Ciucas Enduro

This was the second enduro race for me ever after the one from Oradea.

But the differences where huge. The terrain was totally different so the course was something else than I am used to.

I’ve arrived in Babarunca on Friday, with Claudiu. We went for a course check with a lot of other guys: Kicks, Mircea, Micky, Alex, Mihai, Simon, Cezar (and I hope I didn’t forgot someone). Was pretty cold but the fog and the wind made it a bit worse.

After more than an hour of climbing, a lot of it pushbike, we went on the first and second stage. The first stage was the most technical one: rockgardens, wet roots, muddy offcamber sections and so on. The second stage was super muddy and slippery so I had to be really careful. After a quick wash we went again uphill to check the last stage. This was the longest and the most physical demanding, but still technical: again a lot of rocks, mud and a bit of climbing.

My first concern was the safety. Having only some Conti X-King tires on a muddy and slippery course wasn’t the best alternative, was the only one so I’ve decided to use my Cratoni full face helmet and the Adidas ID2 googles. The choice was right, and you will see why.

Race day: sunny, warm, basically beautiful day for biking. I was in the same group with the guys from Baia Mare: Kicks, Mircea and Micky. For sure they are some amazing riders, coming from the gravity disciplines and having such a huge talent for going down the hill.

I was pretty scared on the first stage not to crash on the rocky and muddy trails so I’ve finished it almost 1 min behind the winner. It wasn’t the best start for me but at least I’ve managed to avoid a disaster. Second stage was a bit better even if I was skipping a lot on the mud with my tires. If the time wouldn’t have count the fun was massive ! Drifting all over the course at high speed is something that you don’t see every day. I had again a quick was of the bike, I’ve lubed the chain and went for the last stage. I’ve pushed as hard as possible, but I didn’t try to overpass my limits, I was just dreaming to finish the race one piece and it happened.

I’ve made a few mistakes, that overall can be fixed. I was happy to have my fullface and googles with me but for sure I need another pair of tires for this kind of conditions.

I’m glad that I had the chance to ride on the most technical course in Romania ever and I hope that we will have in the future more enduro events because there are superfun and it gets the best out of mountainbiking. Socializing more with other riders and having fun on the bike !

Overall I’ve finished 8th, aprox 2’30” behind the winner. I would like to congratulate all the riders that came at Ciucas Enduro for this even, to thank to my group riders (Kick, Mircea and Micky) for having a good time together – or at least I hope we had, to Claudiu for coming with me.

Last but not least I would like to thank once again to my family for the whole support and to all my sponsors for making this possible, it means a lot for me !

By the way, my Cannondale Trigger 29er was super fun and I think that I’ve discovered that the bike limits are a bit far than I previously knew. It rolls and turns super nice. The only upgrade that I would love to make is to switch to Lefty.

 Keep in touch and I promise more photos soon.

Cheers,

Vlad

Photo credits: Raluca P, David I., Octavian A, Larisa C.

Later edit: MORE PHOTOS