TiVo Community Forums Archives - know anything about mountain biking?

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know anything about mountain biking?
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Posted by: cello

I recently set up a category wishlist for mountain biking. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it found a bunch of airings. Unfortunately, it's unclear to me whether they are all a repeat of the same part of the same competition, or if the airings are different and look the same due to bad guide data.

In the next week and a half, there are 7 airings on the YES channel and one on ABC. All of them appear identical. Title: "King of the Mountain Championship" and description: "Top male and female bikers from around the world compete head-to-head to be crowned champion. From Atlanta." Because there are so many airings, I'm hoping that it's a multi-part competition. But because the descriptions are all identical, I don't really want to go record all of the airings, just to find that they're all the same. I'm also wondering how this competition rates in comparison to other competitions. Is it a good, legitimate competition, or a cheesy quasi-competition. (I only ask because I've seen plenty of cheesy quasi-competitions in other sports that I like, and it would be nice to know ahead of time what the quality of the program is, as a novice mountain biking fan.)

If anybody out there knows more specific information about what is being aired, when and how this competition falls into the greater scheme of things, I would really appreciate the info. :)

Posted by: pmyers

maybe the YES channel's website would help answer your questions?

Posted by: rickertk

I believe the Jeep KoTM competition was a 3-part series, but each part took place in a different location. The first one was I think in either Virginia or WV, and the third was in Tahoe. Atlanta I think was the second one, and the only one not picked up by a major net. (I think some net affiliates picked it up in some markets, as it sounds like it did in yours.).
So to answer the first question, it is just one event, so don't bother recording it more than once. (Might want to get the ABC one as well, in case they miffed the guide data on it).

As far as the events themselves go: the two events I saw were described as a Y-type format - this is primarily a downhillish event. The two racers are started out in gates, have some individual, slalomish stuff to go through at the top of the course, then the two courses merge and go over some jumps before the finishing gate. I think it's real competition, albeit of a kind that's not really got much to do with any of the riding I do. Judged solely on time, not on "style". The downsides are that the events are short - maybe 20-30 seconds for a run? The women's competition is definitely short-changed compared to the men's. Things go by so fast, and it's hard to see quite what the ground looks like enough to judge how the bikers are picking their lines, but it might be hard to address that without a lot of cameras or riding/walking the course onself.
I didn't make this clear before either, but it's a tournament style competition - two riders go against each other for 2 runs, switching sides between runs. Loser of the first run gets a time penalty in the second run, and the winner of the second run advances. They start with 8 riders in each of the women's and men's category.

TdF or World Cup mountain biking on OLN, it is not. But it's not completely cheesy.

Keith

Posted by: cello

Thanks Keith! That was very informative. I look forward to watching and being in awe. (I get nervous on a relatively straight and smooth path - I don't think I'll ever be as good as the folks who compete, but it will be good inspiration nonetheless :))

Posted by: rickertk

No question there - I'm a decent mountain biker, albeit in more of a cross country setting, and I wouldn't begin to do what they do. The top parts of the course I could probably ride, although not nearly as fast as them. I've never done a big jump, and I suspect I started riding too late in life to be able to do them easily. There were one or two big crashes in the races I watched, and I just don't think I want to risk that for myself...

Keith

Posted by: cello

hmm, this is not what I expected. I guess I have this vauge memory from childhood of watching mountain biking on tv (possibly during the olympics?) and seeing this awesome footage of athletes riding through wooded, natural paths. So far this is all a man-made course. I suppose it's better to have that dedicated spot to build courses to deter erosion in actual wooded areas... is my memory of biking races through more natural trails a figment, or is there still racing like that, too?

Posted by: rickertk

What you are thinking of is probably cross-country mountain biking, maybe from the 96 Atlanta Olympics where it debuted? I watched some of it in Sydney, and some of the 01 and 02 World Cup. That's a lot more like something I would ride. Strict downhill is often natural or naturalistic
courses albeit much steeper and not so much trail-like, and done as a ride against the clock. This race format is closest to dual slalom, which sort of evolved as a mixture between downhill and BMX racing. I think the reasons it does well have to do with spectatorship - you have racers making big, exciting-looking jumps, and with two riders going head-to-head, it has a more immediate feel than competitions against the clock. While I like XC events, they are much more difficult to watch - if you stay in one place, you see the riders go by every so often, and that's about it. To cover it for TV, you need a lot of cameras spread all over the course, given that you can't really have a camera vehicle the way you can in road races.

Keith

Posted by: cello

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I was looking more for cross country stuff, because that is more like what I do myself, when I go offroad. The BMX-ish stuff I saw wasn't bad, but not what I was getting myself all excited about. I guess I'll keep my wishlist and wish for some XC events. :)