Imagine having a bike that can pedal with the efficiency of an XC race bike, but when pointed down the hill, it turned into a confidence-inducing rocket ship. Pads light and comfortable enough that they can be pedalled in all day, yet provide good protection when things go awry. A helmet that breathes, but grants a rider more coverage than your traditional lid, and apparel that is form fitting yet comfortable, but not skin tight lycra.
For some, these are things that were only dreamt of five or so years ago. Often it was a sacrifice; you either rode XC and dealt with an uninspiring descender, suffered with poor climbing performance in order to have a blast going down, and either wore revealing lycra or baggy, seat tagging gear. Whether riders thought about things of this nature, like it or not, we are now taking advantage of a new progression in mountain biking.
These advancements didn’t come out of thin air though, and as with many sports, they’re being pushed primarily by competition. In this case, that competitive element is Enduro racing (gasp), but with enduro being such a dirty word in the sport at the moment (a different conversation altogether), many will deny any acknowledgement of the current rewards being reaped as a result. Interestingly, these same individuals are most likely to be looking for products that are developed as a result… and the pot calls the kettle black, again.
For those of us riding trail bikes in the Sea to Sky Corridor, however, it’s all good news. Generally, the style of trail riding undertaken in this corner of the blue and green marble has always incorporated some pretty serious climbing (if you wanted it) followed by even more serious descents. We often, at least semi casually, make our way up with a bunch of mates, stop at the trail head for a bite, a drink and a little trash talk, then race each other to the bottom. Riders then move onto the next trailhead on the imaginary list only to do it over again. With the riding here covering XC and DH on any given jaunt, and our downhill trails often containing one or two poorly timed climbs, the current trends in bike technology are
a godsend.
The recent addition of the Sea to Sky Enduro Series to the local race calendar has been a great asset to the towns in the region as well. Now with an official outlet to race each other down some favourite trails, riders are signing up in droves. While there is room for more before they’re sold out events, the numbers in Squamish have been staggering for some. It’s no surprise that these events have been well received, with riders pumped on the fun aspect of the race format, as well as it covering a regular day riding the bike, but to be seeing the consistent numbers we’re seeing is both encouraging and exciting.
The new race format is a great addition to our sport, even if you only focus on what it’s doing for our products, but it is just that; a race format. Given that we have always ridden like this, lets leave it that way. If you’re keen to ride “enduro” then sign up for one of the amazing local races and give it a go. It’s a lot of fun and despite the majority of the timing being on descents, there is an element of fitness and smart race-craft that goes into having the best time possible.
The only difference between our regular “bike ride” and enduro is now there is a format to put a clock to and form events from, in addition to the many great, new products coming as a result of the top level competitions. It’s no different to a regular day on the trails in Squamish, only now you don’t have to rely on Stava’s GPS drift working to your advantage. Embrace it, the discipline isn’t going anywhere, it’s how we ride anyway and we are all benefiting from it right now, whether riders are aware of it or not.
