Video: Kross-Enduro - Trails 2

Thanks to a fruitful cooperation with the National Forestry Commission, the special stages prepared for the race were completely new. No fire-roads and no walking trails, but challenging singletrack instead, descending through the beautifully forested inclines of the Kozia Gora and Szyndzielnia Mountains. Hopefully, most parts of the trails will soon be made legal – that’s our main philosophy!


The cumulative length of the four special stages was almost 10km/6.2 miles, and the vertical drop more than 1,200m/3,937 feet (total elevation gain during the race was 1,700m/5,577 feet). The terrain was diverse: tight, tricky sections with lots of slippery roots, rocks and open turns mixed with fast singletrack, berms and jumps completed by short yet exhausting pedaling intervals – race course characteristics that benefit only the most versatile of riders – that’s what Enduro is all about!

The first stage of the race was probably the most technical, with piles of stones, steep and gnarly rocky sections, slippery roots and millions of tight turns.

The second stage was the longest (8 min for the fastest riders): steep and challenging at the top and flowy in the bottom part – those who tried to race it going 100 per cent from start to finish were ‘cooked’ halfway through. During stage three, which was full of jumps and berms, the feeling of flow was ubiquitous, while the final stage was all about speed, with a few fast technical sections and high-speed jumps.


Remigiusz Ciok (former pro XC racer, currently competing in Enduro) proved to be unbeatable on his home soil, setting the fastest time of the race (20’24’1 min). Roman Kwaśny, who won the Masters’ category, was also storming through the woods extremely quickly that day (he said he had to hurry, as for him there were not many years of riding left – and he sure did, setting the second fastest time of the race). Agnieszka Szor fought a thrilling battle with the second girl on the podium, Marta Bosy, from the Bike Board team, and after more than 30 minutes of racing the two were separated by a mere 1.8 seconds! For the first time, also, racers under 16 received awards: Andrzej Buńda was the fastest Junior by a big margin (the category will be officially included for the 2015 season).


As twilight approached, the most prestigious awards had yet to be given out, and the organizers decided to do this during the after-party. Kross factory rider Mariusz Bryja won the Men’s Polish Enduro Series title for 2014; having completed enough races already, he did not have to participate in the last one – luckily for him, as he had recently broken his collarbone. Maria Grzybowska topped the women’s podium and, not surprisingly, the Best Polish Enduro Team award went to the 2B Enduro Team.


Everything worked out just fine – even things that are normally out of control, the weather was awesome, the trails dry, and nobody got injured (except for a few scratches and bruises), while the after-party started a bit late but finished, well, nobody knows exactly when...

Without exaggeration, it may be said that both of the Enduro Trails events of 2014 have firmly established this racing format in Poland, setting very high standards in trail preparation (often built from scratch for the event), timing system (TagHeuer, live results), media coverage, and cooperation with forestry authorities and city officials. Hopefully, this will all prove beneficial for the Enduro community around the country as a whole, as people then go on to contribute something even more valuable in return: namely, an outstanding atmosphere during the event!

So, many thanks to all the sponsors and partners in 2014! See you in 2015, and please do stay tuned for more news from Enduro Trails soon!

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