For the first time in two decades of racing bikes I put some beefy tires on my Kona Hei Hei CR DL and took part in an Enduro Race! The Enduro Ratnange near Everest in Nepal.
During the Pandemic I lucked out and was stuck for four months in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal. Having explored it extensively, it’s certainly one of the best spots in Asia for XC and Enduro riding. The trails are everywhere, high altitude, great culture, fresh food, friendly locals, and as of recently the newly formed Phaplu Mountain Bike Club has been putting work into the trails and mapping them out.
Getting a chance to race the trails that we cleared and rode for months back in 2020 was something I didn’t want to miss!
After two days of pre-riding, the bike, and body felt pretty good, finishing 4th-7th on the first 3 stages of the race. On day two, I made some adjustments to the bike (tire and suspension pressure), gained some confidence, and finished third on each of the final three stages behind two of Southeast Asia’s best, Rajesh Magar and Chris Keeling. After six stages (43 minutes) of racing, I’d come in fourth overall, a mere 9 seconds off of third. Pretty stoked about that for my first go at Enduro, and it should provide a good boost to the descending skills for BCBR in July.
Definitely looking forward to trying some more Enduro in the future but for now it’s back to regular programming. On deck is some gravel racing on Vancouver Island and Unbound XL coming up late May and early June.
Over and out from the Solukhumbu!
