Start at the top of MT Baldy. 9,150ft. Everyone waiting to start stage 1 |
The Super Enduro lived up to its name and was an
excellent event. The trails, timing and overall organization of the
event was well thought out. The Timing system was dialed and everyone
knew their placing the second they crossed the finish line. The
Enduro that took place over two days and 4 timed stages as well as an
optional 2 lap plus potato peel finish pump track race on Saturday night
in which the top 5
received time bonuses for their overall race time. Being the "Super"
Enduro the stages were much longer than any so far this year. The first
stage took about 30 min to finish! Starting at the top of Mt Baldy for 3
stages it was a good mix of trails for all riding abilities. Nothing
real gnarly or technical just fast flowy exposed steep side hill single
track with some long patches of loose rocky shail. It came down to how
comfortable you felt going 30+ mph on the side of a hill with the
possibility of missing a turn and launching yourself off the edge.
Heading up to the top of day 2. Looking back at the Valley. Bummer we had to ride all the way down every time. |
A
strong field of riders turned up, Geoff Kabush,
Aaron Bradford, Mark Wier and Giant's Carl Decker to name a few. Wrapped
up the weekend with an hour and a half of racing under my belt and took
9th overall which turned out to be my best Enduro finish of the year. I
rode 4 solid stages and got 5th in the pump track challenge for an
extra time bonus. My pump track run wasnt anything amazing but it turns
out I've spent a few hours in the kitchen and am no stranger to
vegetable peeler. I had a clean race not making many mistakes, crashes
or have any mechanicals. But
Enduro is about taking chances and letting it all hang out there so next
round I need to ride a little less conservative. Carl Decker ended up
taking the overall Win showing that skinsuits aren't just for TT bikes
and that you don't need baggy shorts and jerseys to ride your bike like a
hooligan downhill. Nice work Carl!
Above
is a video of my run on the pump track. Next up after the Enduro was a
week of hanging out in SV and Marathon Nationals the following weekend.
More on that here soon.