Bring your fitness and skills…
Even the Canadians agree!
Some of the shots from Instagram that were posted on pinkbike looked unreal.
Holy cow! Look at the video in those tweets. Insane XC course.
Do you think Olympic tracks tend to be more gnarly because there are no lower categories that need to be catered to?
Corollary: I was hoping to ride the track one day if they ever open it up but I’m not sure I would survive. Actually I’m pretty sure I won’t.
The pink wrap on the tree would not be enough for me to avoid smashing into it.
Hell of a course
Were the races broadcast anywhere or available for viewing after the fact? I’d be interested in seeing how the riders handled it.
Neff is such a strong technical rider but with the demands of the track it speaks well to the new Supercaliber even though it is limited to 60 mm rear travel.
I’m pretty sure those jumps would invalidate my XC frame warranty!
Then again I don’t think anyone riding at that level needs to worry about that.
Just the bike builders quietly cringing in the background 
I wonder if this Olympic course will bring more 120 mm forks to model 2021 bikes, the so called “down country” XC bikes. Pretty impressed with the course as I love the technical and gnarly stuff.
It seems that there was limited coverage. I haven’t found any official video. But here is some more cool video from Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Oz_WbFNax/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet
Definitely looks like some gnarly sections with only one good line that you need to set up from 5-10 yards out.
Will lead to some interesting racing dynamics - slow down and get in A line, or try risk it and take a B line.
Looks like a slacker bike will be more suited given the drops. Maybe 120mm fork also.
This is nuts! But is this really still XC racing? It seems to have become so technical that it seems like a different sport already.
I thought XCO = XC + gnar?
or is it XC + “oh sh*t”? 
If you saw Kate Courtney on Instagram, that’s exactly what she said.
I’d say it reflects the increased capabilities of the bikes and the expanding athleticism of the riders. While the technical skill level will be a deciding factor, there is no doubt that you won’t win a GSB medal without a serious XC aerobic engine.
Fast forward 20 years and it will be your average gravel race track
Yeah, bikes have definitely become much more capable. Today’s XC bikes can easily keep up with trail bikes of yore. Rear suspension technology is leagues ahead and even fullys can be superlight (provided you can afford those).
Nevertheless, it does shift the skill requirements somewhat to the technical side. I hope they don’t push this too much farther, though.
Nowadays there are bikes on every point in the spectrum that ranges from road bikes to downhill mountain bikes bikes. Niner brought a full-suspension dropbar gravel bike to market, for example, Open’s WIDE is quite close to a fully rigid mountain bike (although you could probably fit a Lauf fork).