California Enduro #2 VP/Kali Enduro Los Olivos

[Aa ron]

Had a great trip down south for the California Enduro Series. Ryan, Marco Osborne,  (team WTB rider) and I headed out Friday morning with a stuffed van and our big bikes.  Stage two of the California Enduro Series was down at the Dirt Club in Los Olivos, south of Pismo Beach. After 5 hours of driving we arrived at the venue and set up shop. All of us were looking to get as many practice runs on the trails as possible. 

The race featured 4 different segments that each rider rides twice, totaling 8 runs. We referred to the trails as one, two, three, four.  After an easy climb of about 400' we got to the top of trails one and two.

One was the first trail I rode. A slight descent and heavy pedal section was at the top and right away you are into a jump line of four or five jumps. The first jumps were minor gap and log jumps maybe in the 3 foot.  Jump four was a little more tricky airing out maybe 7 feet over a rock garden. It was clearly important to hit that fast enough to clear the rocks. After the rock garden jump section there was a slight descent into a fairly large step down. The step down was roughly dropping six or seven feet into a loose and sketchy tranny followed by an immediate hard right berm that was deep sand. I cleared the rock jump on my first run and came into the step down and sketched out and had to go around.  I stopped and scoped out the jump and what my line choice was going to be. I knew I had to hit it but I was a little worried. Continuing down the first course there were some really loose sand filled berm sections that were way sketchy. I came in fast and still buried my front tire in the sand and almost crashed. The trail continued down fast through deep sand berms and loose sand drops. Not very much pedaling except for exiting the deep sand berms where you had to be on the gas.  The bottom had a bit of a pedal section, a log drop and then sprint to the finish.

After practice run #1 I knew I had some work to do to get up to speed.

Course 2 was a different animal. You start off down a grassy single track where there is a hard right in really loose dirt. You had to get on the brakes to safely navigate the turn and then back on the gas into a steep single track. Right away you are into a 5 foot drop then into some super fast g outs in and out of a creek line.  After the g outs there was a fairly blind big drop I would say in the 15' range. You had to brake check the drop because if you were going to fast you would fly over it and land to flat which would not have ended up pretty.  After the big drop you are pinned down the creek line fast and on the edge. At the bottom of the trail you ride through a section of whoops that were really fun. You could air the whoops and land on the backside but you had to be careful not to get off line as the trail was skinny and twisty. The very bottom was a sprint to the finish with a hard right to sprint line.

My first impression of course two was that it was really fun but you could easily crash.

We hit trails one and two twice each.

Course 3 started at the top of a grassy hill with a few small jumps. Then down a skinny off camber single track that required precise steering. A big left switchback and speed check into a wood bridge that carried you up and then quickly down into a loose super fast creek line. Down the creek line there were a few wooden bridges that you had to roll over with various step down and hip jumps. This trail was fast but not a full DH track like trails 1 and 2. Getting down the trail you ride through a huge drainage pipe and air out on the other side. At the bottom there was a small hill climb maybe 100' and then down through a really loose section of fire road then onto the finish. Definitively more pedaling on course 3 which I felt would be to my advantage.

We hit coarse 3 again on practice day and I felt like I was getting up to speed pretty well on the coarse.

Course 4 was a completely different animal. It was all pedaling like the whole way down. Bombing down a single track on the gas. There was one gap jump at the top that you had to hit fast and when I hit it the first time I was not nearly going fast enough and cased the landing and almost crashed.  After that you were on the gas hard. At the bottom the trail intersects with a fire road and then continues up a little hill where there was a nasty little off camber section. Other than that coarse 4 was all about fitness.

When race day came I got up early to pre-ride courses 1 and 2 again. At the top of 1 I still didn't hit the big step down but I felt like I had dialed in my lines pretty well and got through the loose sandy berms at maximum speed which seemed to carry me through. I was as ready as I was going to be for the day.

Onto the race on my first time down coarse one I slipped a pedal and had an issue getting back in at the top which cost me some time but I hit all the jumps and the step down no problem and felt pretty good.  Run two was down coarse two and I rode it well and didn't crash. Back up to the top to hit coarse one again and I knew that I could clear the step down and I had to really go hard. Came through the jump line and over shifted, throwing my chain off before the step down. I had to go around the step down but luckily was able to shift my chain on and get on the gas for the rest of the run. My second run down course one was one second slower than my first.

Back to the top for my second run down course two, then a break for lunch. I was pinned down course two the second time and shaved like 5 seconds off my first run so I was really happy with that.

A two hour break for lunch and then up the hill for course three. I was nervous at the start but I hammered hard and had a clean run with no issues. Ryan G started ahead of me 30 seconds and I was closing in at the finish so I felt like it was a fast run. After the run I found out he crashed twice.

Course three was in the bag.  All I had to do at that point was give it my all for #4.

Back to the top for my last run of the day.  I was on the gas out of the gate and didn't stop pedaling until I got to the finish. I easily cleaned the gap jump on the top and pushed hard through the off camber at the bottom. I got a little sketchy at the bottom but held onto it and gave it everything I had to the finish. My heart literally felt like it was going to pop out of my chest for a bit after the finish.

This was my first enduro race and it was so much fun. At the end of the day I took the win in Cat 2. I was two tenths of a second in front of the guy in second place. I'm looking forward to more enduro and XC racing this season. The next race for me is Boggs next weekend. Back to training Monday and then a little taper before the event.

[shiloh]

way to go, sounds like a fun race.