The Sophomore Year
Second albums are killers. Ask any musician, it's your sophomore attempt that's the toughest album. Your first release is a freebie - chances are nobody knows much about you and people are simply trying to work out whether they like you or not. The pressure comes when your first album is good, now you have to deliver. It's sink or swim time - a weak second album has been the deathkiss for many a promising career. That's where the Enduro World Series found itself this year - at the difficult second album stage. 2013 was a good year, everything was new and exciting and nobody entirely knew whether it was going to work or not. In a very real sense 2014 was the year that will go down as the make or break point for the series, the tipping point of whether it was a nice idea that didn't quite work out, or something set become part of the permanent landscape of our sport. Sitting here some six months later, it seems clear that the Enduro World Series is with us to stay. This year we had seven great races spread across three continents; we have seen five male winners and three female with hours of racing coming down to margins of a tenth of a second; and we've ridden and raced what might be some of the best trails in the world... What's more, a series developed and funded from within the sport is working, both on and off the track. If that's not a good sign for the future of our sport, then we don't know what is. So sit back, grab a drink and enjoy all the action from the 2014 Enduro World Series.
Nevados de Chillan - CHILE - Round 1
Race IntroductionRace Day OneRace Day TwoWinners - Jerome Clementz
:: Anne-Caroline Chausson
TweedLove Festival - SCOTLAND - Round 2
Race IntroductionPracticeRace Day OneRace Day TwoWinners - Nico Lau
:: Tracy Moseley
Valloire - FRANCE - Round 3
Race IntroductionRace Day OneRace Day TwoWinners - Jared Graves
:: Tracy Moseley
La Thuile - ITALY - Round 4
Race IntroductionPracticeRace Day OneRace Day TwoWinners - Damien Oton
:: Tracy Moseley
Winter Park USA - Round 5
Race IntroductionRace Day OneRace Day TwoRace Day TwoWinners - Jared Graves
:: Anne-Caroline Chausson
Whistler - CANADA - Round 6
Practice Day OnePractice Day TwoRace DayWinners - Jared Graves
:: Cecile Ravanel
Finale Ligure - ITALY - Round 7
Race IntroductionPracticeRace Day OneRace Day TwoWinners - Fabien Barel
:: Anne-Caroline Chausson
2014 Overall Series Standings1 - Tracy Moseley - 2600
2 - Anne-Caroline Chausson - 2570
3 - Cecile Ravanel - 2270
4 - Anneke Beerten - 2140
5 - Ines Thoma - 1880
6 - Anita Gehrig - 1710
7 - Rosara Joseph - 1690
8 - Kelli Emmett - 1660
9 - Isabeau Courdurier - 1640
10 - Katy Winton - 1280
1 - Jared Graves - 3140
2 - Damien Oton - 2820
3 - Justin Leov - 2680
4 - Nico Lau - 2600
5 - Florian Nicolai - 2540
6 - Rene Wildhaber - 2530
7 - Joe Barnes - 2450
8 - Francois Bailly-Maitre - 2370
9 - Yoann Barelli - 2310
10 - Martin Maes - 2160
Jared Graves
Spirit of Enduro
True Enduro has no rules, it is only you, your bike and the trail. Thy shall love your clipped in brethren just like those on flat pedals, those with front derailleurs like those with singlespeed, ones on 15k bikes and ones on 10yr old bikes, everyone is invited, even those who record their ride on action camera or Strava. 24", 26" or 29er let thy sould be as soft as a fatbike. So should you free yours soul by embracing lycra and latest TLD kit, bar ends and 820mm bars. But if you cut a trail to get a KOM or just make it easier to yourself then you deserve to be thrown into the pit with Backdoor sons of Sodomy and they shall stretch your starfish with their filthy bats until we can fit 42t cassette ring in there.
God=I talk to him, (and he doesn't tell me to tell anyone else what to do-or say anything at all, not that that matters)
I don't need a bomb shelter, I've got a bike.
Oregon Enduro Series, Hood River: 270 vs. NW Cup #1, PA: 314.
Feel free to do some homework and tally away. I use the PNW as the example because the NW Cup and Oregon Enduro Series are equally killer and reach a similar crowd/region/demographic.
Then consider the millions of views Rampage gives to MTB - online and on mainstream TV.
A guy like Cameron Zink is a household name, like Evil Knievel, nowadays.
What inspiration does anyone draw from Enduro racing? Curious to know here.
As cool as rampage and DH world cups are to watch, and i watch all of them, they do not inspire me to do this myself.
Instead of 3 minutes of racing on DH trails, you are racing 20-45 minutes on DH trails with a trailbike. 3-6 hours on the bike. It takes DH to a whole other level.
Don't need any shuttle (although we welcome them with open arms). It really is the most natural form of mountain biking, and it's more gnarly than DH because of the fatigue.