This past weekend Winter Park hosted the first ever multi-stage enduro race in America. Never one to disappoint, Winter Park pulled out all the stops for this action packed weekend of bikes, beers and purpose built mountain bike trails. Thanks to a progressive approach to summer-time activity and help from the trail building wizards of Gravity Logic, the Trestle Bike Park offers fun for all ages and ability levels. Located close to Denver and the Front Range, Winter Park Resort was a natural fit to host a buffet-style, paradigm shifting event like this. This race brought together all types of riders, the only common denominator was the course. Trek bikes had a full demo fleet, the SRAM rig was on site for neutral support, lots of vendors set up in the expo, and Red Bull represented with live DJ’s and a healthy bar tab for the afterparty.
Schnell rails a monster berm on his way to take victory in the inaugural Trestle All- Mountain Enduro.
Like any good idea, the All-Mountain Enduro was born out of frustration and a maybe few beers. The goal behind my first foray into the world of quasi race promotion was simple: put together a multi-stage enduro stage race with the best tracks that Trestle Bike Park has to offer. Tack on a huge prize purse (over $30k in cash/prizes thanks to Trek, SRAM, Go-Pro and MRP) and a family-friendly race venue and you have yourself a bike race.
 | In my opinion, the state of mountain bike racing in North America needs help. As a bike racer who has seen it all, I'm able to take a pragmatic approach and help nudge things in the right direction. A lot of riders, including myself, have gotten tired of people talking about a race like this. Time for a change. Selfishly and personally, I don't want to be too old when these bike races start catching on. Ask old man Weir, he knows what I'm talking about. - Ross Schnell, Trek |
The SRAM crew was on hand at the event to offer support for not just sponsored athletes, but all riders.
You know that there is likely to be a killer party when these guys are at the event.
So what is all-mountain? Simply put, its what most of us do every day. We all have sweet trail bikes, why aren’t there more events to ride these bikes in? The racing scene is so fragmented these days, seems fitting to promote bike races that bring everyone to one place. Novel idea, eh? It was refreshing to see the dichotomy of DH machines battling high-posting XC bikes all in one venue. There aren’t many bike races where you see XC dorks wearing skinsuits and knee pads, even rocking bar ends, and killing it. Half of the riders last weekend hadn’t ever ridden a chairlift!
After five hard fought stages, Weir brought his Cannondale home in 5th place overall. More importantly though, he had a blast like everyone else.
Bike choice is key. A downhill bike generally isn’t the call at these races, nor is a lightweight XC rig. 6” bikes were the flavour of the day, I rode my new 2012 Trek Slash complete with Reverb post, 2 ply downhill tires and a 65 degree head angle. Riders were required to compete on the same frame and suspension, while having the option to change tires or spare parts to get through the weekend. The fact that you can have a mechanical or flat tire and finish out a weekend of racing is bonus. Yet another reason why this format offers so much bang for the buck. I kept hearing riders say how exciting it was having a new race run to look forward to each time they crossed the finish line.
The weekend kicked off with the Avid Chainless downhill on Friday night. Arguably the most technical course of the five, the chainless set the tone for the weekend and determined start position for stages 2 - 4. Rolling afternoon clouds turned into lift closures and lightning bolts as racers huddled at the top of the mountain. The stage instantly changed from dry and dusty to 7.5 minutes of arm-pumped glory mixed with subtly shiny rocks. In the midst of cold rain and uncertainty I never heard one rider complain. Enter Mark Weir, all-mountain pioneer and perpetual complainer. Surprisingly enough, I never heard him complain either?
| The chainless had skinny-ass enduro and XC racers hemorrhaging valuable seconds, but as the chains went back on the consistency of the all-mountain rider battled back. Stages 1, 3, and 4 had strong gravity riders able to build a lead but not without good fitness to back it up. - Mark Weir, Cannondale |
While nearly any type of machine would have been rideable at the Trestle All-Mountain Enduro, Schnell's choice to ride his 160mm 2012 Trek Slash looks to have been the right choice for him.
Saturday took on the added element of skill AND fitness, as any proper mountain bike race should. Stages 2 - 4 featured a healthy dose of exit speed and pedaling. Perfect radius berms and jump trails gave way to tight steeps and pathetic hypoxic sprinting. As racer and course designer, I feel like each stage had a bit of everything. The thin air was definitely a factor, the ability to sprint out of corners went away about 2 minutes into every stage. Its funny starting full-tilt out of the gate, then proceeding to drop the seat and soft pedal for the remaining 80% of the course. Racing at 9,000 ft is hard!
Sunday’s 20+ minute grand finale was the equalizer. A stout uphill pedal to the start added yet another element of fitness. The format for this stage was unique because your start position was based on your overall time going in. The fastest rider in the previous 4 stages lined up first, followed by the rest of the field staggered based on their total time. First rider to the bottom takes the trophy. Its pretty hectic racing head to head for 20 - 30 minutes with the riders you’re directly competing with in the overall. Mike “Wildman” West, famous for dominating the Super D scene in Colorado had this to say about Sunday’s queen stage.
| The pursuit enduro format was perfect. It would have been impossible to run an entire field of riders down the tight, super techy downhills. The pro-rated start times gave us the opportunity to race our equals head to head, the best of both worlds. - Mike West |
Jess Pedersen finding his flow on a wide open section of trail.
The upper reaches of the course had bits of pedaling sprinkled across tight switchbacks with ample roots and sharp rocks to keep things honest. True to enduro style, one section of the course dropped directly down the fall line through baby heads and chundery logs. Once it entered back into the resort it was high-speed cornering all the way down, with a one-minute climb to throw a wrench into the overall. I started the stage in 2nd place overall, 12 seconds behind aspiring World Cup DH’er Brian Buell. We had fun gapping doubles and drifting sideways before I was able to overtake him for the win. Behind us there were 170 riders throwing elbows and leaving it all out there. Smiles all around at the finish, even amongst competitors.
| Enduro is so rad...one thing you will get out of an enduro event is more friends. The social aspect of these races are what really makes them different. Its hard to be a flat-billed tuff guy when you can barely hold your head up at the end of the day. This is the first true enduro race in the USA. Things will only get better from here on out. - Mark Weir, Cannondale |
Ross Schnell (
left) talks to event photographer Devon Balet about their matching flavour savers.
| So why aren't there more of these bike races in North America? Events like the Downieville Classic, Ashland Super D and the Oregon Super D series have laid a solid foundation for the future. Get involved, be pro-active in your community and spread the word. Expect more for your racing dollars, I know I do. - Ross Schnell, Trek |
