2012 Pietermaritzburg UCI World Cup Downhill Course Preview 3

South African World Cup course builder Nigel Hicks sent this preview over with the following note: "A run down the UNFINISHED World Cup track the other day with Kelvin Purchase to give you an idea of the changes that have been made and are being made to the track." Watch and listen as Kelvin describes the course while he rides down it.



What do you think? Big improvement over last year? It certainly looks like fitness will still be king in the middle section.

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neimbc
12 years ago
Nige, looks good - fun. No doubt fast and fitness will dominate here. Folks tend to put it down as a WC course, but that's what makes it a WC course - the variety of terrain. Can't wait!
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nigelhicks101
12 years ago
Hey Guys and Girls

Right let me talk you through the changes .... The video was done the other day and unfortunately the base material had JUST been laid so i didnt want kelvin to ride on it and rut it before its had time to set. So please bear with the slow bumpy dawdle through the pedal.

The top section of the track will be the same as last year ... very fast and flowing. The new portion of the track starts at cloud 9 where the old track used to go left down to the rock that Brendog crashed on last year. The new portion of Cloud 9 is steeper and rockier with a 6m rock roll off at the exit - then that new rock garden ... the top guys will probably be able to jump it - but you land into an offcamber with some tricky hidden roots and cut stumps. The new section in the trees holds better gradient than the old track cutting out a 120m flat singletrack section from last year. The gap at Haibo is really really fast and i hope the guys will enjoy that. The tabletops have been shifted further down the pedal section by 20m to eliminate some of the pedal and then the rest of the pedal section is based with granite to make it roll faster and get the riders through it quicker (theres nothing else I could do .. its just the lie of the land unfortunately) ... So it will still be a big power riders track! ... and then the Moneymaker at the finish is being altered now to be more jumpable and rider friendly.

As soon as Im finished I'll get Kelvin to do a full flat out run down and send it over so you can see the finished track.
Cheers
Nige .... (the track builder)