Thermal Enduro

When I’ve first heard about this event. I’ve told myself that I gotta try it. For me this was my first non cross-country race ever so I had to be prepared for everything.

I have arrived at Oradea on Saturday, with Claudiu C. and we went for a course check. Was pretty muddy and slippery, but I also think that I am getting a bit old, because on Sunday I couldn’t remember the complete track.

As I’ve expected the course was very technical demanding with a few switchbacks, slippery roots, off-camber sections, a few pedaling sections but also some jumps that aren’t seen in the XCO scene (but hey, this is enduro, right?)

At the start on Sunday were the best Romanian DH riders so the things couldn’t be easy at all. I knew that they are advantaged but I was ready to give everything.

Five stages were scheduled. I was nervous but confident. I was finishing 5th almost every stage, excluding one when I was 3rd and 11th on the last stage when I’ve crashed pretty bad. I was lucky with the knee pads and the new GripGrab gloves that saved my skin from nasty bruises. Overall I’ve finished on 5th position,  witch is a motivating result for the upcoming events.

My Cannondale Trigger 29er, which isn’t pink, performed really well, such a balanced bike with a great maneuverability and thanks to the big wheels rolling excellent. The Fox Dyad rear shock with the traction mode activated offered me confidence and more speed on the pedaling sections and the Rock Shox Reverb seat post, I think that is one of the best inventions after the suspension fork, disc brakes and tubeless system. It really helps you to be faster, but also to perform better in the technical section.

Although was super fun, having a lot of mixed feelings (relaxed but also nervous), I enjoyed the course a lot, the group of riders was totally different from an XCO/ Marathon race and for sure I want to repeat this experience at the next Romanian Enduro events, and why not maybe some international races.

Many thanks to my family for the whole support but also to my sponsors who made everything possible (you can see them in the right column).

The next race for me will be “Prima Evadare” the race with the biggest riders number in Romania (+2000). It will be a flat fast course that I am looking forward to participate for the first time. There you will be able to see my new racing outfit.

PS. looking forward to see more photos from Thermal Enduro.

Cheers,

Vlad

photo credits: Alexandra Kaschuta, Monica Hansen