Some of that footage was nuts! It was really in stark contrast to all those fly by / pan shots where it was obvious Gwin just rode by the person on the camera. I guess it shows the limits of current drones in more forested areas.
Was moderately impressed until he dove into the trees, flying sideways, Gwin still in focus. Then I was flipping dazzled. Mad props (see what I did there?)
That's AG playing the mind games! Same as Armstrong with his "it felt like there was no chain on the bike today". Can we get this freaking party started already?!?!
I think fitness holds everyone back with DH racing in the absolute sense, ie not just relative to other riders. Anyone can smash 10 seconds of trail at 100% effort with no real compromise due to fitness (ie it's just down to technique/skill/courage and maybe also outright strength), but try doing that for 3-5 minutes and even the fittest guys in the world are having to pace themselves to some degree. If you've ever raced DH you'll be aware of how utterly destroyed you are (or should be) by the end of a race run.
I think he is mostly referring to the strength and stability portion. Not just just the endurance to make it the whole way. To dive into corners and hold on through repeated hits at the speed those guys go requires monster stability just to hang on!
Not nuts. Just means courses are physical. It's also fitting since in about every sport the fitness is holding back the athlete no matter how fit he is. Of course that in here it's not just the fitness element, but it's not less important because of it. One other thing, the faster you are able to go technically, the more you get tired doing it, and consequently the more fit you need to be. If technically you are able to push really really hard, you will always be riding on your physical limits.
@DavidGuerra: I think Gwin is going to kill it this year like he did in 2012 or whatever it was. I predict 3, 4 or 5 world cup wins... But not the world championship.
Fresh motivation with the new setup and personal stake. A lackluster year in 2018.
It will all add up.
I think maybe Gwin will take four and the overall. Gee, Minnaar, and maybe Bruni or Vergier will win the others.
@neimbc: it's very unusual for someone to smash it one year and surprise everyone, and then do it again the following year. I'm not saying he won't, but I think history has shown it's unlikely
@jaame: But Pierron had some pretty good results previously and was young, so his emergence fits pretty well with what we'd expect of a downhiller's early prime.
PLUS his jump to the top coincides perfectly with the arrival of Commencal's 29in Supreme DH super bike which seems to work really well for him.
Both of those factors are either unchanged or bettered, so I suspect we'll continue to see him at the top this season. He smoked Danny Hart and Gee Atherton at the last Portugal Cup (well Danny was only a second or two back), so he seems to be entering the season in good form.
@BenPea: Gwin was something of an anomaly. No one else that comes to mind has had back to back stellar seasons.
If I oculd choose one of Pierron or Gwin to smoke everyone, I would choose Pierron. I'm not a big fan of Gwin the personality, but it's hard to deny his class as a rider.
He rarely rides practices burly descents - only 3-4 in socal. Hart and some of the other guys live at bike parks year round and Gwin just rides MX, hits the gym and eats ice cream in freakin yoga pants all day long. I don't get it....
@Loamhuck: Big bear and Tahoe offer plenty of burl. Carrying speed with composure is so important for racing, and in tight technical forest runs I tend to be more cautious, but whenever its loose, wide open trails like Cali, I find myself pushing comfort zones. SA and Aussie are similar to Cali, if not less burly, and produce riders like Minnaar...
@Loamhuck: riding motorcycles at speed makes DH seem slow, whether it's you, me or Gwin. He also doesn't seem to be the type to get seriously hurt in the off-season...
I've got Moir on my fantasy team rather than Gwin. I think Jack will benefit by watching AG ride and race this season. Big things for Shark Attack this season.....YEAAAAAAH,
Intense has 3 fast guys and a vpp 29er, Santa Cruz has 3 fast guys and a vpp 29er. It’s gonna be cool to see the teams fighting for points this season.
“We’re going all the way with this one for sure. (w/ Nervous Laugh)” Read as: “Holy f*ck we are sinking every dime we have in to these salaries- it better f&$king pan out!”
Honestly really respect the part Gwin said about supporting and riding for a hometown brand. When he first joined intense I thought oh this is a money thing or this a publicity thing. Not that I don't like intense cause I rode one for years but more haven't seen the intense hustle as much on the DH circuit the last few years so thought it was a way to get more brand recognition. At the end of the day, riding for a team that is your hometown team is something I highly respect and resonates with me. Tony Gwynn and the Padres, Rivers and the Chargers and Gwin now, all legends that seem to be standing by their hometown teams and that something I really respect.
Yo I've been making sports-biking analogies all day so this is right in my wheel house. My Pinkbike WAR is going up, and I'm going to throw a savage bat flip after this one. Tony Gwynn is from Los Angeles, and Philip Rivers is from Decatur, Alabama. How is being drafted by and playing their entire careers for one team that's not from their actual home town the same as Gwin signing with a brand that's from his actual hometown?
same...watching the video all chill and listening to everything then saw that, got pumped and said what a fucking nutter......dude is freak fast and loves it!
Nice little insights! I wonder if he’d benefit from a maes frankenbike? I say benefit I mean be even more unhumanly fast. He certainly moves his weight around on the bike too, kind of quick ninja moves to the inside on certain corners.
SOOO good to see Gwin back the machine.
I have to agree about Intense even though I have never owned one. If you are Old School, you may remember how Intense stay true to the game and always stick with their riders, just like kickarse brands such as Santa Cruz.
Ok I’m gonna get it started here. First, I should mention I rode a 6.6 for four years back when it came out and it was the best time I’ve ever had on a bike. That said, does anyone but me think it’s lame that Intense names their bikes after automatic weapons, bombs, snipers etc? Not trying to be PC, it’s more like as an adult I’m just don’t respond to a branding strategy that seems designed to appeal to 10 year old boys who play with GI Joes. Not seeing the connection between our sport and military grade weapons anyway. Someone enlighten me.
@scvkurt03: Pratt! I am not making it up otherwise i would not have made the comment. In fact i saw some 'airing dirty laundry' comments he made about Specialized on his Twitter a few years ago. Maybe you need to check your history on it fan boy!
@jeremiahwas: Are you serious, is riding a bike on the road that dangerous over there? What is the age kids get to ride their bikes in traffic then? They may not even reach the age of ten is it is like that!
That said, I get that he rides a car to Intense HQ. Why would he go there? To bring a broken bike for maintenance, pick up a new bike, bring three bikes for a photoshoot? Plus of course he's a professional athlete in an explosive sport. That is, he's supposed to do his training and take his rest. Not tire himself when he's not supposed to, which could affect his recovery and compromise his next training effort. I can imagine he needs to limit his endurance efforts (which riding a bike up a long climb can be). If you drive the car at 60km/h average and you climb it on your bike at 15km/h average, it would take him 40 minutes. That may be perfectly fine for anyone but an athlete supposed to stick to the program may be required to avoid that. Of course he could ride a bike with pedal support but from what I understand here on PB is that that would be considered lazy. Better to drive a car instead.
@vinay: I’ve heard of one person die mountain biking, maybe two. Those were freak accidents. I consistently hear of roadies (and pedestrians in LA especially) being hit by cars, often killed. Many people are on their phones. You can see them in traffic trying to hide it, but looking down at all speeds in all places. Is what it is.
I was stationed in Europe for 5 years. It’s different there. People grow up riding on the road and thereby have an awareness and respect for cyclists. In Europe, cyclists are considered part of traffic whereas here in the states, they’re not ‘supposed’ to even be on the road.
@jeremiahwas: I'm from the Netherlands. If there are too many accidents with cyclists, it is considered a problem and it needs to be solved. The situation that the roads are this dangerous because people driving 2000kg vehicles are not paying attention seems unacceptable to me. Actually, over here it were the people who initially triggered the safer cycling infrastructure, not the government. Of course because of the relatively flat country and shorter distances, The Netherlands has been a cycling country for a good while. But after the second worldwar there was a lot of prosperity and the way forward seemed to be cars. That was what the infrastructure was being adapted for. Unfortunately this motorized traffic lead to many more deaths and the people stood up against that. The people called for safer bicycling lanes and that's what happened. I found this video on youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuBdf9jYj7o Really, don't wait for Trump to solve this. It are the people themselves who need to step up.
Obviously the bicycle lanes are getting busier and busier as well especially as the e-bikes allowed even more people to use it for their daily commute, couriers etc. So what we've been seeing recently is that mopeds limited to 25km/h are now also being banned off the bicycle lane in Amsterdam. The same happened to the speed pedelecs (high speed e-bikes with assist up to 45km/h) a few years ago and faster mopeds already at the turn of the century. And there are experiments to lower the speed limit for all motorized traffic in the city from 50km/h down to 30km/h. Obviously outside the cities where motorized vehicles are faster you have mostly dedicated cycling lanes.
That said, I can imagine it would be hard for Americans to make the switch now that car travel has become so internalized throughout several generations. It seems over there (and correct me if I'm wrong) that riding bikes is considered something for enthusiasts so not necessarily something that should be funded with tax money. And that's where it becomes difficult to make a similar transition like what we've had here. You just need a majority of people who consider it normal, for whom it is just the way to get to work, shops, friends, school etc. That said, telephonists killing cyclists because they're driving cars is just unacceptable. They should be banned from driving for at least ten years.
@vinay: ban someone from driving for 10 years if they kill someone? how about life in prison...
things are much more spread out here, so cycling is pretty impractical for most people. but ur right, this is a driving culture and it will be hard to make commuting by bike very popular.
@savagelake: Sure, send them to prison. It doesn't necessarily make them better people overall. Heck I can know people who operate cellphones and who can still be quite harmless. People just shouldn't be driving when they're on their phones. So, those people who're being sent to jail for this, how long do they eventually not end up driving their cars? But that's the bit that matters at the end.
@acali: Thanks for the info mate. Probably more for the people's attitude than about what the place looks like. It seems the days of "change" and "we can do this" are over. It is all about making America great again now. No point giving cyclists a fair chance to survive a 40 minute cycling commute.
Then I was flipping dazzled. Mad props (see what I did there?)
Armstrong: “It felt like there was no chain on the bike today.”
Gwin: “Watch this.”
Fresh motivation with the new setup and personal stake. A lackluster year in 2018.
It will all add up.
I think maybe Gwin will take four and the overall. Gee, Minnaar, and maybe Bruni or Vergier will win the others.
World championships who knows?
I'd say one of Hart, Bruni or Minnaar.
It's almost time!
PLUS his jump to the top coincides perfectly with the arrival of Commencal's 29in Supreme DH super bike which seems to work really well for him.
Both of those factors are either unchanged or bettered, so I suspect we'll continue to see him at the top this season. He smoked Danny Hart and Gee Atherton at the last Portugal Cup (well Danny was only a second or two back), so he seems to be entering the season in good form.
If I oculd choose one of Pierron or Gwin to smoke everyone, I would choose Pierron. I'm not a big fan of Gwin the personality, but it's hard to deny his class as a rider.
Intense has 3 fast guys and a vpp 29er, Santa Cruz has 3 fast guys and a vpp 29er. It’s gonna be cool to see the teams fighting for points this season.
P"
P"
Then the questing might be, ‘why’d you ride road? You were ONLY a ten minute drive from your house!’
That said, I get that he rides a car to Intense HQ. Why would he go there? To bring a broken bike for maintenance, pick up a new bike, bring three bikes for a photoshoot? Plus of course he's a professional athlete in an explosive sport. That is, he's supposed to do his training and take his rest. Not tire himself when he's not supposed to, which could affect his recovery and compromise his next training effort. I can imagine he needs to limit his endurance efforts (which riding a bike up a long climb can be). If you drive the car at 60km/h average and you climb it on your bike at 15km/h average, it would take him 40 minutes. That may be perfectly fine for anyone but an athlete supposed to stick to the program may be required to avoid that. Of course he could ride a bike with pedal support but from what I understand here on PB is that that would be considered lazy. Better to drive a car instead.
I was stationed in Europe for 5 years. It’s different there. People grow up riding on the road and thereby have an awareness and respect for cyclists. In Europe, cyclists are considered part of traffic whereas here in the states, they’re not ‘supposed’ to even be on the road.
Obviously the bicycle lanes are getting busier and busier as well especially as the e-bikes allowed even more people to use it for their daily commute, couriers etc. So what we've been seeing recently is that mopeds limited to 25km/h are now also being banned off the bicycle lane in Amsterdam. The same happened to the speed pedelecs (high speed e-bikes with assist up to 45km/h) a few years ago and faster mopeds already at the turn of the century. And there are experiments to lower the speed limit for all motorized traffic in the city from 50km/h down to 30km/h. Obviously outside the cities where motorized vehicles are faster you have mostly dedicated cycling lanes.
That said, I can imagine it would be hard for Americans to make the switch now that car travel has become so internalized throughout several generations. It seems over there (and correct me if I'm wrong) that riding bikes is considered something for enthusiasts so not necessarily something that should be funded with tax money. And that's where it becomes difficult to make a similar transition like what we've had here. You just need a majority of people who consider it normal, for whom it is just the way to get to work, shops, friends, school etc. That said, telephonists killing cyclists because they're driving cars is just unacceptable. They should be banned from driving for at least ten years.
things are much more spread out here, so cycling is pretty impractical for most people. but ur right, this is a driving culture and it will be hard to make commuting by bike very popular.
@acali: Thanks for the info mate. Probably more for the people's attitude than about what the place looks like. It seems the days of "change" and "we can do this" are over. It is all about making America great again now. No point giving cyclists a fair chance to survive a 40 minute cycling commute.
Was expecting some hardcore gym or pedal sessions. No eggs on this Easter egg hunt.