The Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island has always been a hotbed of talent, with the likes of Mark Wallace, the late Steve Smith, and more, coming out of the area. Up-and-coming enduro racer Elijah Barron is quickly following in their footsteps with growing results on the Canadian and Vancouver Island circuits. Here's what a quick ride down his locals trails looks like.
Sweet riding on smooth manicured trails which he is taking to the next level, but it is not an enduro trail. Watching him carry that speed through rooty rocky woodland for several hundred meters would be interesting!
@landscapeben: oh he does, trust me he does. Race with this little kid (he’s 14 or 15) in the island cup. From straight up gnar to flow berms like this... doesn’t matter. Kid is fast. Way faster than you guaranteed.
@islandforlife: I believe it 100% but this video doesn't show it so the title is a little off is what I was getting at. Would love to see a video of him doing some actual enduro riding though!
@landscapeben: ya there would be more but he’s really young and his parents are pretty protective of him getting swept up in the whole “mtb marketing machine”. Give him a couple years and I’m sure we’ll see more. Currently he’s winning the Elite cats of the Island Cup Enduro series. He came 3rd in the U19 cat of the Squamish Enduro.
@islandforlife: nice! Completely understand his parents position too. Always a difficult balancing act, when to let them fly and when to hold them back for their own good and how to teach them the importance of doing this for themselves as they get older.
@James89: check out Mount Tzouhalem on trailforks. Unfortunately there are some closures right now due to clearing fallen trees (such as the infamous double D). I think maybe there are some closures on Maple Mountain too.
Constantly daydreaming at least one of my my kids will be riding at least half as well as these young pistols! I could be twice old as Elijah is, but he could teach me one or two thinks about riding a bike :-). Inspirational watching! Really.
That makes me wanna go shred at least 5% as well as that. Awesome trails but not really an example of "enduro" if your reference is a typical EWS track...
Stoked we could support this project and riders like Elijah. Keep up the good work.
Should be more info on SIMBS' FB page.
"Cool what's that like?"
- Shows the video
"Um, yeah just like that, pretty much same thing"