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Pietermaritzburg - 2012 WC DH#1

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,369
1,605
Warsaw :/
Didn't Smith have a big injury late 2011? If yeah it would take some Barel-like dedication to get to full form that fast.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,884
450
He was also 2nd at FT. William after some quite big mistakes. That's a physical track.

As for my top 5.

1. Greg
2. Mick
3. Gwin
4. Gee
5. Graves
Ok fair enough- you guys have converted me to a fan- especially after watching his 5.10 video. The guy is rad, I think I must be a little biased for Gwin :)
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,369
1,605
Warsaw :/
Ok fair enough- you guys have converted me to a fan- especially after watching his 5.10 video. The guy is rad, I think I must be a little biased for Gwin :)
I became a fan when I tried to follow him thinking "I can probably at least hang with him at the beginning on a short bermy bikepark track". Ever tried to race a Ferrari with a Fiat Panda? That's how I felt.
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
and sick mick a second faster than CG at split one.
I do wish they would ditch the timed training...it gets us all hot and bothered for no reason. ;)
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,926
671
but, in all seriousness, looks like the race last weekend meant absolutely nothing, these guys still have a lot more speed to put on. stoked to see fearon up there though
 

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
but, in all seriousness, looks like the race last weekend meant absolutely nothing, these guys still have a lot more speed to put on. stoked to see fearon up there though
i believe hannah said there was a decent headwind last weekend and he expected 8-10 seconds could be made up under calm conditions. they also shortened a couple of the jumps as only him and 'one other racer' were able to clear them, which should help with times as well.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,335
5,089
Ottawa, Canada
I became a fan when I tried to follow him thinking "I can probably at least hang with him at the beginning on a short bermy bikepark track". Ever tried to race a Ferrari with a Fiat Panda? That's how I felt.
I know exactly what you mean. I remember riding with one of the faster Elites in Canada at Whistler one time (he's the buddy of a buddy kinda thing, not a regular occurence by any means). He wanted to warm up on B-line, and it blew me away how much quicker he was, just riding those little berms. No gnar, no tech, just smooth fast berms. I wasn't even on the brakes! I don't quite understand how the fast guys generate so much speed that it seems like I'm pedalling in molasses.

Back on topic, it's interesting about those timed runs compared to what was displayed last weekend. I guess the top guys weren't giving as close to 90% as I thought. It generated a lot of discussion and interest though; maybe that's why they raced....
 

batts65

Monkey
Aug 27, 2002
182
0
Upstate NY
I thought top 80 only were able to take timed runs (top 20 for women). Also I thought they had to do a timed run, it was up to the rider if they wanted to try but they had to go through the gate, much like quailfiers for the top 20.

I could be wrong.
 

Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
I thought top 80 only were able to take timed runs (top 20 for women). Also I thought they had to do a timed run, it was up to the rider if they wanted to try but they had to go through the gate, much like quailfiers for the top 20.

I could be wrong.
Tracey just Tweeted in:

"Practice went well today, no times for me, got to be in top 20...... Seeding tomoro, looking forward to a timed run against the best ;-)...."
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,926
671
is he gonna bag his quali time to have a low start position for finals in order to get exposure time in the hot seat? just to remind everyone he's still around?
and risk the overall in points? I don't think any of the top 10 contenders would risk that. Certainly not the top 5 these days.
 

Fool

The Thing cannot be described
Sep 10, 2001
2,781
1,494
Brooklyn
Check the latest Littermag slideshow for news about Rebull coverage this weekend. No more 3 hours of raw Rob Warner. Going to be a bit more packaged. For better or worse, I guess.