We’ve just heard from the PR folks in Essex. The final plans were approved by the Secretary of State this week and work has now begun on the course. Despite the lack of elevation (or any particularly testing terrain) we’ve spoken to people who’ve visited and reckon that it has great potential and certainly has a great setting. It’ll be interesting to see what they do with it. With work starting now, hopefully we’ll get a preview later this year…
Here’s the press release:
“Work has begun to create the Olympic Mountain Bike Event course at The Salvation Army’s Hadleigh Farm, in the Borough of Castle Point. Against a stunning backdrop of Hadleigh Castle and the Thames Estuary, the course is being created in harmony with the natural contours of the park land, to test the mettle of the world’s best mountain bike riders. More information is available at essexlegacy.org”
With 5 people, 2 diggers, hi-viz jackets and some orange tape, they’ll have some mountains built in no time! LOL.
Who’s designing and building it?
I’m sure it’ll be reet in the end but it isn’t going to stop everyone (me included) taking the mikey.
With enough time, money and diggers they could build anything.
At least once its over the course can be put to good use as a bowling green…
Anyway, I thought the form here was to build a course that your riders could win on ?? Citing the Chinese course and Ren Chengyuan. Not that it worked tho, when they were forced to make it more technical…
Surely a joke. WTF?
Could this location be any more painful to get to for anyone West, North or South of London? Crazy!
“They’re not in Essex. If it were the UK Olympics, or the Manchester ones, then we could have hoped for the course to be somewhere more fun. As it’s the London Olympics, they’re keeping things near London.”
that sounds fair enough, but the beijing olympic horse trials were in hong kong. thats not a dig at you chipps. just at the location
The course will be ok, it will meet the specs. What would have made far more sense is to have sited the course west of london, far easier access for most people. I don’t go with needing big hills, the course will be fairly short as is how XC race courses are and would be worse with one big climb than with a number of short sharp climbs.
Keeping in in London are you sure?
I hope they keep the bill in london also.
What til the H&S get their hands on it.
Just a though BUT does Brands Hatch have more hills and facilitys in place already ?
Perhaps this is one for Mr Camerons ways to save web – dont waste money on this go north or west and spend it at an existing centre or even the budget back to Dalby option.
Looks very sandy. The most important question missed: What tyres?
Why is West London any better? Not for anyone in the East. Though I guess Heathrow has plenty of spare land now they aren’t building that extra runway.
Is it 1st April ?
They forgot to mention the lovely views of the oil refineries at Coryton.
Thats got to be the first mountain bike track built on a flood plain!
Unbelivably disappointing
I remember when they first did the Beijing course, the riders did a trial race on it, then said they were going to do it on CX bikes, next week, the designer came back (same one as doing the London course) put in a few logs, stones then the riders declared it the hardest one on the circuit. You’ll be surprised when they can do to slow the riders down, don’t know it…. yet
*what they can do to slow the riders down
The reason the horse events were in Hong Kong is that nobody knew what diseases the Chinese had in Bejing and they didn’t want to run the bad pr etc of multi million pound losses on very pricey nags dying suddenly!
That’s why they won’t send the XC course north of Watford.
It looks disappointing.
well I must admit, reading alot of the posts on here has been amusing to say the least, its quite clear to me that most of you have not got a clue about what a gem of a venue we have in hadleigh. All of the people involved in the selection of hadleigh as a venue and the design of the course have vast experience in mountain biking and know whats right for the sport, so show them the respect they deserve and support it rather than dis it. You all will be very surprised by it!
All olympic cycling venues are to remain post games – had a visit to the new velodrome last week – awesome. Work on mtb course area actually started a few years ago, thye are now just doing the actual course layout.