Claudio's Course Preview: Windham DH World Cup 6

 Wild how much faster it looks from the chest cam vs. the helmet cam!

 And steeper!

 these course previews always make me smile, Claudio is a HERO.

 I wish he could preview everything, this guys the man

 It'd be awesome if my local bike parks (CO) hired him to do trail previews.

 Claudio.......your my hero

 "Some moons here, going into the wood"
Better that way than the other way around!

 I'd really like to see Claudio review normal things--like shampoo or vacuums.

 Like commentating on brushing his teeth? "Going into the back molar section now.... This is where I brushed too hard last time.... Come on concentrate... Need to maintain momentum... And I made it!!! Woooooo!"

 check the clock he had a 3:00 min flat run the pros are shaving 30 seconds off of that !!!!

 A lot different when you are managing a team vs racing for times to keep your spot on the team. He rides pretty damn hard for one of the old boys

 When rob Warner did them, they were pretty much just swear words xD they were the best previews so funny!

 I never get tired of the "Waooooooooooo oh, that was good"!

 Awesome as ever! Claudio King of track previews!!! it just wouldnt be the same from another rider, another race weekend, and other track preview NAILED!!!

 Dear Cluadio,
Can I please adopt you as my father?
Thanks

 I remember the one Rob Warner did for the World Champs in Champery a few years back. It was just about 7 minutes of swearing.

 He rides for Scott

 holy shit im dumb

 Claudio WAS a pro DH racer back in the years.

 He also built the legendary Champery race track!

 MX may not be as technical, but it is definitely just as exciting and enjoyable to ride and race as downhill. And the professional coverage is twice as good as any WC. Neg prop me if you want but its the truth.

 Comparing the two is stupid! Both take massive nutz! Especially in the professional realm.

 AMA SX is a different league and not comparable. DH racing is more like ralley racing and SX is manly with a shitload of balls needed! I just can't forget Barcia showing some super attitude to Roczen this year at the beginning of the season. Say what you want but SX is right up there.

 I'm sure he meant it as a joke BUT Supercross is a whole other beast the triple and quads they are hitting right into hard breaking corners? Heck the wall Jump that James launched of in Daytona this year during the heats was insane.

www.motocrossplanet.com/articleimages/13263.jpg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyRFmhbRggk

 The comment is probably based on the fact that Unadilla is only 90 minutes away, and they are hosting their annual Motocross event this weekend with all the big boys. If Finals were still on Sunday I was going to make a weekend out of it. Bummer they both run on the same day.

 Sure, he meant it as a joke and comparing the two is pointless but well, the noise, smell, coverage/market and prevalence of sheer mechanical power over riding skills put supercross in another league, one I don't mind missing... I'd rather get lost in a mountain ;-)

 Stark contrast between other courses, easiest and shortest?

 Claudio jumped the shit out of that jump, on other tracks he doesn't do some of them.. he was, as Rob would say, ON FIRE!

 I'd like to see you be able to ride that at their pace, it might be easy to skid down on your brakes, but I'm sure it'll be a whole different story at race pace.

 Windham reminds me a bit of what Nevegal was back in the day. Track was not hard to ride, but it was hard to ride fast.

 Guys, it's way steeper than you think, you'd get slaughtered if you were to ride your hardtail on it

 @ccolagio, how is it not a proper represent the sport? Are all race tracks for motorsport super technically challenging and slow? Are all the WC DH ski races are hard as Kitzbuhl? No they're not. You need a variety of different types of tracks, that favor different skills and abilities. This track it going to be blistering fast the whole way down, it's going to require you to not make mistakes and keep it pinned the whole way down. Is it different than Ft. Bill and MSA? Yep. Is it any lesser of a test....no.

 Probably not so easy on the wheels though with those stones! But I don't get that they made all the jumps too short! I mean if he's overshooting, what are the top guns gonna do?!

 I raced this exact course two weeks ago and I can personally say that all of these vids and pics do not do any of it justice... It may be more tame than some of the recent courses but it's nothing to be laughed at... DH rig would be highly recommended

 @ccolagio

Please, bring said SS 80mm travel hardtail to the track and give us a course preview like Claudio! I look forward to your commentary haha!

 Im also game to see some carnage from riding a hard tail down this at even half a race speed. I do wanna say, when Claudio said his tire size helped him through the rock garden. That was some BS. Pick your line right and a 26in wheel is just fine through there.

 looks to easy

 yes i understand having different tracks throughout a season - it adds variety and tests all levels of skill (tech vs speed and such). im just saying when you have racers saying they wish there were more turns at the top of the hill because it's just straight through...it doesnt seem like this is anyone on the circuits favorite race or even something that they look forward to unless it happens to be closer to their home. racers have been commenting all season about the groomed berms and manicured rock gardens and sections that have been "smoothed" out to years past. i keep wondering who is making these course decision/modifications b/c it seems that all the riders have been against them...and this course seems to fall within that category. just like in DJs...having to grab a handful of brake before a jump b/c you are going to massively over clear the landing is bad course design.

 half race speed...i never mentioned that! i meant i could literally get through the track. like at rock crawler speeds but still...

 I think someone famous once said "It doesn't get easier, you just go faster." Whatever the racers may or may not be saying about the track, the main reason they ride it is to win, and winning is going to be as hard as ever. Agree about the jumps, though. That just seems strange. I'm curious to see what some of these folks do at race speed.

 Seems like you'd have trouble with those jumps at "rock crawler speeds", and most of the rocky sections, sice speed is often your friend in the chunk.

Maybe you're just talking out of your ass though, don'tcha think?

 sorry but our track was the best urs sucks

 The riders tend to say "it's the same for everybody else" after mentioning how they straightened things up. While it may not be the perfect WC track, it will favor those that get on with their run right out of the gate as opposed to those that build up their runs.

 Muricans getting butthurt. Lmao

 Or worldcup football that would be something else lol!

 No such thing as too easy....if it's too easy you're not riding fast enough!

 I don't think A line is easy.... If u clear it all with flow.. You gain my respect for sure...

 gotta agree with you... maybe the only world cup track that i would'nt be scared to ride

 23% grade on the track - very steep. A line is roughly 6 %.

 a-line isnt a downhill track... why care to compare

 a-line isnt a ''downhill'' track... why care to compare

 It's to establish a point of reference, is all. A trail that many have ridden...

 Different kind of track. MSA required a balance of speed, stamina and precision. Windham is all about coming out firing and keeping it on the whole way down, but reel it in just enough in the right places and have pin-point accuracy to have a chance to win. You will see racers pedaling in spots us mere mortals would never dare turn a crank.

 Champery and Val Di Sol are steep. Windham is not.

 EVERY trail is much steeper than what you see in a video. Leogang course has much steeper sections than this course and people were only complaining about it because of a few pedal sections. I don't get it.

 I know right? Football commentators are utter shit.

 Claudio is like the Morgan Freeman of MTB. He needs to narrate and commentate for EVERYTHING.

 I wish I knew Swiss so I could figure out what that means!

 He almost certainly uses a lapel mic or similar - you can pick one up from Amazon or similar for about £30 (so...$40-ish?) so it's not too tricky to get decent audio if you want it.

 hahaha might have been ratboy.

 It's roughly 23%, on average - very steep. For reference, a line is about 6% average.

 For reference, Schladming is said to have an average 35% grade. Parts of Champery are 75% grade.

 "Is said to"... I'm sure parts of windham are steeper than 23% too. Make no mistake about it though - an average grade of 23% is pretty darn steep. Not saying it's more difficult than another track or not, but only pointing out that it's not your every day ride in the park, so to speak.

 primadonna. seriously..

 Even if you got primadonna correct it wouldn't make sense in the context of your comment.

 Yet the comment below posted by deemax1 says it's so fun to watch.

I'm very confused.

I'm also very proud of your cruiser-bike-shredding prowess.