Really??? Is this what XC mtb'ing is all about - a manicured, metre-wide track in a field!

Well done the IOC, Seb Coe et al for not choosing Wales for the MTB venue - far too hilly - w@nkers, just as well have the race on turbo-trainers in a gym!

Pathetic doesn't even come close a a derogatory adjective for this feeble 'course'

queue the slagging...

OMG! I ain't no hardcore XC rider, but really that track!

CONTRIVED or what

"Well done the IOC, Seb Coe et al for not choosing Wales for the MTB venue - far too hilly - w@nkers"

How many more times is this going to come up?

...its the LONDON Olympics.

Granted the course looks a bit rubbish, but having it in another country was never exactly an option was it?

I understand all the reasons for building the course in Essex, accessibility, room for spectators etc, but really ?!!?!?

Swinley would have made a far better course, and you can see Wembley from there, so it's not that far from London ! That said, I understand that from a spectator perspective, Swinley might not have been so practical.

This is a sh*t course. Obviously, it can't be overly technical as it's a race course, but at least make it interesting !!!!!

Why have all of the climbs been graded ? They're better surfaced than the paths in my local park !!!!

The clue to what is required is in the title: Mountain Biking !

I'm guessing that after the Olympics the health and safety wombles will remove anything that looks remotely like you may be able to hurt yourself on it. It'll end up as a family cycling center.

I was planning on a trip over to Essex to ride the course after the games, but to be honest, I don't think I'll bother now. (even if the H&S Wombles leave the course as is !!)

".....it's the LONDON Olympics" - then why have the sailing in Weymouth and not on the Thames?

Ive got to be honest but Im really quite embarrassed by that course.. I cant see the athletes being too impressed by it either.

I've only ever been mountain biking once so am no pro - but even to me that looks like a piece of p:ss course that any novice could tackle

I've had a ride round the corse and although not great it will make for some fast racing and should see a few crashes (something 90% of the people watching are gonna want to see)

But as a "Olympic legacy" I can't see who is gonna use it other than walkers

Ha ha ha ha, you just gotta laugh!

Well it looks like it will test fitness and technical ability but it won't promote what I call MOUNTAIN biking. Cycling is one of those sports that doesn't always lend itself to entertaining television, but I'd have thought our ace playing card particularly in a mountain bike event would be a glamorous back drop of forests, waterfalls and mountains ; all to be found aplenty in the UK.

This essex course is not exactly going to inspire people to buy a mountain bike and head off to the wilds of Coed-Y-Brenin or the Lakes now is it?

I think everyone needs to remember that this is cross-country racing, being ridden on twitchy lightweight XC bikes. Not the 'super rad gnarcore max extreme challenge', the emphasis is on speed, not massive drops and jumps. It's like complaining that the route for the 10km run hasn't got enough rock-climbing sections.

It's not all *that* tame anyway, the camera always has a slowing and flattening effect. Whether an awkward 2 foot drop between narrow rocks is on the side of a Welsh mountain or on the side of a slight mound in Essex, it's still the same drop and is equally as testing.

well i live near here i think its great to have a course like this in essex

and may be it will promote mtb bit more in essex

I wanna see who is the best xc mountain bike rider, not just the fittest, otherwise i'd just watch the roadies. Yes it is a xc race course, but you could happily ride a rigid around there, you can roll 2 foot drops mate and these guys are pros. The graded climbs are just embarrassing. The tech sections are good, just needed a few more of them.

World class Olympic MTB XC course - FAIL

Better MTB venue than Wales - FAIL

Technically challenging - FAIL

C - omplete waste time and effort

R - eal poor decision by Olympic committee

A - ppalling choice of venue

P - lease please please engage your brain before making a decision next time Seb Co

Well, sounds like a perfect BikeRadar challenge to me - Can You Ride a Road Bike Round the Olympic MTB course? 3 falls and you're out. Could be a classic article. Road bike with skinnies vs CX bike. You also have to attempt the rocky gap jump glimpsed in the original video.

U up for it guys?

Re-hashing old ground I know, but wasn't Swinley going to be used then it got switched to the current location?

At least Swinley would have offered a far more technical challenge. Not as ideal for the spectators or the TV cameras though, which is more to the point.

I remember a very recent Olympics (was it Athens?) where the MTB race was winding its way around woods and you only saw a few parts of the whole course.

I've riden cyclocross courses bumpier than that !

Please remember that the olympics is about making money through dodgy deals, greasing palms and filling back pockets. It has very little to do with sport or those that wish to attend, other than take your money, at over inflated prices, for their own gain. All are being used to further the riches of a few.

As for the course, well as a novice I would love something like that, but don't think it will test top riders to much.

Looks like a bobsleigh track not a MTB course

May as well just ride XC bikes round a velodrome

that is a pathetic azz course...there needs to be some SERIOUS work done before 2012

I have held back on this, not wanting to pooh pooh the track before completion. It looks like my first hunch was right, not only does this course embarrass the UK (or London if you like), but it is not somewhere anyone will want to travel to to ride... Bang goes my chance to ride an Olympic course.

So why did Bikeradar, SingletrackWorld etc etc not write an open letter of complaint on behalf of us, the UK mountain biking community that this course represents? You guys take our cash at the magazine stand and then don't represent the community when we need you.

Instead you repeatedly call the course choice "controversial" rather than using the word you really should and call the course UNACCEPTABLE.

Fin.

after first watch, disappointed...second watch angry

the "rock gardens" are nothing more than paths with some rocks on the sides creating a lane/alley...its a multi use non-paved walking trail with a couple rocks that are not meant to be obstacles...that is DEFINITELY not XC mountain biking...1 year to fix it, or change the name of the event

CX Bikes, all day on that thing, if needed

That looks pretty cool - would not mind riding there!

My mum could ride that! Its a garden centre!

I could name 10 places that would provide a better challenge.

Is it open to the public ? My 4 year old could do with a park like that to hone his downhill skills.

I've ridden red routes harder than this; the whole idea of a world cup/olympic course is that most mountain bikers couldn't do more than one loop, even less without dabbing.

I'm pretty sure Absalon could ride from the Basque Country and still complete this course. In fact, sack it, I'll race him.

Anyone who slags this off is in no way interested in helping the sport... End of.

You are fools if you expected this to be what you are calling "real mountain biking"... it's the Olympics.... ^^

And the rocky sections are quite technical, to ride them at speed on a light XC hardtail will be challenging...

...idiots

BikeRadar - are they keeping the course post-Olympics for the public to ride? Is it going to be a legacy thing?

That bar mount camera is useless, you can't see any of the technical bits because they are below the bottom of the screen. The pic of Liam Killeen is also useless as it's obviously taken at an angle.

Bikeradar, please stop wasting our time. Just take a damn photo of each descent on level ground, without trying to "style things up". Why must you make things so difficult.