TSEpic Stage 3: Enduro (can we do this every day?)

Today’s enduro brought us away from camp to nearby Tussey Mountain Ski area, and everyone seemed super relaxed.

We had a really relaxed neutral start where we had 15 minutes to get out on our way, and everyone rolled out a very leisurely pace. Most of the day’s climbs were done in the granny gear and for good reason – today was all about recovery (despite the 4k feet of climbing).

When doing the enduro, you must wear baggies.
And riding a sick FS Kona helps make it fun.

There were 5 enduro segments throughout the day. The first two were pretty short while the 3^rd was long enough to light my hands on fire with friction, and the final two were more steep and rocky. All were awesome.

Despite all of the climbing, I finished the 5^th segment smiling from ear to ear, feeling completely refreshed and rejuvenated (a quick soak in the frigid stream at the base of the mountain might have helped too). Plus, I got off the mountain in just the nick of time – a huge scary storm was looming on the horizon, and shit went crazy pretty quickly. 

While I managed to escape today’s racing unscathed, one of my Canadian lodge-mates didn’t fair so well. Kaarin was wearing the leader’s jersey for the enduro today when she went down hard in a corner, breaking her ankle and putting her out of the race (“Mountain bikers, eh?”). I’m so bummed for her. She’s an incredible rider and an awesome woman – truly inspirational. Latest word is that she’ll be getting flown back home for surgery.

Matt from MTBracenews.com
And the epic line of people waiting to swipe in on enduro

segment numero uno.

I’m sure there were other casualties (bike parts, body parts, and what have you), but I don’t know of any others for certain except the guy from Panama I spent a lot of time riding with who somehow went headfirst into a tree (he is okay – just a little sore). I really enjoyed him and his friend today – they were fun company. 

I also spent some time riding with the young and talented, Emily Shields.  She’s only been mountain biking for 2 years now, but she can shred. And at only 20 years old, she’s got an impressive resume of bicycle racing. She’ll be one to  

keep an eye on in upcoming years.

As for results, it’s kind of up in the air at the moment. Our results were posted, and then, apparently there was an epic number of protests. Basically, what I’m about to tell you could be totally wrong. As of pre-protest, I was 10^th for today’s stage and 5^th for the week’s overall enduro score. I have no idea where I stand overall at this point, but I expect that everything will be listed on the website by morning. 

Tomorrow’s stage?  Coburn.  It’s the roadie stage, and I’m not super excited about it. 

My Kona Hei Hei Supreme ready for the 5th and final
enduro segment of the day - the rockiest one yet.