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Time for some new threads in this place.
What's the "perfect" race season look like, track-wise? To me, it's a mix of a range of tracks and styles that allow different riders to shine. Long, big mountain tracks that encourage conservation and endurance. Short, fast, all-out tracks that encourage risk taking. Steep and gnarly track, smooth one-line tracks where you've gotta be perfect. Curated bike-park, rough and homespun.
Here's my list. It'd be killer to have a 9 race season at 8 venues with one double header
MSA
Vallnord
Windham
Lousa
Snowshoe (double header)
Les Gets
Lenzerheide
Champery
I'd love to see Leogang put a proper track together (always produces tight racing times but the track gets worse by the year, it's like they intentionally fight the mountain's natural terrain), and see big mountain make a 5+ minute track (Fort Bill, I'm looking at you. ), or even mix in a 10+ minute race like Garbanzo.
Maybe some of the lurker current and former pros can chime in, too.
What's the "perfect" race season look like, track-wise? To me, it's a mix of a range of tracks and styles that allow different riders to shine. Long, big mountain tracks that encourage conservation and endurance. Short, fast, all-out tracks that encourage risk taking. Steep and gnarly track, smooth one-line tracks where you've gotta be perfect. Curated bike-park, rough and homespun.
Here's my list. It'd be killer to have a 9 race season at 8 venues with one double header
MSA
Vallnord
Windham
Lousa
Snowshoe (double header)
Les Gets
Lenzerheide
Champery
I'd love to see Leogang put a proper track together (always produces tight racing times but the track gets worse by the year, it's like they intentionally fight the mountain's natural terrain), and see big mountain make a 5+ minute track (Fort Bill, I'm looking at you. ), or even mix in a 10+ minute race like Garbanzo.
Maybe some of the lurker current and former pros can chime in, too.
Current Venues:
Val di Sole - Reimagine the course by shifting tape 20-50' l/r of the existing sections of track, basically make it the "smooth" rough of 2008 again. Find a way to tape the final left hander so the inside is a viable option and quicker than the berm but only usable by those willing to roll the dice.
Mont Saint Anne - Find a mostly new line down the hill. I know there are several very gnarly sections, if the Nico Vink Earthed segment is to be believed, which is doubtful because it looks so rough and probably just Hollywood tricks. Keep the same feel of the track extreme speed piste mixed with rough and tumble rocky woods. Try to promote multiple viable lines with taping.
Maribor - Just tape it 20-50' differently to avoid spots of that hardpack dirt and the hill's gradient/undulations will make for a fun track.
Les Gets - Tape slightly differently and use more hill if possible.
Lousa - That looked like a really really fun track to ride, would love to see what else they could put up.
"New" Venues:
Mt. Snow - Run something equivalent to the 2008 US national champs track.
Meribel - Run similar to 2014 but with 2 more jumps to flat
Val d'Isere - Same as 2012 but build the uphill jump over bush lip tall so it's a huge huck to flat or huger gap to backside. Also put the concrete roof drop back into the track.
Champery - Don't use much of the old track, just make something new 60' to the right. Or use an earth tiller and root re-grower to change the current conditions back to the old conditions.
Pila - Do the same as above.
Durango/Nevegal/Tahoe/Snoqualmie/Mammoth/Sierra Nevada/Any other dry dusty track - Dry, dusty, fast and fun.
New Venues:
Snowmass - This track is balls to the wall fast. Racing will be tight and if they have to for TV, +60' jumps could be added with ease. Similar to Les Gets in a lot of ways.
Any or all of the French cups/Nationals from this year - They all looked top notch, just widen the tape on them and we'd been on for an instant classic.
Slovakia - The terrain looks incredible https://www.pinkbike.com/video/268710/ https://www.pinkbike.com/video/205/ https://www.pinkbike.com/video/322828/
Somewhere totally different and dry - Karakoram mountains, China side of Himalayas, south side Himalayas India, Caucasus mountains in Russia/Georgia, Atlas mountains in Morocco
Would love to see big mountains and extremely rough tracks in the near future.
Fort Bill (get rid or re-route the wood section)
Lousa (fine as is)
Val di sole (could use some new section but not too many)
Leogang (with the new lower wood)
MSA (same as VDS)
Andorra (fine as is)
Snowshoe (fine as is, still new)
Les Gets (rework a bit the wood part to make it more twitchy)
Pila (with a reworked bottom )
Meribel
Whistler (if they'll actually build the track they intended to build)
Lourdes
Double header are fine but need to be spread out more during the week and they should not just replace different rounds.
Fix the taping issues with jumps.
Canberra was possibly the worst track in History, As I understand it was there and not Thredbo for Worlds because the Hospital is too far away from Thredbo, and nothing has changed there. Plus Thredbo DH, whilst incredibly fast and long.... not exactly challenging at all. It's got Fort Bill Speed and Length.... just a bit tame.
Cairns.... nah.... Although partying up there is the best haha.
Coronet Peak Just outside Queenstown NZ.... That's where a round needs to be! Everyone loves that track, it's fast and wild.
NZ would have the potential for 5 WC rounds. The place is like Europe without weird dudes in Fullfaces and Sunglasses. Must be a reason why Loic and half the circus go there to train.
Would be great to see Coronet or Rotorua on the circuit. Rotorua is already in Crankworx so it seems like the WC would be a possibility.
Not sure I understand these lists which don't mention Champery and Schladming.
Unpopular opinion: Fort Bill isn't that good to watch live, the RAWs are great, but most of the live feed is the jumps/pedaling lower section. And it is always wind/rain affected.
Would also massively favor something like a 9-10 round WC with only 7-8 rounds counting: You can have a puncture or injury and not throw away the entire season for the top guys attending everything (Loris is the 2020 champ in my heart). And you could have rounds in every continent without privateers having to go broke, e.g. US guys could skip the 1-2 NZ rounds and vice versa.
You need a variety of tracks to put on a proper UCI DH schedule.
Hopefully we can get some more of wyn’s not a race type events. The sports coverage will be grown by the industry and the racers. The uci Is far more concerned with its exclusive image then growing the sports it supposedly represents
In terms of tracks, Schladming would be sick to see again. Classics like MSA, Maribor, Val di Sole are staples, but let's rotate them in and out and go back to places Vallnord and Bromont, and get NZ represented too as you know it'd be rowdy as anything.
Rumour has it that Ft Bill was wanting to have a brand new track for the '23 World Champs, but Brexit and COVID may have taken up all the funding for it. Watch this space, we should know for sure this time next year.
Also stacking events is the only way privateers can financially try to hang with big bois. A more spaced schedule makes that gap even bigger which as a spectator I don’t want
About the schedule I'd say something like half old tracks and half completely new!! This is not really likely to happen because we all know how much these cost and for many I'd say its hard to justify the investment but we can dream...
The random venue locations like brazil or japan would be great as well.
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