Speaker: Enduro racing, possibly the toughest mountain bike discipline out there.
Where else do you find the fitness levels of a World Cup Cross-Country, combined with
the technicality and skill of World Cup Downhill?
Roll that all into a tiny little bundle and what have you got?
Well, what I think is the toughest discipline out there.
[music] Now, a typical Downhill World Cup, it can
be anything from two to five minutes with courses going from 1.5 to 3 kilometres and
dropping anything from 380 metres to 600 metres say.
In comparison, a World Cup Cross-Country is around 25k and lasts for an hour and a half,
possibly a bit more.
In that race, they'll probably climb just above 1,000 metres or so.
Now, let's take a look at a typical EWS and I think we'll use Madeira from 2019 as a good
example.
Now, this is a two-day race, so you also have two days of practice before that.
The shortest stage of Madeira was about 1.25k and timewise, about three minutes with the
longest being seven minutes and nearly 3 kilometres long.
On that 3k stage, you also drop about 500 metres.
That was stage one of day one and we're talking a Fort William style track just to get you
going.
As if that wasn't wild enough, say, other stages throughout the series can be absolute
behemoths of trails.
Take Chile 2018 for example.
In that race, I remember doing a 20-minute long stage that dropped 1,700 metres and it
was just insane, like 11 kilometres.
Just imagine that the next time you go out for a ride just smashing 11 kilometres downhill
as fast as you can.
[music] Long days in the saddle are almost compulsory
when you race enduro.
From the moment you leave the pits in the morning to start the race right away through
to the end of the day when you finally cross that finish line, it's almost expected that
you're going to be putting in some serious mileage and sitting on that saddle of yours
for a long time.
If doing that for a day sounds tough, then try doing it for four, you're definitely going
to want to make sure that you've got a good chamois and saddle combo because those guys,
they are putting in some serious time.
I think that just goes to show that these EWS athletes are absolute weapons, not only
can they put in such long hours on the bike, but also they can still competently race whilst
doing that.
Not only can they pedal and pedal all day long between all these different stages doing
these mental uphill liaisons, but then they've still got to have the mental capacity to be
able to race back down as fast as they can.
Like I said, time in the saddle doesn't mean that a potentially sore posterior is coming
your way, but also the mental gain.
You have got to stay sharp for the entire event, from practice where you need to spot
lines to remembering those lines come race day.
[music] It's not just tough on bodies and minds then,
it's tough on bikes as well because of the brutality of enduro racing.
Ever since its inception, bike development has been sped up.
Riders and manufacturers alike a calling for bikes to be more and more capable and able
to deal with the conditions that they've put through, whilst at the same time, still maintaining
a reasonable weight and efficiency.
Now more than ever, we're seeing a new breed of bikes come through which are just more
and more capable.
Bikes nowadays of tackling tracks that downhill bikes probably couldn't do 10, 15 years ago.
The new breed of bikes is coming with wireless shifting, new suspension designs and new frame
designs constantly pushing the boundaries.
With things moving so fast, it's amazing to see that bike development is a constantly
evolving thing year upon year.
I definitely believe that bike development as a byproduct of enduro racing has been sped
up.
There are parts on our bikes now that we probably wouldn't have dreamt of not too long ago.
The same with wheel sizes and various parts like droppers have really altered the way
we think.
If you think about a dropper, not too long ago, we were using these ropy cable-actuated
designs.
Now, these cable-actuated designs are superduper refined giving infinite travel, even going
hydraulic or wireless.
Who would have thought of that?
Not me, no.
[music] Races are generally over the course of a week
and then can be one or two days, more often than not two days and you'll usually get two
days of practice.
You can range from two to four days of constant riding.
That's a lot of saddle time for anyone to be doing.
Combine this with how much mileage you do over those days and it far surpasses most
other styles of racing.
To be able to tackle such arduous events, riders will put in a ton of training, big
days out on the bike to get their bodies- - and minds used to being able to cope with
this kind of event.
A typical event you could do over a hundred kilometers with thousands of meters both ascending
and descending.
Of course, riding and racing over multiple days does link nicely to bike development,
allowing riders to do this more comfortably and without any chance of a decrease in performance
now that bikes are just so good at being able to tackle what they're supposed to be able
to.
[music] Restrictions and limitations on equipment.
This is something that's quite specific to Enduro racing.
You can't just smash your bike to pieces.
It's not going to do you any favors with your mechanic or your wallet.
Certain rules state that riders must finish with the same equipment that they started
with.
Commissaires at the beginning of the race will put stickers on certain parts of the
bike to make sure that these parts aren't changed.
They'll check this through the race and at the end.
What parts of the bike then do get stickered up?
Well, the front and rear triangle, the forks and the wheels.
Should a rider have to change any of these during a race, say they smash a wheel or crack
a frame, then there is a hefty time penalty going to be incurred, normally about five
minutes.
It's enough to write your race off.
Why do they do this?
Well, it's so that none of the big teams can just be swapping out bits left, right and
center.
Also, it encourages a rider to maintain and look after their bike over the whole weekend.
You can, however, swap out smaller parts like a mech, chains, brake levers or even a whole
break actually, but you can only do that if you carry the parts on you.
You're not allowed outside assistance unless you get to a technical zone, at which point
a mechanic can then help you.
Because of this then, riders will often opt for stronger parts over lighter weight parts.
That is just so that they see through the weekend without any issues.
You can change parts from race to race, obviously, but during that race you've got to start and
finish with the same bits.
A rider might go for a heavier, burlier wheel set, with an insert over a lighter weight
wheel set just so that they make sure they get it through the entirety of the race.
[music] With a relatively new format of racing comes
a relatively new breed of rider.
You might be mistaken for thinking that back in the day, when this first came around, that
is where ex-downhillers or possibly downhillers at the end of their career would then go to
try and keep on racing, or it's just a format that anyone can have a go and both might be
true.
Certainly anyone can have a go at enduro, but nowadays there is a new breed of younger
rider coming through.
The old guard would use experience to win.
With such big days out on the bike, the younger rider possibly didn't know how to tackle this
at the time.
That's just not true anymore.
Young guns like Richie Rude, Raphael Richter, Ella Conolly and Adrian Dailly are absolute
podium contenders at every single race and never ones to be sniffed at, proving that
Enduro is for everybody.
It also just goes to show that riders are adapting and learning to this new style of
racing, with younger riders adapting their training to be more used to this, rather than
just some of the young guns from downhill coming over, having a go and not being able
to cut it for the day.
All riders are really putting the time and effort in to absolutely smash this event.
[music] Finally, let's talk tactics.
An enduro race isn't quite the 100% on the edge, absolute limit of a downhill race.
Neither is it the cardiac arrest-inducing feeling of a cross-country race.
However, it is very close to both.
Riders will often ride at near maximum.
We're talking 98%, not quite on the limit, but near or thereabout.
That is because it's a long season and a long race, so they just don't want to push the
limit.
It's just tempting fate.
With an eight-round season and every round counting towards the overall, it's just not
worth pushing that hard.
It's too risky and the chances of a crash or breaking your bike are just too high.
That's just why they wind it back that little bit.
Of course, that takes immense skill to be able to ride on or very near the edge without
pushing it.
Finally, an enduro race that requires possibly the most tactics of all is the Trophy of Nations.
This is made up of teams of three riders from each nation.
Those riders then have to choose what order they go in, how much gap they leave between
each other and how hard to push, so a lot of decisions to make.
Do you send the fastest down first for the other guys to chase, or do you send them at
the back to try and encourage them along?
What do you do?
I don't know.
Whatever tactics these guys choose, the last rider across the line is the one when the
timer stops.
You really got to think quite carefully about what you do there.
This adds a whole new dimension to the enduro racing and really makes it quite interesting.
I hope you've enjoyed watching then why I think enduro racing is the toughest discipline.
I may be slightly biased, because I've raced a lot of EWS.
I've raced XC and downhill as well and I think enduro just nudges it.
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
I'd love to hear what you think and I'll catch you next time.
Thanks everybody.
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