Fiber Network, Wireless Combine To Capture Audio for UCI Bike Races in the Mountains Sound system covers downhill, cross-country, short-track events across 6-plus acres By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, August 18, 2022 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The X Games established the model for sprawling extreme-sports events. The Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event has been among those refining that model for the past decade or so. Most recently, the event played out July 29-31 at the Snowshoe Mountain Resort in Snowshoe, WV. Spanning the resort's 11,000 acres in the Allegheny Mountains, the internationally viewed series of races, broadcast over Apple+ and Red Bull streaming networks, among other outlets, encompassed downhill, cross-country, and short-track bike racing.
Gathering the audio for the event, which features announcers along the race courses and at music stages at the start and finish lines, was a Herculean task.
Networked Audio A massive fiber network, owned by the resort and used for connectivity for such locations as ski lifts, took care of most of that, and Dante endpoints, such as loudspeakers for announcers and music, rode on a strand of the network dedicated to the event.
It wasn't a full 6 square miles that were covered but rather zones within that area, such as the cross-country racecourse and the downhill racecourse, which were the base courses for the event, explains Austin Addair, production manager, Midway Production Services, which provided the event's audio systems. We were able to add a speaker or a video wall wherever we needed to along those courses and in the other networked zones. We had a broadcast-type control room set up in one of the buildings as the command center for the distributed audio around the mountain, handling all of the routing and mixing of audio as well as the comms, which were all on the network.
Midway Production Services deployed an RF Venue Diversity-Fin antenna for the cross-country race at Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Snowshoe, WV.
Because both events and spectators were widely dispersed, he adds, in some instances, announcers were on stages, calling the races from video displays. That was enabled by the fact that the network had extremely low latency, with no shared resort traffic during non-skiing months.
The distributed PA systems used JBL 712M passive loudspeakers powered by military-spec amplifier racks, hardened to deal with weather and the occasional bumps by crowds, and integrated into the network via a combination of Neutrik NA2-IO-DLINE two-channel XLR line-level-to-Dante adapters and Audinate AVIO networking adapters. The stage PA systems featured Martin Audio W8LC loudspeakers configured in traditional line arrays. Speaker DSP was through Lake LM44 processors.
Wireless Several critical areas that required coverage but weren't accessible by fiber were covered by wireless systems using various antenna solutions.
For example, for announcers at the starting line for the cross-country race, a cable would have been restrictive. There, Midway Production Services deployed an RF Venue Diversity-Fin antenna. This was a pretty traditional setup - a wireless microphone transmitter to a receiver - but the distances and movement had to be considered, says Addair. The announcer would be roaming the area so we had to make sure we maintained constant connectivity. He notes that Midway's Greg Fairbanks worked on the network and Dante switching and routing and Mike Snow supervised network operations.
JBL speakers (shown at right) were used for downhill bike races at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.
Another problematic area was at the downhill-race finish line, where the audio from the Stageline SL100 mobile music and announcements stage had to reach back up the hill. To facilitate that, JBL delay speakers were deployed upwards from the stage, using the fiber network. However, given the topography in certain areas, a cabled solution would have required having wires crisscross the track several times. So the team combined a Shure in-ear ULXD transmitter and a high-gain RF Venue CP Beam helical antenna, transmitting from the PA system at the stage to a D-Fin antenna connected to the delay speaker and ULXD receiver. (The handheld wireless microphones were also Dante-enabled ULXD's.)
We were able to reach more than 500 ft. using this arrangement, says Addair, noting that the trick has been a lifesaver in other challenging wireless situations. It's something we've used before, and [it] reliably gets us well past 500 ft. this way.
The Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup event is notable in a number of ways, not least of which is its wireless operations. Although the event takes place within the exclusion zone of the Greenbank radio astronomy observatory - putting it in one of the least-dense RF environments on earth - the races take place as thousands of cellphone-toting spectators, racers, and others roam the area, creating their own RF challenges.
This is one of the least RF-polluted environments on earth, says Addair, but you never know how the crowds and other things at the event can affect that.
North America Stories
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
15/05/2026
Netflix has announced an expanded NFL schedule for 2026 and beyond under a four-year partnership extension with the NFL through the 2029-30 season. Each season,...
15/05/2026
Ateme is supporting TVRI (Televisi Republik Indonesia) with a contribution and d...
15/05/2026
Concacaf has announced the launch of a new website and mobile app built on Deltatre's FORGE platform. Concacaf.com and the mobile app, available on iOS and ...
15/05/2026
Eutelsat has announced the launch of QBC Business Economic Channel by Qatar Media Corporation, broadcasting in 4K/UHD via Eutelsat's 7/8 West video neighbo...
15/05/2026
Major League Soccer has announced four original content series timed to the 2026...
15/05/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced it will exhibit and present at InfoComm 2026, taking place June 13-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Cente...
15/05/2026
InfoComm 2026 will take place June 13-19 (exhibits June 17-19) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show will include sessions and exhibits covering broadcas...
15/05/2026
Tracy McGrady's Ones Basketball League (OBL) and FuboTV Inc. have announced ...
15/05/2026
Disguise has partnered with Creative Technology (CT) to deliver visual playback ...
15/05/2026
Sony Electronics has announced two new products for professional imaging: the Alpha 7R VI full-frame mirrorless camera and the FE 100-400mm F4.5 GM OSS super-te...
15/05/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
15/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
15/05/2026
For sports organizations, the most valuable assets are often the most sensitive:...
15/05/2026
The NFL's broadcast partners released their 2026 regular season schedules ye...
15/05/2026
Besides drawing on experience with boxing, the production integrates specialty c...
15/05/2026
Daniel Roher attends the Tuner Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Neilson Bar...
15/05/2026
86% of media planners would move more linear TV budget to CTV if they had show-level targeting and reporting - and 65% would also shift dollars from programmati...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Clear-Com will showcase new communications solutions and major platform updates at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7005), June 17-19, in the North and Central Halls of t...
15/05/2026
Following an outstanding inaugural year in 2025, Rise AV is proud to announce the return of its flagship leadership initiative, Elevate. The programme continues...
15/05/2026
Berklee Announces Lineup for Inaugural AI Music Summit The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, and the indus...
15/05/2026
Lightware returns to InfoComm 2026 with a focused showcase of scalable USB-C connectivity, next-generation AV-over-IP solutions, and technologies that help over...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Delivering a live, arena-scale production of a massively popular band is no small feat. Between expansive in-arena LED walls and a global live stream fed to onl...
15/05/2026
Connection is the heartbeat of any strong community, and with live streaming becoming more accessible in the modern era, it's much easier for faith-based or...
15/05/2026
Powered by GX 3 media servers, optimised IP-VFC workflows and on-site engineering expertise, the production delivers high-performance visuals for one of the wor...
Fiber Network, Wireless Combine To Capture Audio for UCI Bike Races in the Mountains Sound system covers downhill, cross-country, short-track events across 6-plus acres By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
