This webisode-ish video is from the race Enduro 2 in Davos. Enduro 2 is a pretty simple format, you ride two together in a team, time starts when the first rider crosses the start, time stops when last rider crosses the finish. So you basically race with your mate down which is pretty sick and different from anything I have tried before.
Bob and I raced as a team, this is pretty convenient as we are pretty much the same speed. In a French cup, we had a 13-minute stage where we placed within half a second of each other.
Enduro 2 is a 3 day race of blind racing, which means you don’t get to see r train the tracks beforehand, that can also make it a bit hard if you race against locals which I like to think we did here in Davos because well, there were some people who I definitely think shouldn’t be faster than us haha.
Anyway, after coming home from my big summer trip I had two weeks and home to go build a bit for Danmarks Tag out in Ry. It was a good two weeks to sort of get a little break from riding every day, believe it or not, your body needs rest sometimes. Unfortunately these two weeks home in Denmark put me in a bit of offseason mode, I was just ready to have a little break from training and riding, basically just chill a bit. I was not too motivated to go race these two races, well at least not to perform at 100%.
But after these two weeks, it was time to get the last two races of the season out the way, Enduro 2 in Davos and the Enduro World Series in Finale.
The view of the Alps coming towards you is something I wouldn’t change for anything.
Usually, for me it means that the season is starting and I am going for my 3-month road trip, this was not the case here but god it is still an amazing feeling when you come towards them.
Because it was a two-week trip we didn’t bother to bring the caravan or sleep in the car which turned out the be a really good idea. First of, you kind of forget how long Germany is, it would have taken ages to come all the way to Davos with that. It already took 15 hours or so to drive down there.
Second, the temperatures of a Swiss mountain village in September is not exactly the temperature of Denmark in September, it is cold af down there. A thing you often forget when you only spend your summers there. As you can see in the video and pictures, there was already snow some places, and just wait for day 2 and 3 where there is even more
The views were sure amazing in Davos, to start with it is really an experience to race there, but with the snow, on top of the mountains, it really got that extra adventure feel. If you only have one event you can go to throughout the year I would probably recommend an event like this. You get so much out of it and it really feels like an adventure. Fun racing, amazing trails, beautiful transfers and well just all in all a pretty spectacular experience. It is a total contrast from the also amazing van life I live through the summer.
The blind racing is for sure something to get used to. When you have no idea what is coming up your instinct tells you to ride a bit conservative, but the time that’s ticking tells you otherwise. You need to find that fine line. The biggest challenge I found was whether or not you should save energy or just try to sprint all out and risk running out of power before getting to the finish. Something that might have happened to me on a stage or two haha.
From the top of Stage 2 on the left to the top of Stage 3 on the right. It was pretty hard to dress properly for this event. I had just gotten some Mons Royale merino shirts which turned out to be pretty good for these conditions.
After day 1 my Votec VM was pretty covered in mud. We concurred everything from slippery roots to rocky trails to cross-country trails to snow riding. It is safe to say it was a pretty successful day and to go to sleep knowing that we awaited two days more like this was one of the best feelings ever.
This is one of the reasons that I find enduro racing way more fun and challenging than downhilling. Well, of course, downhill racing is really hard, but enduro kind of throws you into the unknown, there are almost no rules in enduro.
Can you race blind? Sure!
Can we have 3 or 7 stages a day? Sure
Can we do the whole race lift accessed so you don’t have to pedal? Of course
But can we also pedal to every stage so it is really hard? Why not
Everything can happen at an enduro race. You race new places all the time on new trails and different formats. This year I have been racing all lift accessed races where almost no pedaling was needed and I have also ridden races where you had to pedal all the way to the top yourself, and it’s amazing! It’s always new and exciting, it’s a true adventure.
That was a bit of a sidetrack from this race report ish thing, but it was some thoughts I got because of this race because I really liked it.
I hope you enjoyed the video and maybe this write-up, stay tuned for next episode. And remember to come with some feedback if you have any, it would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Fred