There's never been a better time to be a fan of mountain bike competition. Whether you're into downhill, enduro, or cross-country racing, extensive coverage of nearly every event is only a click of the mouse or tap of the screen away.
Yes, sometimes the live feed goes down, or results aren't immediately posted, but the fact that those instances can even be considered annoyances illustrates how spoiled we've become. At the risk of sounding like an old timer who walked uphill both ways to school (in the snow), I can remember waiting anxiously for
Mountain Bike magazine to arrive in my mailbox so I could see how legends like John Tomac, Ned Overend, and Paula Pezzo had perfomed, reading about races that had happened weeks, if not months, earlier.
We're in the heart of the off-season right now, and many athletes are starting to settle into their training routines, putting in the gym time and base miles in preparation for another busy season of racing all around the world. When the season kicks off in a few months – the first DH World Cup round takes place in Lousã, Portugal, on March 21, and the first EWS round starts on March 28 in Manizales, Colombia – it'll be time to see if all that winter preparation paid off. Don't forget that 2020 is an Olympic year, which adds another event to the schedule of the top XC athletes.
That brings us to this week's first poll question: What form of mountain bike racing are you most excited for in 2020?
As a follow up, what form of competition (if any) are you excited to participate in next year? Unlike mainstream sports like soccer or American football, where there are vastly more fans than participants, many mountain bike racing fans also compete themselves. Is there a local enduro or DH series you're planning on participating in, or are you going to be gunning for XC glory in 2020? What about trying a pump track race, or digging out a grass slalom track and rounding up some buddies for some friendly competition?
define gnar. 2 runs flat out mayte t6 mins max. or riding 40km in a day doing 3 runs down completely different tracks whilst maintaing speed and concentration.
might not have the huge jumps but just as difficult in a different way, and more riders turn up to events and have a go before or after the pros
Unfortunately DH isn't really like that, the top guys rarely show up to smaller races. So even though the live feed is way more exciting, there is a bit less engagement for me.
If you consider how much enduro bikes the bike industry are selling right now, the bike industry could sponsor EWS coverage. It would benefit the bike industry aswell as us riders/watchers/fans. Win-win.
EWS is basically a long dh-course, and the skill level and different, exotic and spectacular locations should make it interesting for everyone. Even those who hardly can ride a bike (xc and road riders).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCI_Indoor_Cycling_World_Championships
Realy looking forward to these races.
I'm going to race the shit out of some local XC though; we're not even USAC up here.
The DH has the perfect format, the fastest man goes last. An almost full run visible in a few minutes. it makes for some suspense and a great show.
EWS has a lot to learn about Dh WorldCup/ I believe a lot could be done with better editing.
The BEST competition is when all these guys are french. Oh wait, it is called downhill
You’re not a mountain biker if you haven’t done the Mega ????