Capitol Enduro - The Gathering, Mini Race

A change of venue and the Capitol Enduro, The Gathering/Mini race was relocated to Bukit Kokol. An unexpected gift to host its first inaugural event. Heavy downpour a couple of days ago did not stop a turn out of about 60 riders participating for the first ever event type, MTB Enduro on this continent in Borneo. Riders arrived from the Peninsular Malaysia, Brunei, the United Kingdom and locals alike. The location, based camped at Praise Mountain is a mere 45 minutes from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. The race was held at the Lawamandau Trail, one of the five fresh cut, natural planned trails to be completed by mid-2017 is approximately 5.8 kilometers in length with the trail head that is situated at approximately 825 meters above sea level and home to the "Borneo Trail Builders" (BTB). The trail was divided into two stages hosting this event with a trail sequence:

1. Uplift route from Praise Mountain - distance approximately 16 KM (blue line)
2. LS 1 - distance approximately 1.4 km/cut off time 30 minutes (orange line)
3. SS 1 - distance approximately 1.7km/ time attack stage (green line)
4. LS 2 - distance approximately 0.1m/ cut off time 10 minutes (orange line)
5. SS 2 - distance approximately 2.4km/ time attack stage (green line)

- Total race time is the accumulated time of SS1+SS2.
- If racers cannot arrive within the given time on the LS, the overtime will be added to the next SS race time.


Riders up early for the gathering, busy at the registration counter. Clockwise, last minute bike settings and discussions at Praise mountain.

Scene at the Lawamandau trailhead, final checklist. Insert below, a glimpse of Mount Kinabalu in the background, view from Lawamandau.

Mark Webb, an expat from the United Kingdom reaching SS1.

Clockwise, action at the SS1 stage, fresh single line trail. Some sections were wet, soggy and slippery covered by overhead canopies with ambient lighting made this stage tough and challenging!


The telecom tower, the trail head location of the Lawamandau trail in the far distance, the view from the bottom half of SS2. Next image, resident locale, Madame butterfly, beautiful tree canopies. Strange noises from the critters and bugs adds vibes to the event.

Local and Sabah's former state rider, Jali Lukas at a natural jump at "the Cemetry".



River crossing before the end of SS2, Lawamandau trail. Picturesque!

All in a day's ride! A well-deserved dip in the cool river after the finishing line.

Men Master Results

Men Open Results

(L to R) Jali Lukas and winner of the Men's Open Category, also the fastest at the race, Stanly Jr.


The men behind the scenes, the team, Borneo Trail Builders. (L to R) : Charlie Sinsua, Gregory Dominic, Ed Sinpa, Oliver Balanting and Jeremy Duasing. Not in photo, Alan Bernard, and Martin Shim.

An event not to be forgotten and the birth of Enduro here at Sabah, I look forward to the next event that would be held here and the fresh trails in the months to come. Credits to Borneo Trail Builders in bringing up trail building a notch! With the curtain raiser, raised for the year 2017, watch out for the next coverage. Here's signing out!

#borneotrailbuilders #exoticborneo #sportident #capitolenduro #goenduro

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MENTIONS: @damianstm

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