This weekend Tuf Rack Racing held its first ever Open Enduro at Horseshoe Resort just north of Barrie, Ontario. This latest discipline is the ‘new black’ in the world of mountain bike racing and is starting to take roots in Ontario; a location many believe is prime for a series such as this.
The Tuf Rack Open Enduro was comprised of four stages spanning roughly 6.8km with top speeds of 40km/hr being reached in the fastest sections of the downhills. Tuf Rack and Horseshoe worked hard together to make the most of the great terrain the resort has to offer, expanding its growing all-mountain trail offering. Portions of the upcoming Ontario Cup Cross Country race course were also used in the enduro stages.
“Tuf Rack has really stepped out and filled the gap between Cross-Country riding and Downhill. It was great to see the two disciplines of racing come together. The enduro race at Horseshoe was one of the most fun events I’ve every done! There was nothing too crazy on the downhill sections, and the time given for the climb was generous enough to make it an even playing field for both types of riders. My Scott Spark with the 9Point8 dropper post was a perfect bike for the day! I cant wait to see more Tuf Rack Enduro races!!!” – Mandy Dreyer (Tuf Rack Racing)
The format of this enduro consisted of four timed descents linked by climbing sections. Timing commenced at the beginning of the first climb and stopped at the end of the final downhill stage. A predetermined amount of time was allotted for the racers to complete the climbing stages. 60min was given to the sport class racers and 45min to the elite class. Exceeding those times resulted in an equivalent penalty which was added to the racer’s overall result. Only the downhill stages were timed and the fastest overall time in which the DH stages were completed determined the winner.
THIS JUST IN! The Enduro Open race will run timed downhill ONLY! No need to worry about those climbs.. @ridingfeelsgood
— TUF Rack (@tufrack) August 24, 2013
The allowances for the climbs were quite liberal and made it so that everyone could be competitive, regardless of their bike setup. Bikes of all flavours were used including 26, 27.5 and 29 inch wheel sizes. Everything from hardtails to purpose built 6″ travel enduro bikes were used. A 5″ travel trail bike with a 32mm fork up front seemed to be the sweet-spot. The cross-section of participants spanned from elite cross-country riders to weekend gravity enthusiasts.
While the initial feedback on the race’s format was that it favoured the XC variety, the revised format leaned more towards the downhill crowd. This is difficult to contest when a cross-country rider with mad DH skills like Kelsey Krushel, who rode the entire course in under 23min, was out of the running. This meant that, in theory, Kelsey could have run the entire course twice in the allotted time. With a little more tweaking to the format a greater balance will be struck between XC and DH.
Silent Norco Racing’s Tom Kakamousias won the Elite Mens category followed by teammate Jeff Faulds and Tuf Rack Racing’s Braedyn Kozman.
Tom Kakamousias (Silent Norco Racing) over the rock garden entering DH stage one.
“This was the most fun I’ve had at a race event in years. The atmosphere was great and all the racers were happy to be racing their bikes on such a great course. Strategy really came into play with a overall time limit and a mix of steep climbs and technical downhill stages. Looking forward for more enduros to come!” – Tom Kakamousias (Silent Norco Racing)
Trek Canada’s Cayley Brooks took the honors in the Elite Womens race edging out Tuf Rack Racing’s Carlene Starck (2nd) and Mandy Dreyer (3rd).
Cayley Brooks (Trek Canada) sailing through the second woods section of DH stage three.
“I can’t say enough good things about the enduro. It wasn’t like any race I had ever done before. It was such a chill atmosphere and it was really fun to have cross country and downhill riders competing in the same event. Tuf Rack did an amazing job and I really hope this will kick-start enduro racing in Ontario.” – Cayley Brooks (Trek Canada)
The greatest thing to come from this weekend’s Enduro was to see cross-country and downhill mountain bike riders together in one place, sharing their common love for the sport. Mountain biking is often its own worst enemy, isolating every faction of itself until it is no longer even describable to a potential newcomer to the sport. Worse yet is that mountain bikers themselves don’t feel part of these other disciplines, like somehow it’s not even the same sport. Downhill killed cross-country, freeride killed downhill, 4X killed dual, slopestyle killed freeride, enduro is the new downhill and it goes on. Having us all together makes us appreciate each other’s skills and helps us realize that we’re all mountain bikers. This weekend we all got together and played bikes. We went up, we went down and had a blast. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. These enduro, or “onduro”, races are a perfect event for Ontario and I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the not so distant future. Maybe even later this year 
Here are some images and tweets from the great weekend at Horseshoe Resort.
Riders meeting on race day.
@ridingfeelsgood @tufrack @swabag Stoked to see the shots from Open Enduro this past weekend! #horseshoeresort #openenduro — Horseshoe Resort (@HorseshoeResort) August 26, 2013
Luke Kozakiewicz dropping into DH stage 1.
Andrew Watson (Norco Factory Team) railing the top berm of DH Stage 4.
Yeah i could get used to this enduro thing, also got some lift access runs in as well, race tomorrow should be a blast #ridingfeelsgood — Andrew Watson (@swabag) August 24, 2013
Jamie Parrott (Impala / Steam Whistle) sucking up the step-up into last woods on DH 1.
Tuf Rack Enduro is the race of the year. 4 timed stages on 4 great DH runs. This is anyone’s game!!! #ridingfeelsgood #tufrack #lovetobike — Jamie Parrott (@Parrottcanada) August 24, 2013
Matt Farquharson (Tuf Rack Racing) pinned dropping into the rooted woods in DH stage 3.
Brandon McGuire (Inception Cyclery)
Jamie Parrott and Bill Graham. Two long time supporters of the scene. All smiles.
Headed to the @HorseshoeResort #onduro for practice with @Parrottcanada should be a good day! #ridingfeelsgood
— Bill Graham (@billgrahamjr) August 24, 2013
Jeff Faulds (Silent Norco Racing) sending it into top open section of DH stage 4.
Norco Factory Team rider Andrew Watson putting a 2014 Norco Sight with 11 speed Sram X01 through its paces.
“Great experience at my first DH Enduro, I loved the format and with a little fine tuning I think could be a hit with Xc’ers and Dh’ers alike here in Ontario and the rest of Canada. Big thanks to Tuf Rack for putting it on and Horseshoe resort for hosting” – Andrew Watson (Norco Factory Team)
No stranger to hauling straight out of the start gate, Jeff Faulds (Silent Norco Racing).
Braedyn Kozman (Tuf Rack Racing) showing us just what is possible on 29ers during an enduro.
One of Ontario’s most skilled riders, Kelsey Krushel (Tuf Rack Racing).
“Knowing the format, I figured I might as well race a style that suited the bike I was riding, which meant keeping it pinned from start to finish. I’d have a hard time trying to pack that much gnar into another ~23 ride! Big thanks to Tuf Rack for the event!” – Kelsey Krushel (Tuf Rack Racing)
Horseshoe Resort’s Director of Snow Sports & Events, Jonathan Reid, shows us how it’s done.
Little hike and session for the Silent Norco lads.
Braedyn Kozman (Tuf Rack Racing) with some serious pop off the rock jump.
The introduction of an Enduro race to Ontario has led to an in-depth discussion of just what an Enduro is. Many technical points have been brought forth in an effort to accurately interpret the rulebook description of an Enduro but the ultimate goal is about making the spirit of an Enduro work for Ontario. We invite you to join the discussion here. http://www.ridingfeelsgood.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=36842 We’ll also be posting some of our other pics from the race there over the next few days.
At the time of writing this report, results were not available. Please contact us to report any errors.