Eastern Triple Crown Enduro Finals: Over Mountain Enduro at Highland

Against a tapestry of autumnal foliage, and with winter knocking on the door, the Triple Crown Eastern Enduro Series wrapped up this past weekend with a wild day of racing at Highland Mountain in New Hampshire. Nearly 150 racers battled the weather and the competition to claim podium spots for the third and final leg of the series and the overall Triple Crown title.


Highland Mountain lies just above the prep school town of Tilton, a small New England village which has benefited greatly from the addition of a world-class bike park in their backyard.


Highland Mountain, the world's first lift-access bike-only park, has been in business for over a decade and continues to grow and progress the sport. Once just a mix of rowdy DH trails and freeride features, the mountain now offers the full range of biking options, from slopestyle to dirt jumps to xc tracks and even an area for balance bikes. Highland has been able to grow their customer base over time by developing trails that allow beginners and families to share the mountain with more seasoned riders.


The 2016 Overmountain Enduro marked the fourth time the mountain had hosted a Triple Crown stop. The event was the second longest after the inaugural race in 2013. The four stages in this year's incarnation toned down the gnar factor a bit from the tracks offered last year but still incorporated plenty of thought-provoking challenges.The first stage was the longest of the day and started with a steep roll into the woods with barely a moment to get clipped in. Bicycle Express pro, Kelly Ault, who finished third for amateur women at the Aspen Enduro World Series race earlier this summer, has been become a respected regular on the enduro scene.


A rugged and slick rock garden was the first test for racers, just yards from the start gate. Kevin Green from Team Granite took an aggressive line into the jumble and earned a fifth-place in the highly competitive 19-29 field, including a win on Stage Three.




The route down the steepest aspect of the mountain is a thing of beauty, winding over and around rock outcrops and slabs. Ethan Mosedale, from the big IdeRide team of juniors, led a train down the rowdiest chute during practice on Saturday.


The bottom of Faux Pine is an engineering marvel as it drops down a rocky traverse through a huge boulder field. Bicycle Express pro, Rosy Metcalfe took the yellow brick road to a fifth-place finish in her first Triple Crown start.


After wrapping up Faux Pine, the angle eased and racers rocketed down the rambling Stump Line and finished with an exhausting stretch of pedaling on 820 and Pass the Buck. A long transfer climb, the first of three on the day, brought racers back to the top of the mountain.


Stage Two was similar to last year's offering but was lengthened with the addition of a starting blast down the high-speed corners of Easy Rider. The challenges arrived in a hurry when racers dropped into a slick loamy chute connecting Easy Rider to Hey Joe. The slope offered a spaghetti bowl of lines through the needle-covered hillside.






The track took a treacherous plunge down a fresh-cut section that was terrifying in wet conditions but played relatively nice on race day. Giant Factory Off-Road Team member, Seamus Powell was contending for the win until a dramatic crash on the final stage put an end to his victory hopes.


The fresh-cut section dumped riders onto Happy Hour where speeds instantly went into hyperdrive. Downhill and motocross specialist, Steve Avery, who only races enduro once a year at the Highland event, turned in a solid 11th-place finish in the pro field.




One more tiring climb up Freedom Trail took riders to the top for the final stage, a mash-up of some old-school trails on the riders' right side of the mountain. After a brief spin down Happy Hour, racers dropped into the rough single track of Shillelagh. IdeRide junior, Forest Mello took the burly option through one of the more rugged sections.


The track then joined the classic New England roots and rocks of Eastern Hemlock. Emmett Avery from Chuck's Bikes scorched the course to win the speedy 15-18 class and earn the fastest amateur time of the day.


The final segment then veered on to some 'new' terrain, including a nice drop over an old stone wall. Nine weeks after seriously injuring his hand at a Sugarbush ESC downhill, Transition Bikes pro, Alex McAndrew returned to racing and clocked a superb 7th-place result.


The bottom of the final segment took a snaking line through new growth between Eastern Hemlock and Hellion. Intense Cycles pro, Lauren Petersen was third on the stage and took home fourth for the race.


Races are usually good places to ogle the latest bike bling or dream builds. One of the more interesting items in the pits at Highland was the much-anticipated new Box Components 11-speed rear derailleur and PushPush shifter system.


After a relatively dry stretch of autumn weather, the skies opened up midway through the afternoon on Saturday and sent all but the most hardcore riders running for cover. The base lodge bar did a steady business for the rest of the afternoon.


One of the things that makes Highland so great is the depth of their bike offerings. When the rain hit, a number of racers headed for the mountain's indoor training center to work on their bike skills. Pro rider, Kaylen Ballentyne spent the afternoon learning back flips into the foam pit then successfully sent them to the center's resi ramp.


Along with the dry weather, unseasonably warm temperatures also departed on Saturday afternoon. On race morning, temperatures hovered around 40 degrees with a stiff north wind. A fire pit helped ward off the cold just below the start line.





In the pro women's race, veteran speedster, Dawn Bourque, riding for DRRT and Team Granite, completed the Triple Crown sweep with her third consecutive win. This may have been the biggest challenge of them all for Bourque, with only four seconds separating the top three women. "This was a tough one, I was hoping not to lose too much time on Stages One and Two. Rachel (Pageau) crushed those stages. It was so cool to have such tight racing. This year's Highland course was less technical than years past with two fitness-oriented stages followed by two fun trail stages. Stage Three was my favorite with fresh cut singletrack into a flow trail. I just wish it was longer. The trails held up well after all the rain we received on Saturday." Bourque says she is finished racing for the season and will determine her future plans next spring.


In second place was Devinci Factory Racing pro, Rachel Pageau. The Canadian youngster, about three decades Bourque’s junior, appeared to have the race in hand after taking the first two stages, but lost her chain and her lead on Stage Four and ended up just two seconds off the winning time.


In third place was Kona pro, Becky Gardner, making her first East coast race appearance of the season. Gardner tied Bourque for the stage win on the final leg and finished a mere four seconds behind the winning time.



For the pro men, the event was a battle between several heavy hitters in the enduro world. After trading stage wins all day with his rival, Antoine Caron, Rocky Mountain Urge BP pro, Peter Ostroski absolutely hammered the final leg and earned a crazy-fast six-second margin on the stage and took the overall win by a scant four seconds. "I had planned to come back East for a week this fall and the Highland race dates worked out perfectly. I had been here two or three years ago and really wanted to return. The tracks are fun and provide a ton of variety for the vertical at Highland. The trail crew does a great job linking up existing trails with new sections to keep things exciting. All the stages were pretty fun, if you can suffer through the more physical first two, you can really enjoy the back half of the race on the more gravity-oriented tracks. Conditions improved all day, I think we lucked out on race day, after practicing in the rain Saturday. Classic New England roots and rocks with a little residual grease on them. Fun to have a tight race with fast riders and a great way to wrap up the season!" Ostroski is hoping to race a few EWS events next season, mixed with a couple multi-day stage races and other events in the US and Canada.


Canadian, Antoine Caron won the first and third stages to finish in the runner-up spot. Riding for Pivot Cycles and On the Edge, Caron had a remarkable Triple Crown this year with a win and two second-place results.


Caron’s fellow Canadian, Philippe Ricard, riding for Devinci and Major Cycles, took home the third spot. Ricard has had a busy summer hitting some big-time downhill events in Europe, Canada, and the States.



Another big winner on the day was Joe Colette, who won the drawing for a 2017 Ellsworth Epiphany 27.5 frame. The Epiphany is a do-it-all trail bike with a no-nonsense, Made-in-America attitude. The Epiphany Alloy frame, with a slack 66.5-degree head tube angle, is fabricated, anodized, and laser etched in the USA with a US-made and drawn seamless tubeset.


Wrapping up a highly competitive series, the overall Triple Crown Enduro champions were also crowned at Highland. For the pro women, it was Lauren Petersen in third, Rachel Pageau in second and Dawn Bourque taking the top spot.


For the pro men, Isaac Allaire took home the third spot, Seamus Powell was runner-up and Antoine Caron earned the overall crown.


Perhaps the biggest highlight on race day was a surprise appearance by Ryan St. Lawrence, who was paralyzed in a freak riding accident at Highland earlier this summer. St. Lawrence is an awesome person and an enthusiastic enduro racer. His accident was a shock to the East coast racing community, but his bike buddies rallied around him with an incredibly successful fundraising campaign and outpouring of support. St. Lawrence said that being with his biking community on race day was, "The best form of therapy I've had yet." His presence lifted the hearts of all in attendance. Whatever the future holds for you Ryan, it's going to be great and we're with you.


The 2016 Triple Crown is now in the books and snow is flying in the mountains. Its time to take stock of the season that was and look forward to the next chapter. One thing is for sure, the future looks bright for East coast enduro racing.


Pics and words by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur
Results and photos.

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MENTIONS: @jebcas / @SRSuntour / @FiveTen

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