EWS Survival Game | The Top Female Riders Racing as Privateers
In 2014 the Enduro World Series visited 7 different countries spread out over 3 continents over a 7 month long race season. From the outside the EWS riders seem to live the professional dream. Travelling the world, enjoying constant adventures, exploring and racing in new places on some of the best trails that exist, and all this as a job!
Of course it’s an exciting life but don’t be fooled by fun Instagram pictures and cool videos, it’s not all smooth sailing. Race courses were designed to push riders more than ever before requiring high levels of technical skill, endurance fitness and sprinting power so that even to complete a course required a huge amount of training and commitment. With each event taking place over 4 days and always in a different country, the organisation and travelling time is also not to be underestimated. Then there is money to consider, travelling around the world to get to races is not cheap, neither are enduro race bikes or the amount of equipment needed over a year of hard racing or the time needed to keep them in top performance condition.
Considering all that it sounds like it would be impossible to be able to race these events competitively unless you’re a full time pro with a nice sponsorship deal, a team to organise and pay for your trips, a mechanic to fix you bikes and enough funding to allow you to spend all day training for the racing rather than working. For the men this is probably the case for at least the top 20 riders, but unfortunately for the women funding is far more limited and there are very few riders who have this luxury. Some of the top riders are forced to struggle to make ends meet, juggling issues of time and funding in order to be able to compete in whatever races they can manage. Every rider has a different story, with everything from full-time vets and engineers to season workers and students managing the seemingly impossible to work, compete as privateers and achieve top results. We chatted to a few of them to find out how they survive.
Caro & Anita Gehrig
Where you are from? In Frasnacht, Switzerland
Where you are based? In Flims, Switzerland
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? Anita 7th and 6th overall, Caro 11th and 11th overall
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? Anita 7 rounds and Caro 6, having to miss one because of injury
Your Teams and Sponsors?: Our Team is the 2014 Specialized Twins Racing, Sponsors are
Specialized, Zimtstern, SRAM, Mavic, Flims, IXS, Red Bull, Oakley, Dakine, X-Bionic, Crankbrothers, Polar and Winforce
Do you have an ‘other’ job or how do you fund your racing?
All our racing and travels are funded by our sponsors. We have to work in the winter months to fund our fix costs like rent, insurance and so on. Anita works in a bikeshop in Flims and at the weekends behind the bar in a club. Caro works at Hotel Riderspalace and taking care of the artists and events in the club.
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it?
Not being on a big team means we have to organize everything ourselves. This is can be really time consuming office work, booking all the flights, writing articles, taking care of sponsors amongst other things. This is also cool because it means we’re pretty independent and can decide ourselves what projects and events we’re going to take on. As our budget is not so big we try to keep our costs while travelling as low as possible. We drive to the events with our van and often sleep in there or else crash a couch of friends. A bit of a gypsy lifestyle is involved for sure, otherwise we could not afford to travel the world with our bikes. We love it the way it is right now, totally enjoying it!
Anka Martin
Where you are from? Cape Town, South Africa
Where you are based? In Nelson, New Zealand & a van in Europe for 5 or 6 months of the year.
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? 9th overall for the 2013 EWS Season, 12th overall for 2014 season (missed a round with a bum ankle) and best result for an EWS race was 7th at Val D’Isere, France.
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? All of them except for Scotland due to injury
Your Teams and Sponsors? Juliana Bicycles & SRAM
Do you have an ‘other’ job or how do you fund your racing? We have a mtb guiding company in New Zealand, so we do that in the off season and I do a lot of women’s clinics and coaching. I help my husband with his photography business, write for a few magazines here and there and then I also work as a mtb guide when I’m based in Europe in-between races.
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it?
The hardest part is being away from home for 5-6 months at a time, living out of a bag. It is fun, and it is our choice to live like this, but it does get old pretty quickly. We cannot fly back and forth from NZ, it’s just too expensive, but it’s also pretty amazing to be able to live like a nomad for a part of the year – I wouldn’t want to change it for anything. I guess I’ve been living and doing this for many years, so I’m used to it and I’m used to always being broke. I do this because it’s my choice and my passion. I love it, but it’s definitely not as jet setting and glamorous as most people think this lifestyle is.
Lorraine Truong
Where you are from? Switzerland
Where you are based? Val-de-Travers, north west of Switzerland.
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? 6th / 16th.
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? Four out of seven. Chile and Colorado were too expensive and I was injured for Finale.
Your Teams and Sponsors? No team. Sponsored by Norco, Leysin-Oxygène des Alpes, Fox, DZR shoes and Bliss protection.
Do you have an ‘other’ job or how do you fund your racing? This year was the end of my engineering studies. I spent half of the year studying and the other half working. My parents were paid for my living and I funded my racing with sponsors, local help (club, region) and the money I earned.
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it? My biggest problem was time. With a 100% job-study there is little time left for training, race and travel organisation, work on the bikes, etc. Recovery really is an issue. For instance if my fork needed a service I had to skip a training or some recovery hours. I sometimes had to wake up at 4:30 to train before going to work. How did I deal with it? I survived, hahaha. No I felt I was at 150% all the time. If I crashed badly at the end of the season it was probably not for nothing…my body and mind simply couldn’t stand the rhythm anymore.
Meggie Bichard
Where you are from? Guernsey, UK.
Where you are based? Nelson, New Zealand.
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? 2x 7th place.
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? Only 3 rounds due to lack of time off work.
Your Teams and Sponsors? No team. Sponsored by Specialized NZ, Coppins, Loveday Clinic, Sports Therapy and MTB skills Clinic.
Do you have an ‘other’ job or how do you fund your racing? I’m working as a full time veterinarian.
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it? I was lucky enough to get 8 weeks off work last year, but I wouldn’t be able to continue doing that. I am now working as a locum so I can be more flexible but I’m already having to work more than I had hoped this off season so that I can support my racing next year. Being based in NZ I’m finding it hard to get much support so I will be racing as a privateer again next year and will just do as many of the EWS rounds and other standout enduro events as I can manage.
Rosara Joseph
Where you are from? New Zealand.
Where you are based? Currently of no fixed abode!
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? 5th places at the Winter Park and Whistler rounds, 7th overall.
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? I raced all but the Chile round. It was too expensive for me to travel to that round, and I was also working in New Zealand at the time.
Your Teams and Sponsors?: Yeti Fox Shox Factory Team.
Do you have an ‘other’ job or how do you fund your racing? I’ve worked as a lawyer during the last few NZ summers, which helps fund my racing.
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it? I’ve really loved being a part of the EWS race circuit the past two seasons. We’ve ridden and raced in such stunningly beautiful places, on amazing tracks, and with a huge crew of fun people. But unfortunately I’m not going to be able to continue racing the EWS next year, because it’s just too hard for me to continue paying for my own travel and racing expenses as I have the past two seasons and to not be earning any money during the race season. I’ve done it for the love, and had a great time along the way, but it’s come to the stage where it’s just too hard to keep going. I’m sad, especially because I put a lot of energy into racing and into trying to find decent support, but it just didn’t work out.
Katy Winton
Where you are from? Scotland.
Where you are based? At the Scottish Borders.
What is your best EWS result and your final ranking? 8th Val d’Isere 2013; 10th Overall 2014 World Rankings.
How many EWS rounds did you race in 2014? 6 out of 7. I didn’t make it to Round One in Chile. After breaking my wrist in Finale the last year to still be out with it and miss the first round of the season was heart breaking! My plan was to do all the rounds to reach my goal of achieving a top 10 overall result, so I was on a mission the rest of the season to do this!
Your Teams and Sponsors? Pivot Morvelo Enduro Racing with Sweet Protection, Hope Technology, Scottoiler UBS, Spy optics, AllMountainStyle and Maxxis Tyres
What do you find most difficult about juggling funding, racing, traveling and life? How do you deal with it? Last year to fund my racing I worked in a cafe, looked after children as a childminder and was a part of Winning in Scotland’s “Champions in Schools” Program giving talks in schools. With all of this alongside help from my family (that I am hugely grateful for and lucky to have!) I managed to afford the 2014 season. Without them I wouldn’t have made it to all the races, I chose this path leaving school at 16 to pursue my dream to be a professional cyclist – it is a credit to my family for supporting me 100% in my dream!
The commitment, determination and passion for the sport is impressive and may make you think twice about thinking that you don’t have enough time or money to train and race, but it’s a real shame that the difference in funding between men and women in Enduro seems to be following a trend set by the more established forms of cycle racing. In 2014 there was a close and exciting battle between the top 3 or 4 women in the EWS, but without more funding opportunities it will be difficult for more riders to step up and join this battle for podium spots as was seen in the men’s this year. As a new and emerging sport, which has already made a statement of equality in terms of the race courses themselves, could there be a way for Enduro to set a new precedent for improved gender equality in athlete funding?
Text: Cait Elliot Photos: Philipp Ruggli, Sven Martin, Matteo Cappe, Ben Moulam
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