Argument/Myth #3: Travel too far for an ‘average’ track

Ultimately this is a World Cup series with the emphasis being on the words ‘World’ and ‘series’. Mountain biking is happening all over the world and not just at privileged places with ski lifts and gondolas. The Aussies and Brits are proof of this fact. The racing shouldn’t have to be squeezed into five short months and only held in Europe, UK and North America. To be taken seriously as a sport and as a world–renowned series it needs to spread its wings and grow. Promoters like Max Cluer from small countries like South Africa should be praised for getting their act together and running a smooth triple (XC, DH and 4X) event, no small task when mighty nations like the US haven’t seemed to be able to get it right for so long (Windham aside). World Cups are more than just tracks, and while I would love to see a race close to the steep mountains and beaches of Cape Town, it takes people and a whole community’s support to host a World Cup. The whole town of Pietermaritzburg is behind this event and that’s what it takes. I’d welcome a return to South America, Australia, Asia and what about New Zealand? The opposite hemispheres need to be taken advantage of and World Cup racing really must continue to be just that, WORLD Cup. As one stop in a series of races I see no harm in challenging rider’s physical prowess from time to time, a series is designed to test every aspect of racer and machine. Pietermaritzburg is perfect for this. Tyres were cut, suspension tweaked, adjustable seat posts employed by some, all of this just added to the intrigue and unknown ‘X Factor’ of the race. After all the talk, hype, tactics and preparation for the pedal section of the track, the race was not won here, I did not miss the irony. It just served to prove my point. More on that later.

What I did see in Pietermaritzburg was speed. Good old fashioned speed. Nothing wrong with that at all. Alex Rankin choose a good race to get back into mountain bike filming once again, this time with Freecaster, Alex is the king of the free flow speed filming style, if there is such a thing amongst the video makers. The top was fast and if you found your rhythm it felt like sped up downhill slalom, very little braking if you got your lines and flow dialled. The speed moved up another notch when riders launched themselves into a partially blind rough stepped banked gully into a 42 mile per hour speed trap section which led into three massive jumps that come race day riders were coasting into scrubbing lips in an effort not to over clear the twenty meter long mounds. That’s something you don’t witness on any other track. Even with the ‘slower mid section’ to skew the numbers the average winning speed was a eye bulging, cheek warping 28mph. Now if we put that into context, other big tracks like MSA and Ft William only clock average speeds of 24 and 22mph respectively, while Champery’s stats are a mere 14mph average winning speed. If it wasn’t already apparent before in my arguments, safari drives and cheap steak dinners aside this was a more than worthy World Cup venue. Maybe the teams can plan ahead next time with some branding and spruce up the pits a bit, it was the only ‘ghetto’ aspect that remained from 2009.

It felt a little like Déjà vu after Friday’s qualifiers. Mick Hannah and Greg Minnaar once again on top of the leader board just like 2009. Amazing that after all this time and with the course modifications and additions nothing has changed. Two big surprises in qualifying were Julien Camellini and Cedric Gracia sitting in third and fourth. They both had good pedal splits showing they have been putting in the long hard work in the off–season. It is good to see Cedric looking fit, strong and serious, skipping 4X this time. More than a few people took note of his RockShox Reverb adjustable seatpost and after Cedric said he tested with significantly more power output while seated than when standing and pedaling some quick calls and favours/trades were being made. Gee Atherton was sitting in fifth, two seconds off Minnaar. Sam Hill was hovering just off the podium, Fabien Barel was fast up top but was still pacing himself for the week. A podium seemed within grasp of Andrew Neethling and teammate Duncan Riffle if things went their way (what Duncan Riffle? Yes Duncan Riffle!). Peat was off pace with a chest infection, Sam Blenkinsop was out of the top twenty, so too was Marc Beaumont. Aaron Gwin was fastest on the top part of the track, and had been all week in timed practice, but surely this was not where the race would be won, or would it?