Keep the Olympic Mountain Bike Course! - online petition

Please read the email from the Essex County Council London 2012 committee again. This is from the horse's mouth.

In short, the trail is going to be made much simpler because ECC don't realise that for experienced mountain bikers, the technical sections are no big deal. The petition agrees that easier alternatives should be built and the different routes graded but it is essential that the rocky sections remain as they are as there as there is no similar facility for over 200 miles.

It doesn't make sense to build something so good and then take it away again. The white water facility and the velodrome aren't going to be made easier and neither should the mountain bike trail.
 
"We are committed to retaining as much of the Olympic course as possible but adaptations will have to be made to allow beginner and novice riders to use the course safely.

There will be various works to make it suitable for public access and these works will not begin until 2013.

ECC are planning to provide opportunities for experienced riders of a suitable standard who are interested in riding the course the chance to join guided rides before the adaptations are completed.

For experienced mountain bikers who have completed “black” grade trails at other UK trail centres or others with appropriate coaching or skills qualifications who are interested they should email london2012@essex.gov.uk providing details of their experience level and weather they are interested as a) a Group or b) an individual."

Is this the letter?

1st paragraph, the course is staying as much as possible. During the TV report they stated part of the course alongside the trees would be changed to allow access, it'll become a cycle trail. Adaptations will be made, alternative trails around the rock gardens maybe? It says nothing of removing them. No doubt a blue route around the rocks will be laid, even the olympians had a red to avoid the blacks.

2nd paragraph, access roads, car parks, afore mentioned cycle trails to get to the site.

3rd paragraph, ECC are allowing the full course to be ridden before works start. No doubt feedback will be taken on board during that time. The final course will not be the olympic course but nobody yet knows the design, it may be better than the sanitised for TV course.

4th paragraph, as the course stands it's black grade only and those capable can have a ride before work starts.

I'm totally for the course to stay, it's our olympic legacy, but this letter isn't a difinitive anything. Nobody would run a business venture consisting of a black grade only course, much like every other trail centre in the UK it'll have green/blue/red/black.

A petition to tell somebody to do something they're no doubt planning on doing anyway is pointless.
The way to go would be to get involved in the group rides mentioned, talk to those involved, take a look at proposed designs and if possible volunteer for trail building.
 
I didn't think it was much of a course myself, certainly not fit for the Olympics. If you only need one chainring and it's faster to have the suspension locked out, that isn't much of an mtb course.

However one example of how they do have a need to make the course safer for general riders is this photo of Annie Last. This banked corner wasn't shown on the TV coverage, but I believe that it was immediately after the very steep rocky drop and I assume there was no alternative but to do this wall of death at very high speed. That's ok for Olympic-level riders, but it isn't realistic to expect a County Council to operate a facility for the general public with that feature as part of it.
 

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  • 2012 Olympics Annie Last taking the berm corner.jpg
    2012 Olympics Annie Last taking the berm corner.jpg
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This is a council run place in France
p4pb7334184.jpg

and you think a simple bermed corner is a bit much :facepalm:
 
In reply to Anthony - The Forestry Commission have plenty of similar features on their trails. If it's good enough for Yorkshire, it's good enough for Essex.

And I've had some news which I'm cautiously optimistic about: ECC are now saying that their first email might have created the wrong impression and that they DO intend to keep the technical sections as they want the course to remain 'capable of staging elite competition'. They've got Phil Saxena in to design the trail, so again, cause for optimism.

It's still not entirely clear if it'll be open to the public but feedback I'm getting from other bikers suggests that people should take up the opportunity to ride the trail before the work starts and make their feelings known.
 
stewlewis":bfhyb70w said:
It does make you think of the internet buzz before the olympics of how the UK has amazing forests, hills, mountains and why do we need a man made bland trail built on a farm...

It was an OK course and it worked well for TV, it's good that they are keeping it open. I think keep our forests and let use use them it a more worthy petition.

Exactly. It was a made for TV course and was dull, dull, dull. Why not just ride on a canal path, offers the same thing. The whole point of mountain biking is its supposed to take you into the countryside, not bring a pastiche of the countryside to us in some sanitised, bland, McDonalds style way.
I'd rather see money and time pumped into areas of the country that need the cash, visitors and help - not some farm that was perfectly viable before the Olympics
 
pete_mcc":12prwxzu said:
stewlewis":12prwxzu said:
It does make you think of the internet buzz before the olympics of how the UK has amazing forests, hills, mountains and why do we need a man made bland trail built on a farm...

It was an OK course and it worked well for TV, it's good that they are keeping it open. I think keep our forests and let use use them it a more worthy petition.

Exactly. It was a made for TV course and was dull, dull, dull. Why not just ride on a canal path, offers the same thing. The whole point of mountain biking is its supposed to take you into the countryside, not bring a pastiche of the countryside to us in some sanitised, bland, McDonalds style way.
I'd rather see money and time pumped into areas of the country that need the cash, visitors and help - not some farm that was perfectly viable before the Olympics

I think that's a little unfair on all the people who would want to use it but don't have the opportunity to visit the trail centres dotted around the less accessible parts of the Country...

...it's a lot easier for a family that has to work six days a week to pack the kids into the family transport, strap the bikes to the rack and bimble on down to the 'Olympic Park,' trundle around for a couple of hours then stop off at McDonalds on the way home from having had a nice family day out.

As for the event itself being 'Dull, dull, dull...' the thousands of spectators didn't seem to share that point of view. It was XC, not body-armoured MotoX without engines - 'There's one; there's another one; oops! there's another one...'

The uninitiated could get close to the action, they could see what was going on, and if it encourages a few more fathers to get out on their bikes with the kids instead of sitting in front of the tv/pc/XBox etc going square eyed then so much the better :cool:
 
allterrainbiker":22zdmmaz said:
In reply to Anthony - The Forestry Commission have plenty of similar features on their trails. If it's good enough for Yorkshire, it's good enough for Essex.
Trail centres have alternative routes and make it clear you need expertise to take on the most difficult option. If Hadleigh Farm remains as one route, I would guess they will have to build a bypass to the section in the picture, as an optional route.

The great majority of the course though is either very easy already, or already has easier options built in for the race. I guess we saw the course at its worst in the race, because they couldn't design it any more difficult in case there might have been wet weather.
 
pete_mcc":123ybuiq said:
stewlewis":123ybuiq said:
It does make you think of the internet buzz before the olympics of how the UK has amazing forests, hills, mountains and why do we need a man made bland trail built on a farm...

It was an OK course and it worked well for TV, it's good that they are keeping it open. I think keep our forests and let use use them it a more worthy petition.

Exactly. It was a made for TV course and was dull, dull, dull. Why not just ride on a canal path, offers the same thing. The whole point of mountain biking is its supposed to take you into the countryside, not bring a pastiche of the countryside to us in some sanitised, bland, McDonalds style way.
I'd rather see money and time pumped into areas of the country that need the cash, visitors and help - not some farm that was perfectly viable before the Olympics

Whacked that nail on the head.
 
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