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Multi Stage Enduro Races

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
So I've gotten myself and endurer, my midlife crisis is just around the corner and multi stage races seem tempting.

Is there a directory or a way to find all of them?
I know Madeira, Azores have them. I know the Trans Provence people are running something new. Is there anything else?
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Ahem.

Depending on your travel and time budgets, anything Megan Rose organises is always awesome. She runs the Trans BC, Trans NZ and Trans Tas. The NZ is the fun one, at least in the Type 1 kind of fun way. The BC is waaaay harder both physically and technically so its more Type 2, although the trails are rad and you'll froth them if you're into steep and techy. NZ tends to be more flow, but there's still plenty of tougher bits. Trans Tas is somewhere in the middle. As a bonus, I believe hers are the only Trans events with hotel/lodge accomodation vs camping in tents for the rest.


Trans Madeira is well awesome too, the primary technical aspect of the trails is they're bloody slippery but there's still plenty of roots and rocks and fuckloads of twisty corners. Very cool relaxed vibe, super friendly people and its an awesome place to visit. Much recommended..


Thats all the ones I've done, but here's the others off the top off my head.

Trans Savoie - Europe somewhere https://trans-savoie.com/
Stone King Rally - the new Trans Provence. Looks pretty mental physically https://stonekingrally.org/
Kingdom Enduro - run in Lesotho, Africa.
Trans Sierra Norte - Oaxaca Mexico, Looks great - might be my next one https://www.transierranorte.com/
Trans Cascadia - PNW, Oregon somewhere? Looks cool, but pricey https://trans-cascadia.com/
Andes Pacifico - run in Chile. Looks harsh - exposed and super high altitude (4000m+) so hard to train for https://andespacificoenduro.com/
Ocean Sierra - run on the Mexican coast somewhere. Looks fun https://oceansierra.com/
Trans Varaita - run in Italy https://www.transvaraitabike.com/
Trans Atlantis - run in the Azores, Portugal https://www.transatlantisrace.com/

Chiang Mai International - not a Trans but a 4 day (2 practice, 2 race) run in Northern Thailand. Cheap and those trails are awesome. Very keen for that one, when its run again. http://www.internationalchiangmaienduro.com/
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Pinkbike podcast had a good story on the Stone King Rally and I know I'm not doing it anytime soon.

Also holy fuck thanks for the list.
 

rideit

Bob the Builder
Aug 24, 2004
23,055
11,298
In the cleavage of the Tetons
I’m doing Trans Sierra Norte this year, and I’m terrified. But I’m old.
I rode most of the Trans Oceano this spring, and it was the real deal.
Super hard trails, especially at speed.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
How is your fitness level? We haven't seen any fancy charts of you fucking your powermeter in the other thread. :D
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
You talking to me, or Norbar?
I don’t have a power meter, or anything. I’m just hoping to finish in one piece.
Everyone knows I've had a break from biking so I assume it's you. My fitness level is I will pull my back just from standing too fast. Only did running for 2 years.

Still no reason to be afraid. Just embrace the pain.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
theres also the BC bike race (separate from the Trans BC Enduro I think), and the Trans-Cascadia, on the US West coast...
The BC Bike Race is a multi-day marathon XC event, not enduro stages. Still looks like awesome riding though

I’m doing Trans Sierra Norte this year, and I’m terrified. But I’m old.
Report back please. I'm super interested in that one. I'm actually a bit nervous about security and crime situation there. The only guy I know that has done it so far said it wasn't a place you'd want to travel if you didn't have to.

Super hard trails, especially at speed.
Riding trails blind adds a huge amount of spice in a lot of regards, but its also amazing what you can get away with when you've realised too late what you're about to do.

Still no reason to be afraid. Just embrace the pain.
I forgot to mention, the great thing about the Trans events is untimed liasons/no stage start times. As long as you don't fuck about, you can walk the pinchy/hard climbs if you really want and you'd still get through the days ok provided you don't dilly-dally.

If you're not super keen on blind racing, all the EWS events now have the EWS100 and EWS80 categories as well. They have untimed liasons and no fixed stage start times so you can pretty easily get through them riding with friends and just getting sendy on the stages.

I'd recommend training a bit if you can, just because you'll enjoy yourself more if you're not suffering physically. You're doing it for fun after all so the training doesn't need to be super serious - just enough to make sure you're good for a few big days out in a row.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Re. Training - going back to the gym after I finish watching the billion of films my friend has sent me for her festival selection. I feel the main issue is making my back stronger. If that doesn't collapse I will be good.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Re. Training - going back to the gym after I finish watching the billion of films my friend has sent me for her festival selection. I feel the main issue is making my back stronger. If that doesn't collapse I will be good.
I didn't do any gym stuff, just a mix of XC and Enduro riding mixed up with jogging and gravel bike spins for light intensity.

I've just joined a gym two weeks (yeah great thinking toodles - after 20+ years of racing, NOW you start considering training) but I think that would be a whole separate thread on actually training for bikes.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I didn't do any gym stuff, just a mix of XC and Enduro riding mixed up with jogging and gravel bike spins for light intensity.

I've just joined a gym two weeks (yeah great thinking toodles - after 20+ years of racing, NOW you start considering training) but I think that would be a whole separate thread on actually training for bikes.
I have had some gym experience from the good old days of training for DH Racing only to spend whole seasons crashing in every race. So I'm good here. My main need to train is to offset the idiocy that was 2 years of home office and working from the couch. My back muscles are done. I run 3-7 days a week so the cardio is ok.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
What really has been making me curious is look for trails in Romanian Karpaty. Those are some pretty big mountains and with all the bears roaming there BC people should feel at home.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
I only do it because I didn't have enough time and it's the fastest way to do some cardio. Plus usually before I remember I hate running I am already moving.
I started running/jogging back when I broke my hand the first time. Lost shit loads of weight and when I got back onto the bike the change was amazing. Broke the hand/finger again and started jogging again to offset the beers and same result. Ended up doing a few half marathons (slowly) while I was getting the hand surgeries sorted. Trying to keep short jogs going to some extent now just for the health benefits, plus its a good way to clear the grey matter.

This thread is giving me lots of expensive ideas. I’ve been wanting to dabble in this too.
It's an expensive addiction, but worth it. I've seen so much more stuff doing these races than I would ever have found doing holidays exploring on my own. Racing blind is a whole new of challenges as well.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I started running/jogging back when I broke my hand the first time. Lost shit loads of weight and when I got back onto the bike the change was amazing. Broke the hand/finger again and started jogging again to offset the beers and same result. Ended up doing a few half marathons (slowly) while I was getting the hand surgeries sorted. Trying to keep short jogs going to some extent now just for the health benefits, plus its a good way to clear the grey matter.
I use runs to catch up on industry podcasts I follow. Keeps me up to date while training. Want to try some half marathons soon too. As long as I'm not a triathlon bro I'm fine
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Wife and I did it in 2016, wouldn't do it again.
Why not? Not your cup of tea? Bad vibe or something? The video coverage I've seen makes me not wanna do it, but the pictures of the trails show some really nice stuff even if they are cherry-picking a bit.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,062
Why not? Not your cup of tea? Bad vibe or something? The video coverage I've seen makes me not wanna do it, but the pictures of the trails show some really nice stuff even if they are cherry-picking a bit.
Logistically you spend a lot of time waiting around, e.g. for transfers to actually happen.

Unless you're at the pointy end, the fruity bits of trail will have joeys walking down them in your way.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Unless you're at the pointy end, the fruity bits of trail will have joeys walking down them in your way.
Fair point. I'm a crappy climber and my "XC bike" is basically a mini-enduro so I spend most XC events getting passed on the climbs and then annoyed on the descents.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
the fruity bits of trail will have joeys walking down them in your way.
Back in the early 90s when I last raced (mid pack) XC I used to refer to those guys as "skittles". As re-passing them and knocking a few over or riding their wheel until they crashed was inevitable on pretty much every descent. Most of the worst offenders tended to weigh 6st so they weren't exactly going to protest when re-pasing you on the next fireroad climb.
I always thought XC riders deserved to get a time penalty if they walked/ran a section or held up faster riders (up or down). And a DQ if making up places by running past a bottleneck.
Scottish XC tracks were actually fairly technically challenging back then (similar level to much of the tweed EWS) so it was a good days riding but thank fuck when DH racing kicked off around '94.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
I always thought XC riders deserved to get a time penalty if they walked/ran a section or held up faster riders (up or down). And a DQ if making up places by running past a bottleneck.
I got mega frustrated when one race organiser told us all that anyone walking the A line on the climb would be sent back to do the B line, but when asked about the A/B split on the descent said he didn't mind people walking down the A line...
 

two-one

Monkey
Dec 15, 2013
155
138
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
In Europe you can also add the Enduro2 ones, which are more lift assisted. I did the one in les Arcs in 2019, and there was a lot of waiting for the stages, i never liked that.

This summer my buddies and I actually recreated the route of the Trans-Provence 2019. We hired a driver, a big van and a trailer, and went hotel-to-hotel for 6 days.
It was a great experience, but I learnt that I wouldn't want to race those stages... nature had taken its toll in those 3 years since it was organized, due to plant growth and landslides. I'm used to slowspeed techtrails, but when all the plants are pushing you over the edge of 300 feet of exposure, you tend to want to slow down a little.
So what we ended up with was a solid 6 days of full days on a bike in alpine terrain, and that... that's what it's all about!
IMG-20220627-WA0009.jpgIMG_20220626_140138.jpgIMG-20220706-WA0008.jpg
 

Olga_icannot

Chimp
Aug 16, 2014
41
37
Seattle
I just got back from doing Trans BC. Most of the trails we rode were awesome: steep, fast, and challenging. Any jump with a gap was ribboned off which made me a little sad because there were some good looking jumps we had to ride around and it seemed a little silly since there were definitely some hucks and potentially dangerous exposure that weren't blocked off. A few trails were meh but every trail system has them and sometimes they're necessary to get from one rad trail to the next.

Riding trails blind adds a huge amount of spice in a lot of regards, but its also amazing what you can get away with when you've realised too late what you're about to do.
This is so true. My riding buddy rode soooooo much stuff that I know in other circumstances he definitely would have walked.

We definitely did a lot of climbing but it was manageable-I think my longest day about 5 hours on the bike? We did get lost once but most people didn't get lost so I blame myself more than the course markings. There was also a fair bit of waiting around-either at the start of the timed stages, for shuttles, or for folks who just stop in the middle of the trail for no apparent reason.

The logistics were pretty well thought out and handled. Communication from the organizer was generally good. Sometimes it wasn't clear what the plan was for the next day until the night before, but I'm fine with that. I know other people would have preferred more notice about stage changes/transportation logistics but I was there have fun so I just went with the flow. I definitely appreciate that we had hotel rooms every night-a real shower and a real bed every day made the whole thing more enjoyable for this 46 year old, mid pack "racer."

Would I do it again? Hmmm. Every time I do any sort of organized event I realize I'm not the target market. Or maybe I'm an ass? Either way, for the amount of money my friends and I spent to participate we could have easily pooled that money and gone on a rad bike riding vacation that would have involved more riding, less waiting, and fewer people I had no interest in hanging out with. Especially the people in nearly every stage that would stop (or slow to a crawl) at the crux move in the tech sections. After the first day I realized I needed to suffer on climbs so I could stick with the faster folks instead of getting stuck with the folks who were poking along on the downhills (but going my speed on the climbs).

Also, thanks a lot to the So-Cal bro asshole that refused to* didn't leave the event on day four even though you clearly had COVID at that point and your flat-bill buddies for not peer pressuring you into staying in your room. I can't say for sure you gave me COVID, but I got COVID three days after you started hacking and sneezing your way through meals and stages.

*edited to note that I don't know if this guy refused to leave (i.e. was asked to leave and didn't) or just elected stay even though he appeared to be sick.
rossland.jpg

ABrand.jpg

Castlegar.jpg
 
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canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,190
19,156
Canaderp
I just got back from doing Trans BC. Most of the trails we rode were awesome: steep, fast, and challenging. Any jump with a gap was ribboned off which made me a little sad because there were some good looking jumps we had to ride around and it seemed a little silly since there were definitely some hucks and potentially dangerous exposure that weren't blocked off. A few trails were meh but every trail system has them and sometimes they're necessary to get from one rad trail to the next.



This is so true. My riding buddy rode soooooo much stuff that I know in other circumstances he definitely would have walked.

We definitely did a lot of climbing but it was manageable-I think my longest day about 5 hours on the bike? We did get lost once but most people didn't get lost so I blame myself more than the course markings. There was also a fair bit of waiting around-either at the start of the timed stages, for shuttles, or for folks who just stop in the middle of the trail for no apparent reason.

The logistics were pretty well thought out and handled. Communication from the organizer was generally good. Sometimes it wasn't clear what the plan was for the next day until the night before, but I'm fine with that. I know other people would have preferred more notice about stage changes/transportation logistics but I was there have fun so I just went with the flow. I definitely appreciate that we had hotel rooms every night-a real shower and a real bed every day made the whole thing more enjoyable for this 46 year old, mid pack "racer."

Would I do it again? Hmmm. Every time I do any sort of organized event I realize I'm not the target market. Or maybe I'm an ass? Either way, for the amount of money my friends and I spent to participate we could have easily pooled that money and gone on a rad bike riding vacation that would have involved more riding, less waiting, and fewer people I had no interest in hanging out with. Especially the people in nearly every stage that would stop (or slow to a crawl) at the crux move in the tech sections. After the first day I realized I needed to suffer on climbs so I could stick with the faster folks instead of getting stuck with the folks who were poking along on the downhills (but going my speed on the climbs).

Also, thanks a lot to the So-Cal bro asshole that refused to leave the event on day four even though you clearly had COVID at that point and your flat-bill buddies for not peer pressuring you into staying in your room. I can't say for sure you gave me COVID, but I got COVID three days after you started hacking and sneezing your way through meals and stages.

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Cool, looks like you had a good time.

How is your seat even attached to the post?
Surprised the organizers wouldn't just ask that person to leave or stay behind?
 

Olga_icannot

Chimp
Aug 16, 2014
41
37
Seattle
Cool, looks like you had a good time.
I forgot to mention; because of the low snow level the race spent an extra day riding in Castlegar and one less day in Nelson. The Nelson day that got cancelled was listed as "The Day of the Steeps." I was bummed to miss that day since everything we DID ride was steep, I can only imagine how steep the trails were that we missed if the organized felt that labeling them extra steep was necessary.

How is your seat even attached to the post?
By the rails :rimshot:

It's a 9.8 Fall Line with the offset head and the seat pushed all the way back on the rails. I'm not a fan of the stock 80* seat angle so I tried to slack it out as much as possible. It's still about 77* at my pedaling height.

Surprised the organizers wouldn't just ask that person to leave or stay behind?
Me too. I'm not sure how much power the organizer has to enforce such a request but it would have been nice.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
Also, thanks a lot to the So-Cal bro asshole that refused to leave the event on day four even though you clearly had COVID at that point and your flat-bill buddies for not peer pressuring you into staying in your room. I can't say for sure you gave me COVID, but I got COVID three days after you started hacking and sneezing your way through meals and stages.
Thats ridiculous. What a dickhead.

Did you do the day in Nelson where you ferry across to the steeps? That Jurgenmeister trail was a brake burner for sure.


*/edit* nevermind just saw this

I forgot to mention; because of the low snow level the race spent an extra day riding in Castlegar and one less day in Nelson. The Nelson day that got cancelled was listed as "The Day of the Steeps." I was bummed to miss that day since everything we DID ride was steep, I can only imagine how steep the trails were that we missed if the organized felt that labeling them extra steep was necessary.
That Jurgenmeister trail was pretty skitz steep. Every trail that day was but that one was long also. Drops 1000m in 2600m of trail.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
I'm not the target market. Or maybe I'm an ass? Either way, for the amount of money my friends and I spent to participate we could have easily pooled that money and gone on a rad bike riding vacation that would have involved more riding, less waiting, and fewer people I had no interest in hanging out with.
This times gazillion

Last month a good bunch of (younger) mates were all travelling to do an Enduro race in the North of Scotland and asked me to come along. I agreed on the premise I'd just be coming along for the banter, beers n riding and not racing. We headed up the day before and all rode the entire race route together (some good stages, some not so much but a good day out followed by food and much beer on my part). on race day my plan had been to just ride the same area as the others (there are other trails in the area) alone, spectate/heckle a bit and nurse my hangover. Except my mate actually got me an entry. Which meant getting up earlier to go out and ride the same route again. But this time with all of us in less of a group, surrounded by 350 others rushing to get to stage starts only to stand in long queues with these same folk I had little interest in being around. Especially hungover. I had a big crash on stage 3 (basically from just not knowing the track) then threw it after the next stage. Not because of the crash or massive time deficit. just at the thought of 2 more 900ft climbs to queue for the next stages. Stage 5 I actually enjoyed the day before. But the last stage was abysmal. We rode another area the next day but the ride was cut short as everyone except me was too tired.
It was a good long weekend away but it could have been so much better (and cheaper) without the racing.
 

6thElement

Schrodinger's Immigrant
Jul 29, 2008
15,827
13,062
Which is exactly what I would say about the BC Bike Race too. Just use the money for a guided trip.