Racing the Big Mountain Enduro is not for the faint of heart or unprepared. But the rewards are so worth it. The climb is a grunt on Day 1 to access the start, which sits in about a remote setting as you can get. And for possibly the first time ever, Stage 2 used the Colorado Trail, which was closed to other users for this event only. Awesome. Day 2 presented the chunky technical goodness on trails Raider Ridge and Carbon Junction, practically in town, making for an early end, with cold beers waiting at Buckley Park.
Starting high above Durango, CO, miles from everything on Kennebec Pass, this installment of the Big Mountain Enduro race series is truly in a backcountry setting. It’s hard to get to the start, and it makes for a stunning location.The trail cuts through the mountainside, with lots of steep exposure to one side. If you can get through the mind game, there is great speed to be found.Anthony Diaz is a Durango local and knows these trails well. By the look on his face, he also is familiar with the pain of going fast at this altitude, above 11,600 feet.
Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski started off his summer race campaign in all the right ways, taking the victory in Durango. High elevation, high speeds, and the more pedaling the better, combine for a great recipe for JHK.Riding low in the travel and lower on course, much closer to town on Snake Charmer, Alex Petitdemange uses every bit of the MRP front suspension on his Yeti SB95.This BME race goes from high alpine to rugged, extremely rocky technical chunkiness over the weekend. A true bike and rider test.Not letting her husband get all the glory, Trek rider Heather Irmiger also came up huge in her first BME race, taking the win in Durango.Women’s Podium. Cait Dmtiriew ponders the champagne. 1.Irmiger 2.Dmitriew 3.Park 4.Rawley 5.Pavon.Men’s Podium 1.JHK 2.Hills 3.Osborne 4.Diaz 5.Franklin.
Words: Daniel Dunn Photos: Big Mountain Enduro/Nick Ontiveros
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