Norway Track Walk - UCI World Cup 2012
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 Norway is a beautiful (albeit cold and expensive) place. There's plenty to look at, even in the gondola on the way up. This is especially true if people are mowing their grass roofs. |
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| The start gate leads into 4 or 5 massive jumps. |
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| 4 tables, one hip right out of the gate. |
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| After the jumps, you dive into the woods... which seem to be one endless rock garden. |
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| ...oh and roots are on top of the rocks and everywhere else. Slick in the daily rainstorms. |
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| Oh hey, World Cups are supposed to be Hard. Finally, this one has it right. I have never seen Sam Hill this excited to ride a track. Everyone else had better hang on and send it. There's line choices everywhere, and Mr Hill is a legend when it comes to lines. |
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| It's hard to convey just how steep some of the track is. Average speeds will be insanely high. |
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| Jacy imitates what some people will look like if they try a possibly massive stepdown. Ya, that's the take off behind him... about 15 feet up. |
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| The last rock garden has Sam all smiles. |
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| This is just the entrance... |
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| Send it! |
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| More rocks. |
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| Yup, more rocks. Same rock garden. |
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| This entire section is one gnarly rocky section of pain. Hope you have strong hands and brakes and lots of air in those tires... |
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| Norway is gorgeous, even when the storms head up the valley. |
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| STEEP berms. |
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| Dust?? |
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| Some off camber to complete the puzzle. This track truly has everything a racer could want. If you don't like it, you should take up ping pong or put on your big boy pants and harden up. |
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| One last section. This Is WAY rougher than it seems. |
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| Oh hey, rocks. |
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So I want to say that the riders will push each other to the limits of the track, no matter how easy the couse may be.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YFE_wxr_tc
Either way, Gwin's fans, and Gwin himself deserve an explanation and a sincere apology regarding this issue, and I WILL NOT SLEEP, and will remain vigilant until the truth is revealed!
Are you listening Shimano, and Trek World Racing ¿?¿? All of Gwin's fans deserve an explain, I encourage you all to email them, we can't let this happen again to the fastest man on wheels. I'm considering starting a campaign on Facebook, but am very busy raising awareness on the global warming issue, so if someone else wants to take the torch and run with it, it's your baby to steal.
1. Gwin
2. Hill
3. Bren Dawg
4. Smith
5. Spagnolo
I don't believe it was anything Monkdog did inside the brakes, because I'm pretty sure he won't ever actually take them apart. Bleeding yes, stripping down probably not. I could be wrong, but I would think that if there was any striping down going on then Shimano would do it, not the mechanic.
Which leaves Shimano themselves, or someone else. Would Shimano do it? Deny one of their greatest assets and chief development riders a shot at the world title? No chance.
Then who? Maybe someone who had access to the bike between Monkdog prepping it and Gwin riding it. Loosen a banjo? Stab a line with a screwdriver? Stick a needle between the seal and the cylinder?
It smells fishy to me.
As I said I don't like Gwin but I'd rather see him fairly bested on a full run.
One thing is for sure. No Japanese company in history has ever admitted fault over a mechanical fault, and Shimano won't over this, even if it was one.
It wouldn't take alot to sabotage someones brakes, that's for sure. And the fact that both brakes went out at the same time would seem to point to that as a legitimate possibility.
But the crucial question is who could have had the opportunity to sabotage them, and where? The obvious answer here is another racer, since they are usually the only other people around near the start. So next you have to ask who would have the biggest motive, and who else was around his bike? The riders who qualified near him obviously would be around him. Pretty sure Minnar wouldn't do it, he already had a big win this year. Sick Mick wouldn't do it cause hes a fellow man of faith and they share fellowship together. I wouldn't implicate my countryman Smith cause Canadians are usually honest. Who was desperate for a win that day, someone who has worked hard but hasn't won anything big in awhile? Who seemed the most disappointed after the race? Hill wouldn't do it, he has had a dominant career. We need more investigating about who was around Gwin's bike, pictures and video review, interviews, etc...
I dont think Monk would have intentionally sabotaged them either, but I have heard stories of him being forgetfull.
Ha ha ha - good one!
Once again, no sleep last night, damn!
That stepdown will be no letdown for the fans, they need a camera there, Red Bull!
PB is NOT reality. The internet is not a trail or race track. Posting photos of bicycles doesn't prove anything. Posting video footage doesn't prove anything. This is real life, not a video game. The proof is in person, not on the internet.
Protour's comments are entertaining. Why are so many of you busying yourselves with "proof" questions that supposedly are answered in PB user profile's photos/videos, or absence thereof? Tons of great riders and racers don't bother with PB, or if they use it, they use it superficially and jokingly.
It's only poseurs who think that comments and profile images are proof of something.
As for the Hafjell track, it looks like the rock gardens will weed out Bike Parkers.
If you pay attention you will notice that Protour tends to provoke discussion wherever the comment thread is full of stupid fanboi cheering or robot regurgitation of ad copy.
No matter how much anyone here loves riding bikes, it's still just riding bikes. It's not life-or-death, poverty-or-riches stuff at issue here. It's SWPL narrowed to a bunch of e-riding dorks who are wasting time on the clock at work, driving up the price of everything because their time-wasting is like theft from the employer.
Hooray for the 21st Century, employees slacking on the Toobz on the company dime, and all of them stupid robots who just spew fanboi nonsense and nonthinking Please Include Me In Your Cool Kids Clique blather.
What would be a NOT trolling post here? Fanboi blather? Repeating ad copy?
It's just riding, it's not life or death, but it could be life or death in the case of brake failure on a shit steep track covered with rocks. Specifically, Shimano prototypre brake failure on Gwin's bike at the world champs. Both brakes failed you say? Wow, what a coincidence. Both brakes were running fine for 18 months and then suddenly, as if by magic, they both failed at the same time. How could that be explained? They are both made to such exacting tolerances and used for the same number of seconds, suffering the same amount of wear leading to a spontaneous failure? If you believe that, you'll believe anything.
I think for motive you have to look at who dislikes Gwin, who has gone longest without a win, who is getting paid the most by SRAM, who has recently been dropped by Shimano, whose ride Gwin got...
The truth will out, however long it takes.
I suggest two levels of thread for PB in the future. One for real journalism and direct questioning, and one for stupid fanboi cheering or robot regurgitation of ad copy. Someone said if the journos probe too much we'll have no more interviews with Trek or Shimano for years. Since I have yet to see one which was even remotely interesting, I think that's a worthy sacrifice to uncover the truth of the Gwingate scandal.
the WC guys will be smashing em!
www.pinkbike.com/news/Hafjell-World-Cup-Track-video-2012.html
look at all the abuse this track got haha
it looks intense as hell...wonder how many of them are feeling stupid right about now
Good luck this weekend Sam and bring home the year strong mate.
Going to be an unreal race, track looks insane. Good luck to all the riders, but I would love to see Sam pin it and win it.
Those rockgardens are pretty hard even at amateur-level speeds and I can't even imagine how gnarly they'll be for the pro's!
Those four jumps are seriously big. Serious airtime. A shame we won't be seeing Cedric Gracia styling it up.
That steep mid-part section right after the first wood sections likes high speeds and I'm looking forward to watch those riders get loose!
THIS is a DH race track -- steep, fast, totally sketchy with some serious consequences, judging from a few of those tight trees.
Also, can I mention how much I love the write up? "...Put on your big boy pants and harden up." Awesome. Just awesome.
I think the photo above that sums it up. Great view down the one of many rock gardens. Should be a sweet race. Might be nice to see the bikes set up a bit softer and ploughing the rock gardens. I pity anyone who falls off .... compound fractures galore.
stoked since i am going there