vercorin1

Great to be able to compare pace so forensically. Gracie closed the gap about the halfway point, at the ramp - no visible mistake by Vali but maybe there was a small hangup or baulk in there - but note that it wasn't that Gracie fell increasingly behind....pretty matched pace with specific points of greater pace by Vali Holl. Very interesting. Thanks for posting this up.

That's a really tough combination of injuries - I do hope that recovery is complete. Anyone interested in knowing what the brachial plexus is, then this is excellent, with good 3D interactive anatomy. Iy sits within a protection of muscles and is not something you want to damage (ask me how I know).... https://teachmeanatomy.info/upper-limb/nerves/brachial-plexus/ GWS....

This year is something else. The women are on fire. The top elite men are split by tenths not seconds. The junior times are creeping into the elite… The places are swapping in a way we’ve never seen before, on courses which should be seeing huge gaps not incredibly bunched times. The speed and prowess are just stratospheric. Refined machines, ridden by such consummate professionals. The TdF became a peak of (drug fuelled) athleticism … forget the TdF. DH is where it’s at…..tell the world boys, tell the world….

Generally ood commentary and stunning top three riding … but Quote ….. ‘..this dark soil is unique to La Tuile…’. - er nope…. Dark shale common in Rhone Alps …all part of the Trubelstock Phase of the folding of the Alps. Aggressively coarse plays havoc with drivetrains…

Cool decision - the whole scene is unbelievably pressured these days - the elites with incredibly tiny splits on super-technical no-error tracks, the juniors pushing from beneath with times to challenge the upper echelons of elites, contract and sponsor expectations, and more… …and trying to get to peak condition again after injury is challenging in any circumstance … chill, rehabilitate, recover, ride …

I absolutely identify with the head stuff. Trauma does weird things to performance. In 1995 my wife died of cancer at age 30 and that was the feeling of balance and happiness gone...for years. Riding was essential but the thrill had gone, as had my edge. It did come back, but years later. I then collected a very bad concussion which just gave me performance fog for well over a year. Riding with my son age 10 in 2016 brought the joy and performance back. Not least in the following years he simply took off as a DH rider. An inspiration. Riding with him was SUCH a good thing. Then last year I had one shoulder injury from a berm collapse - no problem - kept it all up. But then I had a bad shoulder injury on the other side from a non-bike accident. which completely screwed my head. Woah not doing that feature or that jump. It's been seven months and I have just about now got back up to speed - or totally ignoring risk - one or the other or both...

I'd like to contextualise women's DH a bit. We had some of the first imported mountain bikes in the UK - around 1981. No digging. No bikesarks. Lots of complaints and hassle. 'Leave no trace' philosophy. Crap brakes, 120mm stems, 8x3 gears. Everything broke. There were no women on the trails. By the 1990s we had maybe one female rider in any group of twenty. To see the women celebrating at Leogang was just great. I was at Forest of Dean last week and to see so many young kids and with girls amongst them was really heartening. The standard today is light years ahead of the standard five years ago. Anna Newkirk's schralp going into the tunnel was a great statement move. Greg M GOAT said 'don't tell her but Lina jums better than me...' - as was clear from the celebrations and the grit and application of the women, they are ON. And it's great to see.

Wyn Masters...you tinker, you...all respect for so selflessly supporting Luke - great stuff

Stealthy does it.....nice perspective https://singletrackworld.com/2021/02/opinion-the-illegal-trail-builder/

For crowded nations like England (population 6M) this is a good insight article: https://www.forestryengland.uk/blog/what-3-professionals-taught-us-about-trail-building