Olympic Cycling Events

[Petcha]

Sorry, I know it's Piers Morgan posting this. But the look on the young lads' faces at being praised on their third leg. Priceless.

 

[Petcha]

Oh, wrong thread.. but whatever, still a good giggle

 

[Sue]

I remember when the Whytes started racing at Peckham and their first National series. It caused a bit of a shake up because they started winning races very quickly. A lot of their success at the time was down to a fella called CK Flash and their parents Nigel and Tracey. My son was a bit older than Kye but about the same age as his brother Tre. I remember sitting in the stands at Paris World Championships and Nigel running up the stairs to get my lad who was due to start his race then disappearing with him on his shoulders. One of the other Olympic hopefuls, Paddy Sharrock was my son's main riding partner for years. The win has brought back a lot of memories.

Beth Shreiver seems like an amazing rider and the sort of kid you'd want to show off as an example. It's shit that she had to fund herself through part time work and crowdfunding for a few years because British Cycling only wanted to fund male riders. To lead from the front and look so relaxed was the thing Shanaze Reade wasn't able to manage on the Olympic stage.

Great news for the sport and cycling in general given the number of BMXers who go on to other disciplines, coaching etc.

They interviewed Tre Whyte on R4 this morning. Came across as a very nice young man.

 

[Part 2]

Also pretty mad how Niek Kimman won despite a fractured knee after this in training.

 

[Part 2]

A mate just posted this...

 

[spitfire]

It's an avalanche!

‘Like a mini Olympic programme’: the rise of Peckham BMX Club

Young talents in south London hope to follow in the tracks of Tokyo silver medallist Kye Whyte

www.theguardian.com

 

[May Kasahara]

Genuinely moved by this! Brilliant stuff

I have been happy-sobbing away at this all day, my favourite moment of the games so far <3

 

[platinumsage]

Great BMXing, much more interesting than the racing. Hannah Roberts nailing a cracking run and hoping for gold, and then Charlotte Worthington coming along and pulling off the trick no one else dared try to snatch it from her.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I find the racing much more exciting to watch, but fair play to her - landing a trick that’s never been done for gold is rather excellent

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I think the reason I prefer the racing is that I can relate to it a bit more. I know what it’s like to ride fast at my physical limit, and I could get a bike round that track, albeit probably several minutes after they’d finished. But the trick stuff - I can’t even contemplate doing that and have no idea if what I’m watching is good or not. It all looks utterly impossible and impressive, particularly in slow motion.

 

[Part 2]

I think the reason I prefer the racing is that I can relate to it a bit more. I know what it’s like to ride fast at my physical limit, and I could get a bike round that track, albeit probably several minutes after they’d finished. But the trick stuff - I can’t even contemplate doing that and have no idea if what I’m watching is good or not. It all looks utterly impossible and impressive, particularly in slow motion.

To me the trick stuff isn't as impressive because it's all practiced in gym like facilities, in foam pits, resi ramps etc. I get a lot of bmx stuff in my Youtube feed but I get bored of the comps generally. It makes for good viewing which is what the IOC wanted but I prefer a good video edit of street or trails riding anyday. Great to see people who've been in bmx for years getting commentary and coaching jobs though.

Riding round a track is one thing but racing is far more unpredictable when you're riding bar to bar with others. I did a club race, 3 motos and a final, when my lad was racing. It was shit scary, especially since it was with 7 other sketchy middle aged men riding beyond their abilities. Once was quite enough.

 

[David Clapson]

Just learned that the Japanese male BMX freestyle rider, Rim Nakamura, was named after a rim. As in, wheel rim. What bicycle component would you like to be named after?

 

[Cid]

Just learned that the Japanese male BMX freestyle rider, Rim Nakamura, was named after a rim. As in, wheel rim. What bicycle component would you like to be named after?

And when is your name change to Lightweight Wheels-Clapson going through?

 

[May Kasahara]

Great BMXing, much more interesting than the racing. Hannah Roberts nailing a cracking run and hoping for gold, and then Charlotte Worthington coming along and pulling off the trick no one else dared try to snatch it from her.

Absolutely brilliant, just watched it now. And the love and camaraderie among the BMX folk is the most wholesome shit I've seen all year just genuine shared enjoyment and excitement in what they do.

 

[David Clapson]

And when is your name change to Lightweight Wheels-Clapson going through?

I was thinking Bottom Bracket or Crank.

 

[twistedAM]

Track cycling started. Monitor how your lottery money is spent.

 

[maomao]

God this is annoying. Cycling gets shifted to the main channel (presumably becase it's considered a bigger draw than beach fucking volleyball) but then has to stop for 5-10 minutes for the weather and headlines. Fuck the IOC and fuck Discovery/Eurosport.

 

[Cid]

Rebel alliance helmets.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Rebel scum helmets, thank you very much.

Why were the all racing so hard, chasing a world record that had "smashed" the previous one, in a qualifying round? Don't you just want to get into the top four and then save as much as you can for the final?

I did get the sense there's something about what position you qualify in affecting the final?

 

[Cid]

Rebel scum helmets, thank you very much.

POC Tempor apparently... I like this bikeradar review (though this is a much newer version).

...

• Pros: Super-fast when you’re super-low
• Cons: Everything else

...
its unstable over bumps and, incredibly, above 45mph it lifts and floats around. That’s as disconcerting as it sounds.

 

[Lord Camomile]

above 45mph it lifts and floats around

New sport!

It’s a classic example of too much CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and wind tunnel development around one aggressive position at one speed, and not enough real-world testing.

Interestingly Chris Hoy was just talking about essentially this, how you can just stick a bike in a wind tunnel and say "right, that's the fastest design", it's about how they interact with movement and other objects too.

 

[Cid]

Rebel scum helmets, thank you very much.

Why were the all racing so hard, chasing a world record that had "smashed" the previous one, in a qualifying round? Don't you just want to get into the top four and then save as much as you can for the final?

I did get the sense there's something about what position you qualify in affecting the final?

I assume they go in reverse order of qualifying? I suppose that's a bit of an advantage.

 

[Cid]

The men's they're really driving, dropping teammates all over the place.

 

[strung out]

Rebel scum helmets, thank you very much.

Why were the all racing so hard, chasing a world record that had "smashed" the previous one, in a qualifying round? Don't you just want to get into the top four and then save as much as you can for the final?

I did get the sense there's something about what position you qualify in affecting the final?

Because you don't want to finish 4th and get knocked out in the semi final to the Germans. Ideal scenario is to finish top and then only have to cycle against the 4th placed team.

 

[Cid]

Because you don't want to finish 4th and get knocked out in the semi final to the Germans. Ideal scenario is to finish top and then only have to cycle against the 4th placed team.

Ah didn't know it worked like that. Makes sense.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Because you don't want to finish 4th and get knocked out in the semi final to the Germans. Ideal scenario is to finish top and then only have to cycle against the 4th placed team.

Ah, so they do still race against another side in the semis and the final? Apologies, lost track of that'un.

 

[Cid]

Ah, so they do still race against another side in the semis and the final? Apologies, lost track of that'un.

Wheely don't need any puns on this thread thanks.

 

[strung out]

Ah, so they do still race against another side in the semis and the final? Apologies, lost track of that'un.

Yep, that's why they call it team pursuit rather than just a time trial.

 

[Petcha]

Enjoying this!

Crikey, the Aussie bloke is lucky not to have got hurt there going round at the pace.

 

[Sprocket.]

Strewth Bruce, your bars broke off.
Lucky he’s not hurt too badly.