@aamgdp: He coasted for at least a full bike length before contact. They call that target fixation. Many of us on this board could've just hopped our line 18" to the left, and many couldn't have :/
@hllclmbr: ofc you wouldn't hit it. You wouldn't have gone fast enough in the first place
On a serious note, if you hit corner too fast and/or have improper weight distribution in said corner, you can go pretty much in a straight line into a tree with nothing to do about it. That's just physics.
I like XC. It's super competitive, and the extra emphasis on fitness and uphill racing components are a nice change from other types of mountain biking.
That said, there's not really any doubt that there are some pretty sub-par bike handlers (for a super competitive world level) racing in XC. And there also seems to be a push to keep the tracks a bit tame to keep those guys happy.
People like Nino are amazing to watch because they can handle everything and anything on a mountain bike, AND they've got the fitness to win these XC races, regardless of whether they've got tame/no technical sections, or if they're genuinely gnarly in places (MSA).
What is this? UCI introduce the short track, the first 16 in that race make up the two front rows of the XCO race. Kulhavy didn't even finish the short track race due to a flat (Specialized tires again) and starts on the second row. That's cheating, isn't it?
The announcers said that Neff hit the fence, but you can see in this recap that she actually body checked somebody filming, leaning over the fence... basically, 'get that shit out of here'. He looked pretty butt-hurt, but he chose a bad spot to lean over. It would have sucked if she'd actually crashed there.
I wouldn't hit that tree.
On a serious note, if you hit corner too fast and/or have improper weight distribution in said corner, you can go pretty much in a straight line into a tree with nothing to do about it. That's just physics.
I still wouldn't hit that tree.
That said, there's not really any doubt that there are some pretty sub-par bike handlers (for a super competitive world level) racing in XC. And there also seems to be a push to keep the tracks a bit tame to keep those guys happy.
People like Nino are amazing to watch because they can handle everything and anything on a mountain bike, AND they've got the fitness to win these XC races, regardless of whether they've got tame/no technical sections, or if they're genuinely gnarly in places (MSA).