First, let’s take a closer look at those untimed transfer stages. They come in a few different flavors, but they are all meant to bridge the gap between the bottom of the previous stage to the top of the next stage. This could mean pedaling up the hill, coasting down the hill, taking a chairlift up, or, if you’re lucky, the next stage starts right where the last one ended. Even though these are untimed sections of the race, some races will have cut-off times, which is a maximum amount of time you are given to complete the transfer stage. These are usually reserved for the highest caliber of races, such as the Enduro World Series, and most local races are pretty lenient in the amount of time you can take. The most common type of transfer is simply pedaling back up the hill, and is an element of every proper enduro race. Lots of races are hosted at bike parks, which will often have their ski lifts modified to accept bikes during the summer months, so sometimes you get the luxury of a lift to the top. Most bike park races that are hosted at bike parks have some pedal transfers and some lift transfers because usually the lifts don’t go to the top of each of the stages. But once you get to the top of the stage, that’s when the fun begins.

"They come in a few different flavors, but they are all meant to bridge the gap between the bottom of the previous stage to the top of the next stage."

    The timed stages are primarily downhill and the real reason why we put up with the transfers. There can be a huge variation in the difficulty of trails raced, ranging from borderline cross country trails to full on downhill tracks. On those cross country trails with lots of pedaling, physical fitness plays a huge role in who comes out on top, while the winners on gnarly downhill tracks are determined by their technical skills on the bike. The nature of tracks that get raced depend entirely on the trail system that the race is being hosted on, which can be anywhere from a local hill with a few fun trails to the biggest bike parks in the world, like Whistler or Queenstown.

    On the day before the race, there will be a practice day where riders will practice each of the stages one time, taking their time to pick the fastest lines. Part of the nature of enduro is not memorizing every part of the track, and being forced to think on your feet come race day. Lots of riders will record their practice runs on helmet cams to review that night, but it’s almost impossible to really memorize all the tracks.

"On those cross country trails with lots of pedaling, physical fitness plays a huge role in who comes out on top, while the winners on gnarly downhill tracks are determined by their technical skills on the bike."

    I think the main factor is how capable modern enduro bikes have become. To ride burly trails the way we really want to, you used to need to shuttle with downhill bikes, but now we can just pedal our efficient trail bikes to the top and still enjoy all the technical trail features. And most people are more interested in a race that’s similar to the kind of riding they do back at home. Also, compared to racing downhill where you only get one 5 minute race run, you get to spend all day out on your bike at an enduro race, with total race times sometimes getting close to the hour mark. One of my favorite aspects of enduro races is that they typically have a more laid back atmosphere than a downhill or cross country race where everyone is hyper focused on results. While there is definitely still that competitive spirit in enduro while racing against each other down the hill, it just feels like another bike ride when cruising back up the transfer stages with the other racers.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions about this new breed of mountain bike racing, and I hope you enjoyed this different style of post.

Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you next time!

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