Fort William Downhill WC 2015: Qualifications Postponed by pinkbikeaudience

66 Comments

97 1

AlexGustavsson (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:52)

stream the quali to so we can have a couple of hours of pure carnage!

orientdave (Jun 7, 2015 at 0:33)

Starting in 30 minutes, live timing here:

www.uci.ch/mountain-bike/ucievents/2015-mountain-bike-uci-mountain-bike-world-cup-presented-by-shimano/162153115/widgets/live-timing-169224

56 29

davidsimons (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:50)

They're bicycles, can't they ride them up?

134 3

ChrisRidesBikes (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:11)

The enduro was last weekend.

10 4

I-SmacK-I (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:11)

there isnt an access track all the way

16 1

searly01 (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:13)

Something something endur... oh.

25 2

Trailsoup FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:49)

The qualifier is now based on who can ride up the track fastest. Problem solved!

15 3

forkbrayker FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 11:22)

in reply to "chris who rides bikes" the wind also shut the enduro down to 2 stageson sunday last week....lol doesn't seem to matter what type of riding you do in scotland the weather will fubar it....only last week me and my missus were gettin kinky up the local brae when lighting hit me right up the ass!!!!! now that was a good ride ruined!!!!

forkbrayker FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 11:50)

lol, my humours obviously off kilter today!!!

20 0

Footey72 FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:05)

I'm a bit worried about the live coverage. It looks like this has pushed the elite mens and womens start times back. In the past when things have over-run, for example when Cam Cole got hurt and had to be helicoptered off, the live stream finished before the last riders had come down (but the whole thing was available on the replay). Something to do with the satellite use - I guess they have a fixed time slot to use the satellite for broadcast? Hopefully this isn't the case this time around. Can't wait for this round.

16 1

brand-new (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:23)

By the comment I assume having the bikes on the outside is an issue? Surely they could just run it as one rider and one bike per gondola? Obviously a slower service but much more logical than cancelling qualification for the day

11 0

husstler (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:17)

In most places I have seen the lifts get closed in high winds because the gondolas themselves swing too much (not the bikes on the rack).

brand-new (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:09)

Yeah I assumed that was the issue too but they made the specific reference to the bikes being outside the gondola so I thought that might be the reason they stopped practise which wouldn't make much sense to me

thinkbike FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:48)

Bikes on gondola cars are sails in high winds… like a weather vane

lightningskull (Jun 6, 2015 at 8:10)

Gondolas/Chair lifts have a maximum safe use rating for winds. It's probably shut down because the wind load has been exceeded.

I-SmacK-I (Jun 6, 2015 at 8:52)

nah not got anything to do with bikes they close the gondola anytime of year when its too windy. been instances before at nevis range where gondolas have got stuck or fallen in the wind so they are pretty cautious about it now

husstler (Jun 6, 2015 at 9:52)

The thing that's interesting to me is that Ft William is so open compared to ski places I am used to seeing gondolas. I wonder how much of the wind issue is as a result of trees being unable to grow there.

forkbrayker FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 11:19)

thats happened only once Ismack and it was nothing to with the wind and everything to do with a faulty runner. for sure they are cautious but you can hardly blame them. the weather this year in scotland has really sucked ass. literally every 7-10 days since February it implodes in a weather bomb of low pressure

11 0

ohjohnob FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:23)

A gondola 'fell off' a year or two ago in high winds at Fort Bill. This is why they are not so keen on keeping them running in bad weather...

aidy (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:10)

I know this wont help but superbesse and several other places in france have gondolas with 2 arms and 2 wires each so that the lift is safe in wind. At the top of the superbesse track the wind was almost enough to blow you off the bike but the gondola kept on running just fine all day. Maybe its upgrade time

nickkk (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:46)

I wonder how much a gondola system refit would cost? got to be into the 7 figures! I suppose compared to alpine elevations, this is a 'baby' but they can't come cheap! Have to try and ride here soon! So embarrassed that I've never made it happen yet!

webbe (Jun 6, 2015 at 9:52)

Just to clarify, the gondola was running today - I went up and walked down the track (the weather was brutal).

They just weren't letting the riders up for whatever reason. Possibly the safety of marshals being left up on the hill under the extreme circumstances.

Marc2211 (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:59)

Does this mean that redbull.tv may show the quallies now too?

flymcg (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:51)

Ah Scotland.

22 3

nickkk (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:21)

*Ach Scotland

14 1

davidsimons (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:52)

Och, Scotland

nickkk (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:01)

^ nailed it. I've been living in England too long clearly... (I'm Scottish btw)

mountaintrials003 (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:21)

At least everything is on tomorrow

davidsimons (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:31)

Dependent on the weather, surely?

Shiny-side-up (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:35)

You have to be an eternal optimist here

mountaintrials003 (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:38)

I cancelled going today last week and decided to go Sunday instead so I'm glad I did haha

davidsimons (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:54)

Hope the weather is good then, I'm all for optimism.

felimocl (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:19)

Despite the crappy weather I cannot wait to be moving here in August

irishkiwimadman (Jun 6, 2015 at 7:50)

Pinkbike, please stop with all this scribd shite, it's frustrating,

naptime FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 9:05)

YES! glad I'm not the only one Scribd is shit Please stop using it

Camikaze (Jun 6, 2015 at 9:29)

Sorry, was supposed to be a positive, fat fingers. Scribd is useless.

forkbrayker FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 11:30)

+1'd him for you camikaze. yeah Scribd is shite. can't do f-all on my wifes Ipad when looking at results, but seems to work fine on the desktop. why are so many races using this "scribd" for results listings anyway?

Camikaze (Jun 6, 2015 at 17:43)

Cheers bud.

neimbc (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:55)

Hope it doesn't end up starting halfway. Oh it's gonna be a wlid, windy, wet, mudder! I need racing!!

timsim07 FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 3:57)

Those are some really tight timings

dean (Jun 6, 2015 at 9:16)

Practice starts at 6:45 and each group has only 45min! Sunday will be an early morning for them.

ride-whenever (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:22)

Oddly the gondala is listed as open but the mtb not:

www.nevisrange.co.uk/mountain_report.asp

elbandido77 (Jun 6, 2015 at 8:34)

Bad news for all the businesses running stalls in the pit village. It's normally rammed on the Saturday

scott-townes (Jun 6, 2015 at 10:43)

hehehe.... rammed...

jptico (Jun 6, 2015 at 10:00)

any ones knows if they change the time of the TV redbull because of Qualifications Postponed. thanks

flyr (Jun 6, 2015 at 7:22)

WELL, THIS BLOWS.

jfkusa FL (Jun 6, 2015 at 20:47)

I'm glad to see the puns never got blown out of control on this article.

Below threshold threads are hidden

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nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:14)

Idea:
1. Put the athletes in one gondola.
2. Put their bikes in the second gondola.
That way their bikes are not on the outside and there will be enough room to fit the bikes in.
TAADAA

Gav-B (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:19)

It's not the bikes on the outside that are the issue, even if the copy makes it read like that.

nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:24)

I just watched a video of the event organiser saying it was because of them not wanting to transport bikes on the outside. I know they are mainly doing it for safety reasons, but they keep stating the fact about not wanting bikes to be transported on the outside on gondolas. If they want the Gondolas to not run due to strong winds, why not just say that instead of talking about bikes not being allowed on the outside.

nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:26)

I see it in the caption, but not in the main body of text.

Gav-B (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:29)

Because it adds to the problem. The gondolas get shut because of high winds all the time.

Gav-B (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:34)

Neither the caption or the copy explicitly say that bikes are the reason. This is getting circular, I'm done.

nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:37)

Yeah i get it, high winds. Not having a go at you.. just wondering why the following was included: "the gondola has been shut to riders, whose bikes are transported on the outside of the gondola".

nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:38)

Could have just left it as "the gondola has been shut to riders", because it made me and a few others think that the gondola can still run for those whose bikes fit inside the gondola.

Gav-B (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:39)

I know mate, no worries. I'm not there as I have to work, but I know they shut the gondolas in high winds to people as well, regardless of whether something is on the outside. Winds should drop tomorrow so fingers crossed.

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fraktiv (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:08)

Hey @NateTeh, sorry if there was any confusion caused. I wrote this piece and wanted to highlight the fact that at Fort William, bikes are transported on the outside of the gondolas, rather than inside. The gondola may still run to the public today, it depends on the direction and speed of the gusts. The same issues was had at the British Downhill Series a few weeks ago as highlighted in our coverage here. Unfortunately, despite May/June being typically the least severe period for weather in Fort William (hence why the national and international races are held around then), this part of the world is seeing unusually high amount of high winds for this time of year.

nutelladonut (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:28)

All good @geebeebee. Thanks for the clarification. Just the way it was worded got me confused a little haha

preach (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:03)

Wonder how many sunny dry days a year they have? Every year it's a soup fest there.

grgsmith (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:06)

Welcome to Scotland!

31 0

Gav-B (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:07)

Summer is usually on a Thursday.

preach (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:27)

Gav-B .... Classsssssic. God bless homie

rosco89 (Jun 6, 2015 at 5:41)

Summer is usually on a Thursday.........

Depends if it's west or east coast doesn't it?........ I'm sure over here we had summer last night for a few hours or so : )

Scribbler (Jun 6, 2015 at 6:52)

Clarification: Summer is only on one Thursday per year

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RedBurn (Jun 6, 2015 at 4:03)

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WAKIdesigns (Jun 6, 2015 at 10:02)

gondola´s down? Turn it to Enduro race then