It's Good To Do Something Different...
Enduro mountain biking... full suspension bikes hammering down dry and dusty trails, body armour on, handlebars vibrating like a jackhammer, gravel spraying out at the corners and a huge grin spreading across your face... It's good to do something different.
This week I was in Provence with Hutchinson Tyres riding 'Enduro' on their new tyre range; it was a great laugh.
I'm not going to lie, there were times when I was scared out of my skin, times when I lost it and crashed out (leaving me with a sprained wrist and some minor cuts), times when I really wasn't sure why I was doing it instead of riding XC or road back at home. There were those times, but most of the time I was loving the change, loving the dry trails, loving the gravel slides and the whooping berms, and generally loving the experience of staying with a team of enthusiastic bikers in a French Gite for a few days. It was great fun.
I can see why Enduro has been such a huge hit; it requires a huge amount of skill as well as a lot of fitness. We were getting shuttled up to the top of the mountain at the end of each run, but in true Enduro you would be riding up and racing down. An afternoon of riding was enough to shatter me, a long race must be a real effort.
Enduro style riding in the UK is very different of course, and I don't see myself giving up road or XC in favour of it that soon, as UK Enduro is far more mud and tedious climbs than the gravel and warmth of Provence. That said, it does make me want to get a full suss mountain bike, and get out and do some more adventurous offroad riding. It's very refreshing to do something different, and it has left me wanting more...
(More photos coming soon)
(More photos coming soon)
Hutchinson Polygon Team Bikes |
I didn't do this drop, I bailed. But this is the kind of thing... |
The new Hutchinson Toro was one of the tyres we were testing |
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