The 2019 Island Cup enduro race series has drawn to a close. Starting back on March 31st (my birthday) and running until Sept 29 makes for a long season. 8 race in total, and I managed to compete in 6 of them. Some races went better than others, but overall I feel like I progressed a lot through the season. During yesterdays race I felt like my speed was pretty decent, and my cornering was the best I’ve done all year, and these are two things I’ve worked on a lot through the summer.

I’m still not as fast, nor as fit as the 20 somethings that are also in my category, but I think I hold my own against the other 40+ guys.

Bear Mountain

49/50 (0 points)

This was the one race all year that I trained the most for. Sadly it was all for nothing since I flatted on the second stage (Bearback). That killed my time despite a very quickly tube install. I managed to slice the sidewall of the front tire halfway down the trail, and could only watch as three separate racers passed me while I was fixing it.

Nanaimo

38/50 (0 points)

This race was a doozy. Super hot, lots of climbing, and some killer trails. I was pretty nervous on Meat Draw, having had several people mention how hard it was, and seeing some pretty bad crashes right off the start. I took it super easy since I was riding it blind. I ended up having to stop in front of the last drop, then run back up the trail to get a roll into it.

For the rest of the day, the heat sapped my energy and by the third and fourth stage I was pretty cooked. Fun DH sections, but killer climbs.

Hammerfest

20/39 (240 points)

I had managed to pre-ride this course last year, and a couple weeks before the race. No big changes, but lots of fun.

Tzouhalem

29/36 (150 points)

No pre-ride, but I had ridden the same course the previous year. It is a fast, fast, fast course. I like speed, but even this was too much for me. On some of the straight aways I found myself tapping the brakes when I should have been fully pinned.

Cumberland

33/41 (0 points)

Another big day on the bike. Long climb to the top of stage 1, followed by an hour wait for the first racing stage. It was another race I was doing blind, but my buddy and I had the inside scoop from a local. Deciphing the text message while waiting for our race run was interesting.

Stage 1 was long and technical. Steep, loose sections with rocky bits, and some uphill. I crashed on this stage, but only managed to coat myself in dust.

Stage 2 was another difficult one, but the rest of the stages were really fun and flowy.

Maple Mountain

16/24 (280 points)

I did manage to pre-ride this course (for the most part) the week before, which was a blessing. Knowing that all the rocks and steeps were rollable, there were some big hills, and that the final stage was nasty we’re all good things. Come race day, things went pretty well despite my bike barely holding together (tire kept losing pressure, front brake was acting up, seat post needs to be bled, and my chain guide got mangled and was rubbing my tire. The first stage was a lung buster with a large uphill in the middle. Stage 2 was decent, but stage 3 was a lot of fun. The final stage has a long section I ended up having to run.

Overall

34/127 (670 points)

I’m super happy with this placing in the overall season. I had a couple crashes during the races, but no major injuries and no race ending mechanicals (though the Bear Mountain one could be considered race ending). I managed to get to a lot of the races only missing Mt Washington, and the Pro City race at the dump. I’m not sure what next year will hold either. It’s been fun, but the race series takes up a lot of weekends.