Crankworx Enduro

So I'm thinking of racing it this year. To everyone on here that competed, what advice can you give? If you're racing it again what will you do differently this year? Any regrets? What numbers did your Strava/Garmin tell you at day's end in regards to meters climbed, Kilometers etc?

So I'm thinking of racing it this year. To everyone on here that competed, what advice can you give? If you're racing it again what will you do differently this year? Any regrets? What numbers did your Strava/Garmin tell you at day's end in regards to meters climbed, Kilometers etc?

ride lots, no seriously LOTS, leading up to the event, don't be afraid of tough climbs and challenging descents….be prepared to be self sufficient, regardless of what organizers tell you re. food/water. No denying that it was a long, hard day, you need to be able to still feel like you have strength left in the tank after 8 hours to pull off the final stage. I'd imagine things this coming year will shade more to 'balanced' (not all double black gnar) stages and slightly easier (longer) transitions, I'd be very surprised if the 2015 incarnation was as hard as last year….the heat really added a huge burden to many people, I think.

Be hard to add to what flip said.

So basically ride as much as possible and hope for the best lol.

Let's hope that we get mid pack.. F. Lets just hope we finish in one piece! Haha

I had some time off the bike leading up to the race and tried to ride it like I was Nimby fit and didn't even finish. Felt like a right wanker.

Pace yourself and finish strong!

Not that this is specific to Crankworx EWS but just good general enduro training.

Start building your base early, like yesterday. Knock out LOTS of early spring mileage at a low steady pace. Long days but not hard days and lots of them.

Add in your tempo work. Gradually build on your intervals.

Don't neglect those long steady mid/low intensity days.

By mid June you should be ramping up your intervals to max intensity. You're on the gas pretty hard in the long stages and the intervals are the training to make it happen.

Back off in mid/late July.

Generally I think many people neglect the base mileage at low intensity.

This race was easily the burliest/toughest race race day I've had on a bike. I finished but barely. What I found so tough about this race was the non-stop technicality, I had the worst arm pump I've ever had and stopped a few times during the fourth stage as I could not hold on. Upper body work and little bike park laps would be highly recommended. I have raced and completed all the previous Crankworx enduros along with many SeaToSky, Oregon, 4kings, and Island cup enduros and this one was tougher than all of them by miles. I can't imagine 2015 being as tough but time will tell. Register and commit!

This video is shot on the trails used for the first and second stages this year to give you an idea: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/max-horner-study-break-video-2015.html

What I found so tough about this race was the non-stop technicality, I had the worst arm pump I've ever had and stopped a few times during the fourth stage as I could not hold on.

yeah, i'm making a point of doing more (i.e., more than my typical nothing) upper body work this year. i had to ride way more conservatively on s4 than i would have liked, and was granny speed by s5 because i just couldn't hold on well enough to pin it. or perhaps my 26" wheels were to blame.

not lounging at the transitions is definitely a good call; i had no idea what my climb times would be like, so pretty much kept rolling though the finish gates to be on the safe side. i was in energy conservation mode on the climbs (and did a good bit of pushing on the steeper grades), but kept moving. i ended up at my starts w/ about 10mins to spare; not a huge margin, but adequate. just happy i didn't have any mechanical issues.

i added up about 58k of pedalling total, with 2442m climbing, and 3116m dh.

it was a long, hard day, but still one of the funnest events i did last year.

I didn't do it but a few of my friends did and there stats were close to 64+ km's and 3400m of elevation. Subtract a full chair ride to top of the world from those numbers and that is what you should expect. One friend in particular said that the hardest thing was the transfer stages. If you do your local enduro race and are used to untimed transfers, be prepared to have a clock on you at EWS. That and the fact he said the water/feed stations were few and far between and not well stocked. So what Flip said about being self-sufficient for a 7-8 hour day would be important. Good luck if you enter;)

It was the transitions that made the event tough for me. Steep, tough climbs with very little time to do them.

theteamrobot.blogspot.ca/2014/08/the-whistler-ews.html?m=1

Someone has other things to say. Is there any truth to this?

one man's opinion. yes, it was tough, but most of the am's i heard from thought it was a great event. given it was a world series race, i had no delusions that it wouldn't be a hard day in the saddle. the fact that a couple pros publicly criticized how tough the race was (sponsel [HTML_REMOVED] graves) was actually a bit surprising to me.

some people thought it was too much, a lot of people didn't.