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EWS Whistler Enduro Recap
EWS Video Recap: Click HERE
Well after organizing 8 races in the KR and BC Enduro Series over the summer, last weekend was time for me to get out there and join in the race myself, purely as a participant. Something I had been looking forward to considering last years Whistler Enduro was one of the best races and courses I have ever raced.
I had no time leading into the race to look at any of the details or plan for anything, I just showed up on Thursday night and started to get things sorted from there. With no specific training and no racing this summer my plan was to just get out there, see how EWS are running their events, ride some new trails and have some fun. After a 6hr pre-ride day (where we shuttled where possible), we realized this was going to be no ordinary enduro race.
Goal: ride everything, stay on the bike, make transition times and come out of it alive! Pretty simple right.
![Photo by J.Reuiller]()
Lets keep this short as I know most of you have heard the feedback and details around how the day went. To sum it up in one sentence: hot, ridiculously long (7hrs ride time and about 8.5hrs from start to finish), 2400m+ of climbing, a whole lot of no flow, new trails, holes, roots, tech, tight corners and a full body bashing sager for every inch of every trail. How did I do? Does that sum it up? There were grumbles throughout the day for sure.
About 4hrs in when we had the 1.5hr climb up creekside to stage 4 (pushing/hiking our bikes up steep gravel road in the scorching heat of the day), we were seeing riders making their way back down the gravel road. Hmmm we thought...these guys have not made their start time and after they have just suffered and climbed for 1.5hrs at 4hrs+ into their day, they are not allowed to start stage 4 and have to ride back down the boring old gravel road - kinda like a walk/ride of shame. What did this mean - nothing but giving us more motivation to push our bikes faster and harder up this shit road to make sure we made our start time and didn't have to do the ride of shame back down
![Photo by J.Reuiller]()
Stage 4 was by far the toughest and most awkward - tired, hungry, and no hand grip left, it left most riders feeling like they have forgotten how to ride a bike. For those that were at the BC Enduro Series Sunshine Coast race, it was kind of like No Modifications the entire way for 12mins! Well stage 1 and 2 earlier on also felt like No Mods!!
So we made our way back to the Village, showered under the bike wash, changed into fresh clothes, grabbed an iced coffee and headed to the Gondola to head up to Stage 5 for the day, a full top to bottom 25min + stage to put the icing on the cake for a day out on our bikes!
I somehow for sure felt the best on Stage 5. Everything flowed better, and I actual felt like I knew how to ride a bike again! Goal - to not be passed. I was seeded in a great spot for the day and hadn't been passed yet and only had to do a couple of passes myself.
![Photo by J.Reuiller]()
Here is my summery and my thoughts after having raced in 20+ enduro races from Canada to Oregon to NZ, and having been a part of the organization of 18+ enduro races:
- Everyone has their own style of what they like to ride so you can never win everyone over - what I like to see in Enduro's is variety between stages, give all riders a chance at a stage they are good at or at least to make them feel like they know how to ride a bike!! EWS Whistler was the same thing stage after stage, a full body beat, a full body workout, old school tech, and not much flow. Don't get me wrong, my favorite type of trail is old school tech but not old school tech that wasn't steep enough or straight enough to keep any momentum to get through - but this race crossed the line of the enjoyment factor for many riders. Had they changed just 1 or 2 of the stages to something different, then I think most wouldn't have minded how long the day was as a couple of varied trails would have spiked the motivation level.
- Simple fix: no water at the bottom of stage 1 or 2 (after they told us there would be in briefing, so riders that started with just one bottle and got screwed)
- Simple fix: Some of the transition markers were loose, had I not use to live there I would have been lost and concerned I wasn't on the right track to the next stage
- Transition times: much too short, we had no time to eat, pee, or just simply recover from the stage you just come down. We had time to refill our water and get back on the bike to work hard to make it to the next stage on time
- Length: did it have to be 7-8hr day? Did each stage have to be across the other side of town up some other mountain and did 3 out of the 5 stages have to brand new/refurb trails when there are so many great established trail options already in Whistler.
- Seedings: this is a tough one and understand they have to do this for a world standard event. I was lucky to get put in a great spot, but others had to pass 7+ riders every stage, knowing they had to then start back in that same spot for each stage.
![Anneke Beerten getting wild on stage 3.]()
Um, think that's about it. Having said all this, I still personally had a fantastic day out on the bike, I got to ride with some super cool super fast chicks that are at an international level, I got to ride new trails that I haven't been on before and I got to be one of the lucky 350 riders on the start line. I am truly stoked for this and would prefer a course as challenging and old school as this, to something that is too easy with too many buffed and manicured berms (but that's just my own riding style and opinion!). The logistics and organization of putting together what they did on the weekend was fantastic, something that one day I might get to be a part of? We always love to push our limits and challenge ourselves and I would say for 300+ of riders out there on this course, all had their hardest day on a bike ever that they will remember for a long time. I was for sure one of them.
What's next? The next 2 weeks will be spent in Europe. I will be heading over to Trans-Savoie (6 day enduro stage race in France) to be on their volunteer team and have my turn to give back to the biking industry. And of course continue to research and grow my knowledge of the industry to keep improving where the sport is going!
Trans Savoie Vid Click HERE
Then the finale of the BC and KR Enduro Series REVELSTOKE ENDURO. Get signed up now and see you all September 13-14. It is going to be amazing weekend to finish off the season!
Then get to work on the details for Trans NZ!
Megan Rose
BC Enduro Series
ps: just pulled the pics in this blog from what I could find on Pinkbike (thanks Justin Leov for your blog and meagerdude for your pics!!)
![Dan Atherton getting back on the horse on the Top of the World. Fourteenth for Affy on the day it s good to see him getting back to form.]()
![Cecile Ravanel blowing smoke on Top of the World. Ravanel s time seems to have finally come with multiple stage wins on the day including two minutes over T-Mo on the final stage and five minutes on Chausson to her credit Anne Caro flatted somewhere on the stage so finishing only five minutes down was no small feat .]()
![Cecile Ravanel dropping into the very start of the best day of Enduro racing she s ever had...]()
![T-Mo in stage two I rode like crap today to be honest. My arms and legs felt like wood. I just couldn t really get it together until stage 5. I was able to relax and have fun in there. But the rest... I just rode like crap.]()
![Ben Cruz in stage two. His time had him ballpark in the top ten for the stage but a mechanical issue took him out of starting stage five resulting in a DQ.]()
Well after organizing 8 races in the KR and BC Enduro Series over the summer, last weekend was time for me to get out there and join in the race myself, purely as a participant. Something I had been looking forward to considering last years Whistler Enduro was one of the best races and courses I have ever raced.
I had no time leading into the race to look at any of the details or plan for anything, I just showed up on Thursday night and started to get things sorted from there. With no specific training and no racing this summer my plan was to just get out there, see how EWS are running their events, ride some new trails and have some fun. After a 6hr pre-ride day (where we shuttled where possible), we realized this was going to be no ordinary enduro race.
Goal: ride everything, stay on the bike, make transition times and come out of it alive! Pretty simple right.
Lets keep this short as I know most of you have heard the feedback and details around how the day went. To sum it up in one sentence: hot, ridiculously long (7hrs ride time and about 8.5hrs from start to finish), 2400m+ of climbing, a whole lot of no flow, new trails, holes, roots, tech, tight corners and a full body bashing sager for every inch of every trail. How did I do? Does that sum it up? There were grumbles throughout the day for sure.
About 4hrs in when we had the 1.5hr climb up creekside to stage 4 (pushing/hiking our bikes up steep gravel road in the scorching heat of the day), we were seeing riders making their way back down the gravel road. Hmmm we thought...these guys have not made their start time and after they have just suffered and climbed for 1.5hrs at 4hrs+ into their day, they are not allowed to start stage 4 and have to ride back down the boring old gravel road - kinda like a walk/ride of shame. What did this mean - nothing but giving us more motivation to push our bikes faster and harder up this shit road to make sure we made our start time and didn't have to do the ride of shame back down
Stage 4 was by far the toughest and most awkward - tired, hungry, and no hand grip left, it left most riders feeling like they have forgotten how to ride a bike. For those that were at the BC Enduro Series Sunshine Coast race, it was kind of like No Modifications the entire way for 12mins! Well stage 1 and 2 earlier on also felt like No Mods!!
So we made our way back to the Village, showered under the bike wash, changed into fresh clothes, grabbed an iced coffee and headed to the Gondola to head up to Stage 5 for the day, a full top to bottom 25min + stage to put the icing on the cake for a day out on our bikes!
I somehow for sure felt the best on Stage 5. Everything flowed better, and I actual felt like I knew how to ride a bike again! Goal - to not be passed. I was seeded in a great spot for the day and hadn't been passed yet and only had to do a couple of passes myself.
Here is my summery and my thoughts after having raced in 20+ enduro races from Canada to Oregon to NZ, and having been a part of the organization of 18+ enduro races:
- Everyone has their own style of what they like to ride so you can never win everyone over - what I like to see in Enduro's is variety between stages, give all riders a chance at a stage they are good at or at least to make them feel like they know how to ride a bike!! EWS Whistler was the same thing stage after stage, a full body beat, a full body workout, old school tech, and not much flow. Don't get me wrong, my favorite type of trail is old school tech but not old school tech that wasn't steep enough or straight enough to keep any momentum to get through - but this race crossed the line of the enjoyment factor for many riders. Had they changed just 1 or 2 of the stages to something different, then I think most wouldn't have minded how long the day was as a couple of varied trails would have spiked the motivation level.
- Simple fix: no water at the bottom of stage 1 or 2 (after they told us there would be in briefing, so riders that started with just one bottle and got screwed)
- Simple fix: Some of the transition markers were loose, had I not use to live there I would have been lost and concerned I wasn't on the right track to the next stage
- Transition times: much too short, we had no time to eat, pee, or just simply recover from the stage you just come down. We had time to refill our water and get back on the bike to work hard to make it to the next stage on time
- Length: did it have to be 7-8hr day? Did each stage have to be across the other side of town up some other mountain and did 3 out of the 5 stages have to brand new/refurb trails when there are so many great established trail options already in Whistler.
- Seedings: this is a tough one and understand they have to do this for a world standard event. I was lucky to get put in a great spot, but others had to pass 7+ riders every stage, knowing they had to then start back in that same spot for each stage.
Um, think that's about it. Having said all this, I still personally had a fantastic day out on the bike, I got to ride with some super cool super fast chicks that are at an international level, I got to ride new trails that I haven't been on before and I got to be one of the lucky 350 riders on the start line. I am truly stoked for this and would prefer a course as challenging and old school as this, to something that is too easy with too many buffed and manicured berms (but that's just my own riding style and opinion!). The logistics and organization of putting together what they did on the weekend was fantastic, something that one day I might get to be a part of? We always love to push our limits and challenge ourselves and I would say for 300+ of riders out there on this course, all had their hardest day on a bike ever that they will remember for a long time. I was for sure one of them.
What's next? The next 2 weeks will be spent in Europe. I will be heading over to Trans-Savoie (6 day enduro stage race in France) to be on their volunteer team and have my turn to give back to the biking industry. And of course continue to research and grow my knowledge of the industry to keep improving where the sport is going!
Trans Savoie Vid Click HERE
Then the finale of the BC and KR Enduro Series REVELSTOKE ENDURO. Get signed up now and see you all September 13-14. It is going to be amazing weekend to finish off the season!
Then get to work on the details for Trans NZ!
Megan Rose
BC Enduro Series
ps: just pulled the pics in this blog from what I could find on Pinkbike (thanks Justin Leov for your blog and meagerdude for your pics!!)
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As for your simple fixes: yup, nailed it! The worse of them all, for sure, without a doubt, was the feed/aid stations and the sheer lack of water there, along with the lack of 'real' food. Love me a Clif Bar, but not as the only source of sustenance.
You do an amazing Job Megan at your races, and I am stoked for Revy! See you there.
My goal was to finish, and I am happy that I did with no penalties. If only I had not gotten that flat on TOTW, dang it!
I feel that had the day not been as long or more so not had the transitions been as tough and tight to make, then this would have made the chosen trails in the race more enjoyable and manageable. They were all just full on trails (which I love), but after hammering yourself between each stage to make it on time, there was little energy left in the tank to take on such demanding trails. It took the fun out of it. Hey maybe I just need to be fitter!! - but a lot of these comments are simply me passing on the feel and words of most people out on course on race day. From all the varied feedback from the BC Enduro Series, the consensus has been that people love to see variety of trails between each of the stages within a 1 day enduro race. I lived in Whistler for quite a few years and love the trails and network there!