[don]

Looks sick. 2 different courses - 1 for men, 1 for women. Men's has a jump over the women's 2nd berm with a 32' gap.

With that second straight of burly sets, I would love to see B. Foster dust off his old leathers for this race.

Link to information:
http://www.uci.ch/modello2.asp?1stlevelid=C&level1=5&level2=0&idnews=4656

Link to pdf with track specifications/gap sizes
http://www.uci.ch/imgArchive/Bmx/Olympics/Overview Olympic BMX Track 2008.pdf

 

[ServeEm]

I'll be tuning in to see that, fo sho

 

[Leethal]

Ritz is a great builder hope they let him and Billy Au do the work and not just the virtual layout...

 

[Five]

Wow - that's a long rhythm section. The jumps look huge! The next time I'm in Beijing I'll have to go check out the venue. I've seen most of the new buildings already.

 

[Evil4bc]

That burm jump looks crazy !!! Were's the hell track style dropin and the kicks ceral bowl ???

 

[don]

Hey Lee - speaking of great builders - did you happen to ride w/ Kelly Baker at Ray's recently? I saw a post from him on Vintage with a broken helmet - I guess hit a rafter or something. Sounded like he like the place a lot.

 

[Leethal]

Yeah, then the crazy guy wrapped his head in a t-shirt borrowed Doyles lid and rode some more after a little break to slow the bleeding... Sean saw the crash was 4 feet away.

 

[Zutroy]

32' for that berm jump....you messs up that section you're never going to make that jump.

 

[don]

Yeah, then the crazy guy wrapped his head in a t-shirt borrowed Doyles lid and rode some more after a little break to slow the bleeding... Sean saw the crash was 4 feet away.

Jeez, although it doesn't surprise me from the stories I've heard. Those upstate NY guys are nuts!

 

[don]

32' for that berm jump....you messs up that section you're never going to make that jump.

What I think is really cool about this track is it combines the burlyness of the X-Games/Woodward downhill but with the relative flatness - need for peddling/being smooth of a normal BMX track.

If it's built right there should be some good close racing going on - power guys can still peddle but the guys with jump skills will be at home on the 2nd straight. I used to race BMX years ago, but haven't been that interested in it in a long time and I'm really siked to see how this goes in 2008.

 

[trust4130]

Jeez, although it doesn't surprise me from the stories I've heard. Those upstate NY guys are nuts!

HAHAHAHA, f'in Kelly rules! Always a good time... oh, some of the **** I've seen...

 

[sama1ter]

damn. looks MASSIVE.

 

[Cru Jones]

They just held a BMX world cup event on the Olympic track to be used in Beijing. Donny Robinson with the win. Here are a few pics of the track...

 

[don]

whoa! At first glance, I was thinking that track looks smooth and nice and then I noticed how small that rider is. Yikes! Hopefully it meant for some good racing w/ passing w/ the track being that wide and big.

 

[Cru Jones]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The whole thing looks massive. The starting hill looks like it's 5 stories tall!!

 

[GumbaFish]

Wow that is huge, this looks like a cool event.

 

[don]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The whole thing looks massive. The starting hill looks like it's 5 stories tall!!

I know, I can only imagine the speed they are getting off of that thing. And each berm drops it down a level. Those guys are probably running Danny Millwee/Sean Burns gearing of 44-13.

 

[CHepler]

Video of the men's and women's final

http://vlinkx.sports.cn/2007/8/21/12922.asx

Mike Day setting fast lap

http://www.bmxtraining.com/dayttt.mov

 

[urbaindk]

Dang I would so die. The triple on the first straight... I hope there is actually some coverage when it comes time.

 

[Cru Jones]

I know. Holy crap. I think that's the fastest I've ever seen a bmx bike go. Looks even faster than the downhill bmx they had at Woodward a few years back.

 

[ServeEm]

DAYUM! That's some insane speed, I wish he was clocked to see his top speed.

btw, Mike Day's clip should be in, "The Next Level" section being it's totally insane.

 

[fiddy_ryder]

They just held a BMX world cup event on the Olympic track to be used in Beijing. Donny Robinson with the win. Here are a few pics of the track...

holy ****,, i used to race with that kid back int eh day when was like12-13 yrs old.. hed run practice with all hte 18-20experts and be at front of the pack.. awesome to see hes still bangin bars..

 

[sb317]

It almost looks sped up he's going so dang fast. That triple is huge.

 

[chuffer]

wow. 5

 

[Landon]

Mike Day's hot lap has to be one of the best things I've ever seen done on bike.
Thanks for posting these.

L

 

[Cru Jones]

holy ****,, i used to race with that kid back int eh day when was like12-13 yrs old.. hed run practice with all hte 18-20experts and be at front of the pack.. awesome to see hes still bangin bars..

Haha. Yeah, I remember him, too. He would be killing it in like 10 or 11 year old x and doing nac-nacs over the big dubs. Looks like he got older, but not much taller...

 

[urbaindk]

DAYUM! That's some insane speed, I wish he was clocked to see his top speed.

I did the math, 370 meters @ 36.534 secs translates to an average track speed of 22.6 mph. Top speed must be significantly higher than that. I wonder how many G's he's pulling into the corners? It must be crushing.

 

[Mr Tiles]

btw, Mike Day's clip should be in, "The Next Level" section being it's totally insane.

I concur

 

[Secret Squirrel]

Heh...and there's Jared Graves at 37.1 wow....

That track is nutz....

 

[Jon Kerr]

Just got home from the Olympic trials today at the OTC here in San Diego. The track they built there is an exact duplicate of the track in China. The same guy built both tracks. It is insane. The pictures we've seen and the one's I'm posting don't do this track any justice. I took video of a couple of motos and will post it up once I get a firewire cable for my laptop. The trials are supposed to be aired on MSNBC tomorrow so I won't say who won encase anyone wanted to watch on TV. But there was some pretty good racing. More than that though was just watching these guys attack this monster of a track with as much confidence and smoothness as they would any other BMX track.

 

[Jon Kerr]

Video of the men's and women's final

http://vlinkx.sports.cn/2007/8/21/12922.asx

Mike Day setting fast lap

http://www.bmxtraining.com/dayttt.mov

Mike ran a 36.60 in time trials today. Next fastest was a 36.9.

 

[Cru Jones]

Thanks for the pics. I still can't believe that track(s). I'm sure it's even more impressive in person. I'm so stoked that bmx is in the olympics. Hopefully, it will get more young people interested in racing bmx.

 

[Jon Kerr]

It really was more impressive in person. My jaw dropped when we walked up. I was there with a bunch of local guys I race with. Even the guy who's district points leader in the cruiser class said there's no way in hell he'd attempt to ride the guys line around the track with that berm jump. The other thing that's really cool about the track is it's really a downhill slope. The finish line is probably 6-8 feet below the level of the first straight. There were a couple of times during practice where guys were pumping the whole track. Not one pedal. That's how much momentum the layout allowed.

 

[WestCoastHucker]

as far as bmx goes, that track is the most ridiculous thing i've ever seen...

 

[lil'rooney707]

is jared graves using a bmx bike?

 

[Sir_Crackien]

bump.

 

[mattmatt86]

is jared graves using a bmx bike?

No he's riding his Yeti 303.

 

[maddog17]

WOW!! i've never seen a track like that ever. i used to race back in the early to mid 80's and i've never raced at a track that looked ANYTHING like that!!! that starting gate drop is insane!!! i can't wait too see it for the olympics!!

 

[don]

I picked up the USA Today at the deli for some unknown reason. Inside the Sports section was a full page showing Kyle Bennett and explaining BMX. Pretty cool.

The USA Today website has some slick interactive stuff about the track:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/ever-wonder.htm?carouselID=1

 

[Dirty Maestro]

Holy Crap!
That track is SICK!

Thanks for the links and pics guys =)