Video: Carnage on the NZ Enduro River Crossing [Updated with Response from NZ Enduro]
 | We take health and safety very seriously at NZ Enduro. Since most of the racing is blind every blind feature that can’t be rolled safely is identified and signed appropriately. The final day's racing was held on Jentree MTB, it was our bad weather back up plan from the intended day of racing at Wakamarina which is a much more technical and difficult trail system. We cancelled that because of safety concerns (not being able to use helicopters should they be needed for evacuation purposes). A stage on day one was also cancelled as its wet clay surface made it too unsafe to ride, safety comes first. That said Jentree offered the easiest and tamest trails of the three days. Everything was within sight of the rego area and race village which was set up adjacent to the stream crossing. Riders could inspect the stream, its bottom contours and pre-ride it if they wanted. A double gap jump was closed off above the stream as we don’t feel those are safe for blind racing. It also slowed the riders speed a little before the corner. The whole stage was within sight of the start line, so riders waiting to start could watch other riders crossing the stream and see what techniques worked and what didn’t. Most riders made the crossing successfully at all speeds, slow, medium and fast. Like on any trail or race track in any discipline of MTB riders can choose how fast they want to ride features and sections. This freedom of choice is fundamentally the beauty of MTB. This stream crossing is also part of the XC loop and has been used multiple times (at greater depths) in XC races hosted here. There were no injuries on this crossing just a few happy wet racers and a couple of bruised egos. Above is James Rennie who exercised his freedom of choice. |
After three days of enduro racing through New Zealand, you need a good dip and a cool off, most riders probably weren't expecting it to happen like this though. The very last obstacle of the NZEnduro 2019 was a river crossing that left plenty of riders soaking wet and sprawled on the floor.
Who did it best? None other than Peaty himself. He locked his shock out, hucked the whole thing and finished the race with his Royal kit pristine and dry. How's that for some new tricks?
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Jumping rivers never ends well....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=14xu-wlQXkU
Gap jumps are signed as such and you can accurately judge them ahead of time.
This is like a gap jump you practiced on, then after the first twenty riders they reshaped the lip and made it longer while you were on course.
I'm genuinely shocked at all the peal-clutching. Go back to your groomed flow trails (which I might add, given the speeds involved, are many times more dangerous than this feature)
Mach 5 into deep standing water right before the finish on a timed event is a dick move
@Adamrideshisbike You honestly shouldnt be in mountain biking then!
I, honestly, don't get what the big deal is... If you don't incorporate features in a course where the really skilled people can make the difference whats the point. The fun is when a course has stuff that rewuires all kinds of skills. All you have to do if you dont think you can make it is slow down or walk or not race! Simple. It´s like saying that in the mega you wouldnt want to be hurt by another rider... well dont race the mega. free world free choice. Peaty pulled it off, proves can be done, proves he is the best. If no one else can, its their problem, not the race organisers. Now if you dont mind Im gonna go find a river crossing I can practise on.
Being that I was at the event I can tell you first hand ALL the races checked that crossing before heading up the hill.@stefanfresh hard to see from the other side of the planet.
Notice how all my fellow Americans haven’t even thought about your healthcare system. It’s too bad we don’t have something like that. I’m not blaming anyone here, I don’t know their individual stand points, but it just doesn’t make sense. We’re fine wasting our tax money on a fundamentally messed up incarceration system, a border wall and a bloated useless representative system but when it comes to something that literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON in this country could benefit from so many people get bent out of shape over it.
If you put a brick wall a car's length at the end of a rally stage and said, well the drivers should have stopped in time, they knew it was there when they did the course preview, they'd tell you get bent that is a dumb idea.
@mtbikeaddict Only by crashing do we gain perspective, that's how I know what i can and can't do on a bke! It's quite simple really...
@Schroder78 , I'm not quite sure I follow with the hard to see from the other side of the world... all I saw is riders trying to do something they didnt have the skill to pull off to try and make a better time. Whenever I race and there is a feature I cant ride I get off or rider around it...
If there had been glass shards, metal spikes, or boulders the size of a car under that river then your arguments are somwehat more founded, otherwise... Just a bunch of moaning bikers. Complain about world cups getting to manicured... then through in a rough river crossing and everyone goes crazy
Your spectator/media management is a joke, we see in the Burgtec clip the rider crashing into the crowd. This could easily of led to a media person being injured or a rider.
We had had a spectator killed here in the UK already, one to many. Please don’t let that happen again. Think about rider and spectator management please rather than creating click bait features.
What if it was me that crashed into you and wrecked your expensive camera, or injured you and you couldn't work for a while? If you asked me for $$$ i'd tell you that you were a clown for sitting there.
Now what if your equipment damaged my bike or me? Would you pay my medical bills as I should of landed on that soft grass and not your camera? Answer me that?
Bottom line is, organisers need to manage media and spectators better and the media need to insert their brain sometimes. Let's not have any serious injuries or deaths.
We all know Enduro is running the gauntlet, lack or marshals, lack of tape. Mark my words, the time bomb is ticking and when it explodes, someone will be up for the high jump, probably the organiser when someone dies. But as you say let them be, you got your pic so your happy.
I'll keep pushing for better safety standards for riders, spectators and media. #buyalongerlense #safetyfirst #captainsafety
Our original day three (Wakamarina Heli Drop) was cancelled due to unsafe flying conditions and thus no emergency flight evacuation options. We are lucky enough to be able to use Justin Leov’s Jentree MTB as our bad weather option for our final day as previously identified and planned.
Event village and race briefing was held right at the river crossing which is a regular feature of the XC loop and used in XC races here. Riders had the opportunity to ride the crossing and inspect the river, it’s depth and it’s bottom contours. It was at the bottom of our shortest stage of the whole race and was clearly visible from the start line. Riders were able to watch and work out what techniques worked and what didn’t. They also need to have working brakes on their bikes before they start and are free to decide when to use them.
The NZ enduro is one of the toughest enduro races on the planet held on some of the most technical natural tracks made even more difficult by the wet and slippery conditions racers faced on the first two days. Day three was a welcomed fun day of racing on much more mellower trails.
We congratulate all our racers for making it through such a tough week of riding and racing. Also thanks to our team of top World Cup and EWS photographers and filters for their spectacular coverage of the event.
Seems Friday Fails is good but only because it's people disorganizing themselves.
This was a fantastic end to an amazing but very hard weekend for most and everyone left happy and wet (except Peaty and Dimitri).
We all had a look at it, but it became clear very quickly with the clock on and after the first riders had a go that it wasn't going to be that easy - not really due to the width of the creek, but more to do with the momentum sucking depth! As one of the first down that stage, I got to see a few different approaches from the top of the hill - both slow and fast. Rightly or wrongly I chose a manualling warp 10, as my risk vs reward said if it didn't quite go to plan, I was simply going to get wetter.
That choice was all on me, just like every other decision I made during the weekend on countless other trail features.
When one of the young guys (Bradey Stone) attempted a deliberate hop/pop and made it stick, every rider who was still to start saw that, and that became the go-to technique. Peaty demonstrating its effectiveness best, his experience (and choice) riding that stage with locked suspension to maximise pop.
Would I make the same decision again? Sure would, plenty of speed was required but I would be using every bit of extension I could generate to pop that sucker and clear it.
(know I'm getting downvoted for insulting the great man - it's only a joke!)
slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/eggboy-fraser-anning-smash-egg-australian-senator-mosque-attack.html?fbclid=IwAR0k4KWRd3g8eXEjsHd01T6V5EpVioOyUtI_kCBESQDE4NPW4UNF_sRSEvY
Wonder what they would all say if they knew the creek crossing gets dug out in Rotorua for events like the single speed world champs, and single speed nationals, and other events in 'vegas just so there is that chance of a splash down... we all know it's there, and 95% of us stay dry...even though there is a wheel grabbing bombhole lurking 10cm below the surface...
Also multiple comments from race doctors and organizers stating what should be obvious that of curse riders all had a chance to check the water and all chose to go for it, way to go guys! would have loved to see some of the p**sies who commented here slow down at the waters edge dip their foot in then slowly cross making sure not to get their panties wet. that would be fun to ride/watch! losers
Thanks Sven & Anka for the amazing race!
Get some perspective, with this kind of attitude to risk Everest would remain unclimbed and we’d all still wonder what was on the moon !!
If guys like Rogatkin are seen NOT doing up their lids, then what chance some other punk? Even in WC XC you see riders with loose straps - its dumb. Plain dumb.
My two cents: putting a river crossing between a racer and a timing gate — plus a big crowd with photogs gathered at the end — and expecting most of the the racers not to gun it? Yes, we’re adults capable of making our own decisions, but between all of us here, everyone knows how this would all pan out. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt!
Race folk always seem scared of jumps or is it just me??
As an amateur racer myself, I find this to be irresponsible from the race organisers... This is outright searching for trouble. You don't put such a dangerous, treacherous feature at the end of a sprint, no matter the sport. Spectator enjoyment is not worth having people injured. I'm glad and hopeful that some stupidity like this is not imitated by other adventure-race organizations, like AndesPacifico, TransCascadia, etc.
Racers COUNT on race organisers to put together a safe course.
There's a bit of a dependence between the racers and the race organisers in the sense that each one count on the other in order to have safe and fun event. Organisers count on racers to respect their skillset, and racers count on organisers to put together a safe course.
Some people may have their judgement slightly altered by the group of hecklers on the other side of the river saying something like "ride it, ride it, ride it"
I participated to a blind enduro race before where, on a stage, there was a problematic tree going across the trail at head's height. They could not cut it down due to the area being a protected forest. Passing this obstable required to do a bit of a limbo and putting a feet down. During the pre-race briefing, the organisers told us exactly where the obstacle was and it was flagged accordingly. They also made sure not to put a group of hecklers there !!! No photographers there either
When I see one's helmet get removed from their head as they get ejected from their bike and fly face first into the ground... if I was an organiser I would tell myself that something got messed up somewhere. Especially when other people are crashing too. There's a problem with the feature in play.
As an alternate solution, I would suggest to put the finish line maybe a dozen meters before the river, taking that element out of the race. Riders wanting to go for a swim could just roll safely to the river after the finish line (and they can even take their bike with them if they want). This way, you take away none of the fun, you make sure everyone is safe and this is a real happy ending!
Cheers
P.S.
If you downvote you prove the need for a new Pinkbike more, and out yourself as a non-endurobro, freerider or downhiller.
If you are not able to know what you are able to do or if there is too much risk, you possibly should not race.
I dont see that their is a fault of the organizers.
*I have no real arguments for my statement.
Terrible track feature.