Polish Enduro Series 2016, Szklarska Poreba

The Polish Enduro Series circus rolled into the heart of Karkonosze mountains, to the small yet well-known town - Szklarska Poreba. It was time for the 6th round of the 2016 Polish Enduro Cup. About a hundred hearty enduro enthusiasts from Poland and Czech Republic struggled through 4 race stages near to Szrenica Peak (1362 m.a.s.l.). The route of about 35 km and 1.100 m of elevation.

Studying the map of the race

The emtb.pl crew took care of the organization and festivities from well before the start of the race, until the last rider safely crossed the finish line. It's the effort that us racers don't see, that goes in beforehand to make this event run smoothly. We're super thankful to the guys and gals of emtb.pl for the excellent organisation, accurate time-keeping, no queues at the start of each stage, and generally keeping things on agenda and moving forward. But would any of this stuff matter if the course wasn't up to snuff? Thankfully they had cooked up a fun, technical and super challenging course - with a few surprises mixed in - that tested the riders and pushed them and their equipment to the limit.

Access to the special stage one mostly ran through the mountain wilderness and away from hiking trails. The last part was especially crazy - a steep, nearly a half an hour hike-a-bike climb, with bike on shoulders through dense blueberry bushes.This was a challenge even for the strongest (and tallest) of us, and thanks to some helpful gentleman (they still exist), many of the ladies were able to get to the start of the first stage on time, without quite as much struggle.

Climb to "Borowczane Skaly"

So here we are, "Borowczane Skaly” (Blueberries Rocks) – the place the ride really starts. SS#1 - as we know it, where we'll experience the longest run in this year’s cup – 4.5km length and 650m of descent trial. From the beginning we were into 1km of endless rock garden completely dotted with smaller or bigger boulders... from baby heads to basketballs... with the occasional black and white Soviet tv sets mixed in. No mercy, no place to catch a breath. No logical line, one must instantly adapt and make their line on sight.

SS#1 endless rock garden.





Transfer to SS#2 is definitely much easier but still a lot of walking through steep hills. The beginning of the second episode offers another rocky and punishing contest. Definitely the most technically difficult trails we've ever had the pleasure and challenge to ride in Poland. A good run during SS#1 and SS#2 proved to be important and decisive and weighed heavily for the overall results of the day.

Rocky contest on SS#2.





SS#3 – it is a much more flow trail, however the boulders still don’t want to leave us. Some additional steep lines on the trail made it more exciting, while a few tricky stone stairs between boulders and down-to-the-quarry powdery lines eliminated some riders from a good result. SS#4 – we are rewarded by emtb.pl guys for surviving the previous three stages and getting to this place. A superb flow trail onto forest bottom's rich soil gives the riders a lot of fun, and a chance to grin for a while and forget about the horrific Karkonosze rocks.

Flat tires are an indispensable part of this competition.

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After SS#2 riders can have a rest in the shade studying intermediate results.

SS#3 and approaching to the stone stairs.





At the end of a day fatigue gives life a misery.

Competition results:


Men's Elite:
1. Robert Piekara
2. Krystian Bialka
3. Michal Martyka


Ladies' Elite:
1. Iwona Czyszczon
2. Joanna Swiatlon
3. Marta Smolarska


Masters:
1. Roman Kwasny
2. Jozef Borowiec (blog's author)
3. Jacek Zawada


Under 21:
1. Jakub Ratajczak - Men / Paulina Orlowska - Ladies
2. Tomasz Zawada
3. Jiri Becka


Teams:
1. 2B Enduro Team Bielsko-Biala
2. Knurswiny
3. Eskimoo Racing

Full results list here.

Once again, thanks for entire emtb.pl crew for organizing a sick event! Only guys crazy like you could invent to make a time segment on this terrible climb to the first stage. We do appreciate all your efforts and looking forward to seeing you in 2017! Special thanks for the @DirtGuru2 for his help and patience

Photographs:
Lukasz Szrubkowski
Mamba on bike

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MENTIONS: @JosefBB

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