Rachel Atherton To Race Leogang This Weekend

 she is a MILSW (mother i like to see win )

 @RedBurn: HAHAHAHA

 When you are a toddler and you realize that your mom is a super-hero for the rest of the people

 @RedBurn: COD material!

 @RedBurn: accidentally downpropped, small phone, tired fingers!

 Truth

 Don’t worry she’s a legend here In The colonies

 I think her brothers may be fast cause of her. She's got more wins than they do.

 @mtb-thetown: combined

 I remember reading an interview on here with a certain North American female DH racer and even she made the 'She's fast because of her brothers' line. This racer had access to bike parks and some of the gnarliest trails in the world, and Rachel grew up riding glorified sheep trails on the Welsh borders.... Such a load of bollocks.

 She is fast because she rode with her brothers, but they were also her team mates, I think they must have fought like brothers and sister too. What a family, to do it together, all do their thing for mountain biking, create a bike park whilst running a saw mill to help pay for the bike park, and the small task of taking the risk of developing their own frame and race team. I wonder what they do on their 1 day off every 4 years. Oh... and Dyfi is the absolute best, shame its so far away from us, but we will be back for sure, the Athertons may be responsible for the resurgence in the UK presence at the top of categories too!!!

 Mountain biking/bikers in general don't get the attention deserved in the UK.

 Big facts here. Rachel belongs with Nico, ACC and G.Minnaar !

 It is the same with Greg in South Africa. Outside of the cycling community he is hardly known. i remember when he was up for sportsman of the year a few years back, no one had a clue who he was

 Becuase of her brothers she is faster than she would be otherwise. Acknowledging that reality doesn’t take away from her achievements in the womens field. When you ride with people better than you, you inevitably pick things up from them.

 @dkendy1: yeah keep it classey palmy north

 Rach's speed can be attributed to her brothers as much as anyone from a family of racers counts on their siblings to push each other to ride better and faster

 No shit, they all trained together, they're legends because they're such a strong team. How is her having brothers make it any different to anyone else though? She had to win that race on weekend all on her own.

 According to:
Peak
Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
Anders Ericsson Robert Pool

Its not because she had brothers. it that they were older and therefore she is the was the youngest, which gives her a higher chance of performing better than her brothers.
This is only one small piece of the jig saw that makes a champion.

lot of arguments for and against the ideas presented in the book peak.
alot of the articles readable via sci-hub.se
here are some good reads.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak:_Secrets_from_the_New_Science_of_Expertise
hbr.org/2007/07/the-making-of-an-expert
www.80percentmental.com/blog/tag/K.+Anders+Ericsson
www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume4_issue2/JoE_4_2_Harris_Eccles_Intro.pdf
The Influence of the Family in the Development of Talent in Sport doi.org/10.1123/tsp.13.4.395
graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/DeliberatePractice(PsychologicalReview).pdfPsychologicalReview

 Interesting that you're getting neg props for this. She readily admits she's not near her standard for being in shape, and that the fatigue of the new format was a real challenge. I agree, look out women's field when she's back to her standard form.

 There are certain experiences in life that change your pain threshold / view point: For her, possibly child birth and motherhood. For me, child death.

 @AppleJack76: Damn dude. I hope seeing the joy and love in the first picture of this article gives you some happiness.

And Rachel is the GOAT!

 Watching her sit down during the run I was thinking, how does she sit down with balls that big?

 For many many things being and old dog could be useful. Old dogs know a lot of tricks,experience is key to some moments. She was looking effortless,very composed and totally in control. CG comments about some riders looking slow like chilling but ripping the track,Ratboy was like that,Gwin in his best moment or even Bruni. Saw the fire in her eyes and I had 0 doubts she would try again next race. She had a good chance to get another podium.

 @alis66: Those photos are always a bitter sweet jealousy... something I could of have experienced. When you lose your parents, you lose your past. When you lose a child, you lose your future.

Rachel is like Greg, but complains less to Jordie (Fox), when her suspension doesn't feel right. BTW, Fox's Dialed is best YT DH side show.

 @homerjm: Exactly, Minaar is the perfect example in my opinion.

 @mammal: Fair point. I also think the more fitter riders will benefit from this new format.

 It's pretty easy to imagine.... If I remember correctly, prior to being a mom her results were pretty similar to last weekend. I think the main difference is she didn't hold a child after winning.

 "Imagine what it may of looked like if her fitness was on par with what it was prior to her injury the her becoming a Mom"
No need to imagine it, she did it for 13 years straight.

 @homerjm: exactly. Through the first half of the track she looked so composed that she actually looked slower than the previous riders.

She’s admitted her fitness wasn’t where she wanted it but she’s got over 20 years experience at the pointy end of racing

 How did you spell her name incorrectly so many times?

 @DirtyHal: And under our flag, too. Saddening.

 GO RAYCHEL GO! GO RHAECHAEL GO! GO REICHAL GO!

 @DirtyHal: He probably didn't pay attention during the Wyner views.

 @DirtyHal: at least was consistent, always Racheal

 @Joakinho: and so a pinkbike comment meme is born. Go Rachachel!

 @samanual: Good luck next race Reighchitl!

 Not just women either! My PhD research looked at masculinity in the transition to fatherhood (I actually interviewed a few pro mountain bikers as part of my research). Qualitatively there is a pattern of decreased personal risk in caregiving that kinda makes sense from a social role theory as you are now "living for someone else" in addition to yourself. Also, some strong biological shifts in the brain to support a decrease of risk taking. For men there is a drop in testosterone (so a slight to moderate drop for many in risk related to competition- not necessarily aggression always) and in both a raise in prolactin/oxcytocin (bonding/care) and vasopressin (group related stress as part of it's role). Vasopressin is a big one- that being more afraid about the wellbeing of those we care for. Like the "who will look after my kid if I get hurt thought..." Love hearing Rachel's thoughtfulness in her decisions on this and am a huge fan. The most interesting example of this I recall was Cam Zink's Rampage a few years ago with his wife and tiny kiddos at the bottom. The stress was so palpable and you could just feel that tension between doing what he was capable of doing, taking the risks he was known for, and a tough juxtaposition with his new role as father. Certainly a topic I would love to see more exploration into! Love to hear Danny Hart's perspective on it. Get at me Danny! We can turn it into an article. I think the pattern you see in the pros are similar to what many of us go through in our lives- of course often without the weight of a career that hinges on continued risk taking.

 @snl1200: Cool story. Needs more dragons

 @philneuve: Every story could use more dragons

 @snl1200: very interesting and makes a lot of sense. Sam Hill would be a good person to interview about it too.

 @snl1200: thats a good one! hello @pinkbike - this sounds like a good topic for article

 @snl1200: very well written comment, I would indeed be interested to read an article about this as I experienced what I call a "loss of balls" after my kids arrived and my riding took the hit, in no way was it as mammoth as the pros experiences of this just my observation of my own experience.

 @snl1200: Thanks for the reply. Very interesting stuff! I associated this change more with the mother because of the biological and chemical connection with the child they create. Didn’t realize the chemical changes that occur in men. I thought we were wired to spread our seed as much as possible and then die doing something dumb lol. It is interesting to look at it from a racers perspective as risk taking is how they earn a living. Versus your average parent not willing to take as much risk doing a hobby so they can provide for the family. When I had children things changed for me where my career mattered less and my paycheck mattered more. Not sure if that makes sense? Accomplishments and prestige matter less to me and providing matters more. Regarding risk taking for recreation, I would say I take more calculated risks now but my riding is still progressing. I also may have offset this by hitting 40, realizing my days of riding hard are numbered, hitting the gym harder and making a conscious effort continuing to progress my riding while I still can. I’m still on an upward trajectory at 42. When your skills are more refined this helps mitigate risk. I can also do my job on crutches though. If I needed my body for work, I’d look at this very differently. Another interesting look is not just physical risk but financial risk. After my first child was born I took huge risk and started my own business. It was a tough call but the paycheck I was working for at the time just wasn’t going to cut it for a family. My wife wanted to stay home with the kids and this was the only way to make that work and still live like we want to. Huge roll of the dice and 8 years later most days it was worth it. Gender aside I’ve always been a bigger risk taker than my wife though, even before we reproduced. Some folks are born to take risk and some aren’t.

 @Struggleteam: Totally makes sense- the "breadwinner" father role is still a powerful one for most men and I was surprised at how strong I felt that drive when my first child was born. Also agree that the between people differences in these things is huge regardless of the overall trends across populations within or between genders etc. I do think the big trends play out in individuals though. We are similar ages and I relate to the drive to continue building skills and taking risks... certainly getting better at calculating them but not ready to put that away yet. I do find myself waking up far more sore than I used to and feeling my ankle (broken twice) after a long day of riding or my rotator cuff that I have done in a few times over the years that at times can impact my riding and sideline me briefly. Also lucky to live in a community where biking can be a big part of my life without too much of a time commitment away from the family and that my kids are at an age (10/13) where they need me less for their basic survival.

 Gee did his part. and now he's got plenty other things to keep him going. the UK has sooo much talent. we prolly don't need Gee to take a spot from another UK kid... besides, he can race hardline! I've always been a Gee fan by the way. which wasn't always popular! whereas Rachel will push the sport. Besides so many others, I think Nina is going to benefit. She rises up. Go ladies go!

 Rachel is a benchmark for which we see the progress of the Womens WCDH Elite field.

With Minaar and Gwin, it's pretty clear that the level has been significantly increased in men's field. I have a hard time calling either "GOAT" because they dominated during their era, but when the competition leveled up, they didn't have quite the edge. If anything, I'd lean more towards Gwin having that title because he dominated for years even after Minnaar had already won multiple titles. Then again, Minnaar was Gwin's only threat until Smith and Bryceland. They also raced against each other for most of their careers and that probably contributed to their levels increasing in-step with one another. Does consistently taking Silver against a new level of competition earn you the title of GOAT?

ACC's accomplishments are pretty amazing because she sorta spanned eras. She started in Elites in 96' when full suspension bikes, brakes, tires and wheels were pretty primitive, and she was a podium contender when Rachel entered Elites in 2006, as well as beating Rachel 4 years later at the AirDH of 2010. Oh and won the fricking Olympics in BMX in 2008. She raced against competitors who they themselves were dominant, like Jonnier, T-Mo, Ragot and even a young Myriam Nicole. Personally, I think ACC is the greatest female bike rider we've seen in the sport, primarily because she was at threat in multiple disciplines.

In my mind, Rachel Atherton will go down as a GOAT of Women's DH because she's proven that even after 17 of years racing, including against veteran winners like T-Mo, Ragot, Nicole, and Jonnier, and new threats like Carpenter, Cabirou, Seagrave and Hoell, season ending injuries, age and motherhood, that she's still that benchmark of effortless speed and the one to beat.

 She needed to demonstrate to British Cycling that she's in competitive form. A nation's cycling association doesn't need to consider UCI points when choosing who represents in World Champs, but they definitely consider who's done well recently, and compare between available riders.

 Good question. I understand how the Worlds work, but you do need some kind of UCI License to get a shot at qualifying for a regular season race. Usually you need points from other lesser events but I could see them making an accommodation for a Legend lever racer.

 @suspended-flesh: I think if you are part of a trade team you can enter without any UCI points. I might be wrong but that’s what I remember.

 I was wondering the same thing - I remember Peaty chasing UCI points in his last couple of years racing to get to race the world cups yet someone who has been out for two years can apparently just say she is going to show up at the last minute and race. I hasten to add that I like that she can and was so stoked to see her win on the weekend!

 Option 1: Get UCI points by competing in regional and national level events. They don't have to be in your home country, but do have to be held by organisations recognised by the UCI. Best 8 results for the year gives the total UCI points.
Option 2: A national body can request entry for a rider without enough points under certain circumstances. If that happens they have to wear a national team jersey and not regular trade team jersey.
IIRC you only need something like 60 UCI points to qualify for World Cups and Rachel got over 100 last year. 60 points is a couple of top 10 finishes at National level. Once a rider has the license, they don't 'have' to enter any events with it, they can pick and choose.

 @paulskibum: There was a point a few years back where The Syndicate wasn't considered or registered as a trade team by the UCI for some reason & therefore they had to collect points to compete. Bizarrely I seem to remember that it was something to do with everyone having their own personal kit & gear sponsors although I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me will give you the correct reason.

 @Psythepie: yeah I recall that too. I think you're on the money with the reasoning too.

 Three ways to be eligible to enter an Elite DH World Cup currently

(1) Be a member of a UCI registered trade team (team enters you. No points required). Athlete races in team kit.
(2) Privateer/Independant. Have a minimum of 40 UCI points. Entry is submitted on your behalf by your federation (just an admin thing. Don't need to be selected). Athlete races in kit of their choice.
(3) Federation can enter up to 3 riders who have less than 40 points. In this scenario riders have to ride in National kit.

 @Fix-the-Spade:

Three ways to be eligible to enter an Elite DH World Cup currently

(1) Be a member of a UCI registered trade team (team enters you. No points required). Athlete races in team kit.
(2) Privateer/Independant. Have a minimum of 40 UCI points. Entry is submitted on your behalf by your federation (just an admin thing. Don't need to be selected). Athlete races in kit of their choice.
(3) Federation can enter up to 3 riders who have less than 40 points. In this scenario riders have to ride in National kit.

 Amauy's season is pretty much done. bummer

 I also loved Endura for including her in their promo shots for new gear business as usual when she was already a few months pregnant, her bump showing in some of the photos. I wish more sponsors would have this kind of approach on things, instead of some making up all weird clauses in their contracts basically banning pregnancy.

 Obviously ACC also picked up some wins in urban DH, enduro racing and one in Olympic BMX racing. So in cycling sports overall, she'll be a tough one to beat. On the other hand, in DH racing I doubt the competition was even a fraction as strong as it is now. So in DH racing, she has already long taking the GOAT title for me.

 @vinay: you're right, about "modern" DH, she is the One ;-)

 I'm sure/hope ACC will be more gracious than Merkx was in road racing when Cavendish equaled his TdF win record!

 agreed.

ACC is probably the greatest female gravity/technical rider ever. She may lose her title as GOAT in WCDH, but she'll still hold respect as the best all-around female rider outside of road/XC.

Atherton's era-spanning dominance against both younger and more experienced threats makes her a GOAT. Manon Carpenter might have been the only other competitor to have made Rachel sweat, and we never got to see that play out.

 I don't have results from 1995 or older though. If anyone has them, PLEASE send them so I can get them integrated into the site!

 @rootsandrain: " An announcement earlier this week revealed that Rachel is going to be returning again this weekend to see if she can top the podium once again and potentially beat ACC's all-time win record."

Taken from the Pinkbike Predictions story from today's front page. So it looks like they're going back to saying 40 wins.
Thanks for the great work on your site by the way.

 I don't understand this nonsense that she's not on form. She's clearly on form. If you have followed her on social media lately she rides non stop. Trains at the gym and at the park with some of the fastest guys in the world. She's probably in better shape than most of the top women.

 @thewho07: Seems you know better than she does.

 @thewho07: When Rachel was on form proper, the margin down to 2nd place was circa 6-13 seconds!

 @thewho07: she's said in repeated interviews that she's not even close to her best, physically. Also that she hasn't even been able to sleep well enough to focus and train properly until very recently.

 @thewho07: Ahhh, social media, the true reflection of one's life!

 @thewho07: She's on form but He means at the form she can eventually get back to which is better than where she currently is. Not that that is bad but continuing to Race at that level of intensity is the catalyst to getting to the form in which He is describing. Now You understand?

 @Bollox64: she was way up at the first couple splits and started losing time towards the bottom, which tallies with a lack of fitness

 100% anyone who thought she wasnt going to race the entire season was delusional, shes a competitor and once she got one track she was commited for the season

 @mobil1syn: exactly what I thought when she took the win. No way shes only racing to qualify for world's, and now she knows that she can still win while nowhere near peak form.

 I bit the bullet I paid for a year of GCN+. It just an app. Cost me $40. I thought the coverage was better than
Redbull in many ways. Other than one REALLY annoying commentator. The Scottish fellas was really good (no warner) the other fellas was a train wreck. Still working out the kinks of course. Racing didn't suffer one bit and the new format just gives more to watch. Bottom tier elite riders and juniors now get coverage.

 Search the venue name on Youtube, in this case Leogang, and then filter by live. There were a few people pushing the stream through on there.

 @Struggleteam: I didn't watch the final, but had issues with the track coverage of the semi-final. I found that compared to RB, Discovery had worse coverage of the more interesting sections of the track where time was being made, and mostly stuck to the motorways where riders pretty much look exactly the same.

I think part of that is trying to cram so many riders into the feed. RB was limited by number of cameras, but showed fewer riders, so were able to cover the more interesting (technical) portions of the track.

 @mammal: I agree but they also added more footage from different angles for top riders on there runs. regarding camera locations and the number of cameras, hopefully this will vary by track. I still think it’s a worthwhile trade off to get more riders exposure. Still not the disaster we are all preparing for and other than Cedric sounding like a moron, it was pleasant to watch. The other commentator was searching for the stfu button no doubt.

 @Struggleteam: I didn't find Cedric much worse than Claudio, and he's only starting this gig, so he's the least of my concerns. They added a few more angles as the broadcast neared the finish, but it wasn't much of a difference, and they've shown that their focus is on the open jump sections. I'm definitely not sold on their broadcast quality, and won't pay for the product unless they demonstrate improvement.

 @blackfields57 : You don't need the app and you can also pay monthly

plus.globalcyclingnetwork.com/races

 Cedric was OK but a little bit messy - had a good eye for spotting issues (flats) quicker than Rob or Claudio ever would. He is a bit old school, didnt seem to have much info on some of the riders, struggled with the language a touch but he's hardly new to it - he was a Red Bull foreign language commentator before wasnt he?

Rick is OK as a lead host - seems like he is trying to find a bunch of one liner catch phrases to fire off here and there or he's playing commentator bingo on the side - but overall he's a decent make weight for both DH and XC.

I thought the footage from Lenzerheide was about what you'd expect from Red Bull - with added drone on a pointless section. I feel like a lot of the filming will be done by local agents and potentially the camera positioning is dictated by the venue for where hook up and power can be routed. Could be wrong.

 @mammal: Glad you thought so. I found him jarring and for a former dh racer, lacking knowledge. I was ok to give my money to a cycling based company like GCN. If anything increased subscriptions will help with better coverage right? Wish it somehow got to the racers but such is life. Red Bull doesn’t need your dough, they make plenty selling us all toxic horse piss.

 @Struggleteam: "If anything increased subscriptions will help with better coverage right?" I'm certainly not holding my breath for that. If they can't come up with a better product than the free coverage from RB, they're dead in the water with this whole thing.

 @mammal: ESO (and or Discovery) overpaid for the rights relative to RB. They need to make that investment up somehow and it isn't putting in better coverage. It's trying to look like raising the bar while recouping as much money as possible. They are depending on subs, but the product is inferior to the free coverage which you point out. Not a well thought out plan. Perhaps they can improve. Who knows.

 @mammal: Actually Cedric is not a beginner in commentating. He did it for years for RedBull for the French feed (DH, Rampage..)

 @hpman83: I'd assume it's a way different game commentating in English, which he can speak, but has never been the most clear communicator.

 @Struggleteam: wait, toxic horse piss? I thought I was drinking the sweet juice from a bull's ball bag. I want my money back.