The mud and champagne is hosed off, the bikes and tools are getting serviced, and missing items have emerged from the cars, duffel bags, and piles Shimano tape. The fresh-cut, rough and raw sections of the stages that were built new for the race on June 11 and 12 now look like a well worn race course. Heck, maybe even a trail. The woods are quiet again except for the usual bike park traffic, and everyone has moved on to catching up on the latest results from the other races. The 2022 Schwalbe North American Enduro Cup was one hell of a race, full of extremes, and capped off with beautiful weather and an amazing crowd at awards.
The prologue of the 2022 race was best described with one phrase: trail work. Silver Mt. was open for skiing two weekends prior to the race. With that much snow, much of the mountain was inaccessible. The turnover required to go from skiing to one of the largest EWS qualifiers anywhere was no small feat. A whole new trail was built. Snow was removed from almost a mile (1.6km) of trail. More than 300 hours of work that got put into the course,
not counting the bike park trail crew's hours. A persistent bunch armed with shovels, McLeods, and, for a couple spots, a Cat D6 bulldozer built and cleared the course for racers, finishing just two days before Friday's practice.
Practice and Day 1 had rain. A lot of rain. While that helped consolidate and reduce the snow, it made everything wet. Really wet. That added to the excitement of one of the NAEC's hallmarks: the new trails. As everyone who raced knows, these aren't new, machine-built, buffed out bike park trails. They're raw, steep, and loose with tape corridors wide enough to let the riders paint the lines that become the trail during practice.
With the pro winners taking home a $12,000 purse, the 2022 Schwalbe NAEC stands alone as the pinnacle enduro race in North America. Nothing else comes close.
It's a race, yes. But it's also a community. Schwalbe and Transition set up a taco aid station for racers at the summit of Silver Mt.
The best neutral support includes more than just the best mechanics.
Yep, it was a long Stage 6. But it was worth it.
It may have the largest prize purse, and I have heard nothing but good things about Silver Mt, but this statement is incredibly bold - verging on foolish. Whistler would like a word.