A sunset bike ride at the end of a long day — along a boardwalk or through a path in the forest — is one of the most relaxing parts of summer.

Olympic mountain biking, on the other hand, is anything but.

In Paris, the route in Elancourt Hill, about 25 miles outside of Paris, forces riders to navigate steep, rocky terrains and slick turns as quickly as they can — all while dealing with the heat and the surrounding 35 other cyclists. 

"During an Olympic mountain bike race, ... there's no recovery. Everybody, especially here at the Olympics, everybody is just going full gas the entire time," said American cyclist and first-time Olympian Savilia Blunk. "It's pretty savage, actually. Everybody, especially at the Olympics here, they're taking every risk possible."

In the latest daily episode of The Podium: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast, titled "Day 6: Up and Down Racing," Blunk explains just how taxing —  and sometimes dangerous — an Olympic mountain biking race can be.

"On the steep climb that comes directly after the start, with five riders-wide riding up this, everybody's back wheels are spinning and skidding out, and some people are unclipping," Blunk said. "It's a complete carnage."

Hear all of that and more on the latest episode of The Podium.

New episodes of The Podium will be released every day during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

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