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For me, the scaffold structure takes away from the rugged Welsh mountains bit of a shame to see it head this directions on track building

I've said it before and I'm gonna keep saying it; mocking Ric's accent is a sh*tty thing to do. He's got a lot of stuff he needs to improve but we can do better than schoolyard insults.

He passionate and knowledgeable,he's even quite good at interviews. He is just bad at live commentary, it's a skill. If you watch Supercross you'll know how bad RC is. Same vibes from Ric.

The coverage is only part of the issues with UCI/WBD Enduro is being sidelined, geographic spread of events is shocking, rider numbers are being cut, privateers being priced out of racing, etc.. I'm in Scotland and ESO bought out our national series then canned it without explanation, and have ignored any questions about it. The Tweed Valley EWS round had a five year contract in place with landowners and they canned that after two years. They also screwed local riders by halting a major trail development to run the XC World Champs on the site, then bulldozed what they'd built...

But the fact is it isn't financially viable. From Pinkbike's state of the sport survey(2024), which to my knowledge is the best data set we have for athlete pay, only 40 reported an income of +50k USD (21 reported under 5k USD) and only 4 athletes total said renumeration was appropriate and that was from 104 respondents. 2023 had 49 respondents of an income of 50k+, and the biggest caveat for this, is that it includes XC athletes, who the top guys we know are in that cohort, so remove them and the DH figures are even WORSE. I don't...

Oh absolutely I agree @sspomer, and for the record what you guys and everyone at Vital does for the sport is invaluable and I believe greatly appreciated by everyone far and wide. ​My comment was more directed at @philip.vega.921 who ​​​​​has a very common view of "go back to the old format", but it doesn't acknowledge the fact the old format is broken. Redbull did a lot things well, but they also were very resistant to change and investment in the sport. At least WBD are trying something. The privateer pits is a huge positive. I genuinely think it's time...

I think you need to take the rose coloured glasses off. The red bull days weren't as great as what you think. Most pro's got paid bugger all, the prize money was like 1k for a win, which is just a joke. The viewers got a good product, but at the cost of the support entirely dependant upon bike companies advertising budget, which isn't exactly sustainable, and wasn't delivery for the majority of athletes competing, only the top 10 or so got a decent salary. Now i'm definitely not saying that WBD will fix it, and make it better than...

I feel much the same way, thanks. It's a niche sport and I only know like maybe ten guys personally who follow DH closely. The best WBD can do is quit alienating it's current audience. Go back to the old format, get Rob Warner back, and make it clear where to watch and how much it's going to set me back.

When Pidcock decides to race MTB it's like an NHL pro shows up to Sunday beer league to embarrass all the washed up been.

It is, XC going in the right direction. Tracks that require mtb skill, the right tire choice, full suspension and knowing how to use a dropper post will help. When push comes to shove the stronger rider will come out on top but they have to get down these technical sections.

This is exactly the mess WC DH and WC racing in genera doesn't need. With having GCN as the one stop shop platform last year, I was happy with the coverage and access. But this different region, different provider stuff is a nightmare for DH. Exactly how to kill viewership. The left over people from ESO need to push for an F1.com style service where you can access live coverage, highlights, BTS and stats etc... all in one place.

You raised suffering. I gave an example of. And in my first sentence I clarified that there are other forms of suffering before said example. Perhaps I should’ve gone with the “McDonalds ran out BigMacs, woe be me” form of suffering for you.

Suffering is just (a sad) part of life, whether it’s actual pain, financial, illness. It’s there in some form for all of us. Some of us cry and whinge about it and blame other people/things, some of us fight against it (sometimes futilely), some of us accept it and try to deal with it as best as we’re able. There’s a organisation in the UK (and worldwide) called Outward Bound. They were formed after WW2 because they saw that the vast majority of naval deaths were of the younger generation. They realised the older guys had a much higher rate...

I don't think I'm being insensitive, but should you get an appearance fee for competing in what is a world cup freeride event? It's not like it's a Nitro Circus or Masters of Dirt show. Furthermore, the Belgians pay big money to have a Van der Poel or an Iserbyt to turn up and race CX, the non podium contenders get peanuts. If the slope guys want appearance fees, they'd better be careful what they wish for.

In other news, Mathieu van der Poel has extended his contracts with both his current team Alpecin-Deceunink (until 2028) and Canyon (until 2034, one of the longest deals in cycling history). https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/im-still-hungry-for-more-mathieu-van-d… https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/racing/news/mathieu-van-der-poel-s…

We had this for a few years in Southern France: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-future-of-xc-xmb-challenge-aspremont… They called it "cross moutain bike", basically looping around a course which would feature 2-3 enduro segments featured in a separate enduro race another weekend and brutal climbs that often involved hike a bike for the amateurs. The best bike would be a 120 to 140mm full suspension trail bike, but choosing tyres was a nightmare. It didn't really catch on, they rarely got more than 100 riders, usually half that, while the enduro races were pulling 300 at the time. It was just too brutal and unenjoyable all...

Thanks, Pretty severe asthma meant that COVID put me in the hospital for most of December 2020. The good thing that came of it is that it got me back on a mountain bike in August of 2021 after close to 20 years off the bike.