Race Report | 80/20 Enduro Series, Oslo
The Northern lights aren’t the only reason to visit the vast wilderness of Norway… Five special stages and over 200 riders outlined why the 80/20 enduro series in Oslo was set to be a great shout. Stages one, three and five were incredibly hard with long pedaling and technical areas. Luckily, stages two and four were downhill orientated so hit and hope were definitely on the cards.
Stage one was a grand opening to the race, with a mixture between nice deep wood with several technical spots, plus some disgusting pedaling… Stage two was purely wild, open and fast so times were so gaped you couldn’t tell if someone had washed out or decided to just walk it, even though it was pretty short! Stage three started out with roots galore, getting deep and muddy with a lot of flat pedaling areas that pushed riders to the limit. Running or walking in the middle made it even harder. Yuck.
It seemed that we returned to the good old days for stage four with some really old style downhill. A mix of rocks, roots, jumps and turns made for great riding, but unfortunately I made a big mistake trying to push so hard that it cost me a top three finish and landed me in eighteenth place. After this, another hard climb to the top was on the cards for the last stage.
Stage five was another hard one with some switch backs on the start, then a gruesome two minutes of uphill and flat over rocks and roots. Absolutely killed me and I was totally dead after this part. Fortunately I managed to get to the bottom for my first top 20 on this series!
Coming up is the CG Fun Camps in Trysil Norway on 14th September, so I’m looking to dominate the trails when we come back here! Check out the CG Fun Camps and see what you think…they look absolutely insane!
Results
Women
1 – Stina Bondehagen
2 – Alice Grindheim
3 – Ida Hakonsson
4 – Joline Johansson
5 – Maria Kalnaes
Men
1 – Zakarias Blom
2 – Espen Johansen
3 – Jostein Hole
4 – Ole Christian
5 – Ove Grondal / Svenn Fjeldheim
Words & Photos: Jordi Bago
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