in the most absurd conditions. He pisses me off in practice because he scoots around like a senior citizen. I'm all riding behind him going "Dang, Greg is holding me up. Move son!" 
But then in finals, he swings wide on the last turn and bunny hops a 50 year old downed poplar tree laying off the side of the trail just so he can straight line the drop into the finish. He's a poker player in practice and an artist in the race. Just a nasty, mean bike handler!
Someone post the clip of him doubling off the rock at Vail ASAP!
Minnaar was playing strategy plain and simple. He knew from qualifying that his clean, conservative run was good enough for 2nd, and that is a HUGE advantage in the overall. His options were to either take a risk and go from 2nd to possibly 30th with one slip of a pedal or keep it clean and take more points than every rider in the World minus 1.
But then in finals, he swings wide on the last turn and bunny hops a 50 year old downed poplar tree laying off the side of the trail just so he can straight line the drop into the finish. He's a poker player in practice and an artist in the race. Just a nasty, mean bike handler!
Someone post the clip of him doubling off the rock at Vail ASAP!
Minnaar was playing strategy plain and simple. He knew from qualifying that his clean, conservative run was good enough for 2nd, and that is a HUGE advantage in the overall. His options were to either take a risk and go from 2nd to possibly 30th with one slip of a pedal or keep it clean and take more points than every rider in the World minus 1.
Gee ****ed it up though, lost 2 secs on minaar in the lower part of the track.
he would or rather could have been second to rock jesus who may or may not have learned to walk on water over winter.
still tbh i think gwin already knows how to walk on water he did so last year a few times.
he would or rather could have been second to rock jesus who may or may not have learned to walk on water over winter.
still tbh i think gwin already knows how to walk on water he did so last year a few times.
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Even in the wet, fort william isn't like riding Champery in the wet for example. I don't think anyone will be at a disadvantage in a 'wet' scotland.
Truth.
The whole field has pretty much "been there done that" with all kinds of weather at FW.
If anything it is The years it has been bone dry is what throws everyone off.
this year will be snow just to throw everyone for a loop
Other than Blenki's uncovered fingers falling off even that wouldn't make much difference. The World Cup Woods is really the only section that gets muddy, rain or shine the rest of the track stays pretty consistent.
P.S. New motorway section will take away a lot of the advantage of the big pedallers, much more direct and less effort required than before
Somebody refresh my memory: what did that silly a-line section replace? Was that just a wide straight boring section? (if so, maybe it's not so silly I guess). I always thought 'the motorway' was the rocky tundra looking stuff up top.