Enduro is experiencing a very important relaunch; with numbers that have never been seen even in what many call 'the good old days'.
They are important appearances, which are good for the organizers and in general for the MTB movement; since this discipline is often associated with the cleaning of paths and the growth of a tourist and exploratory movement that has excellent economic repercussions.
However, a strong presence of competitive riders on the international scene does not correspond to this rediscovery of competitive spirit; a factor that led me to share some considerations with the experts, to imagine a path that allows us to change this trend.
Race = Sunday with friends
There is nothing wrong with interpreting a competition weekend as a moment to share the passion for MTB; provided, however, that this is done aware of one's limits and with awareness is a race not a trip with friends.
Race or bike Park?
So I come to the title of this article; many riders interpret the races as a normal Sunday between friends; arriving at competitions without adequate preparation, both physical and technical; often without knowing that maybe they are facing a national competition; an event that should have a degree of difficulty slightly below international events.
It is difficult to find the right balance, on the one hand there are the understandable economic needs of those organizing an event; organizing an enduro race has high costs and having many members allows you to cover the costs. On the other hand, there are also the needs of athletes, who would like to compete on routes that allow them to improve their condition; or as they say to 'raise the bar'. For those who live the competitive aspect, there is a strong need to create the conditions for a maturation of the system; that allows us to get out of the stalemate that sees us as excellent organizers of international events but poor in results
A tightrope walker challenge
The two worlds seem difficult to coexist; because the agonists need more technical courses, where the weekend warriors may not be at ease; thus deciding not to participate in the event. those who organize often find themselves faced with a difficult choice; Do I look at the numbers by proposing easy routes or do I help the competitive part to grow and propose PS that are in line with international standards?
How to do?
It seems like a vicious circle from which there is no escape. If we look at the World Cup of any specialty we realize that the difficulty level of the tracks has risen; thanks to the technological improvements of the vehicles, now we see obstacles in the xc that are difficult to find in our enduro races; with an increase in technicality moving towards gravity disciplines. Very often the paths of other nations follow this trend; proposing tracks that allow a growth of the competitive movement, leaving the task of entertaining everyone to the rallies or algi regional events.
It is an aspect to consider when organizing and should be taken into consideration above all by the federation; that among its tasks should also have that of enabling athletes to grow and compete at the highest levels.
Some have even made the cross country had a similar problem; the riders generally had a low technical level and therefore the routes had to take into consideration the needs of most; however, this choice made it difficult for our best exponents to grow, who paid a pledge every time they went abroad. In recent years, even the national circuits have adapted to international standards and our movement has grown; in fact now it includes excellent interpreters of the discipline, capable of competing for the top ten and in some cases even more. So from a competitive point of view it is clear that the national enduro races should align themselves with the technical standards of the EWS.
A change of mentality
What is needed is a leap forward in the enduro system, with greater maturation of movement. The division between national and regional competitions can no longer be made only based on the total time of the competition, but must take other factors into consideration; including the average percentage of the difference in height, the relationship between time-difference in height-length and must provide for an adequate commission; made by qualified riders, who establish the parameters so that a race can have one wording rather than another.
Just as today I would never dream of taking part in a competition of the Italian Xc internationals or in the qualifications of a DH World Cup, because the technical difficulties are beyond my possibilities; it is good that even in enduro we start to diversify competitions.
At that point, a biker who decides to register for a national or top-level competition must accept that the route presents technical difficulties and must be aware of what he is going to face; so that what happened at Oasi Zegna should no longer happen, where the track of a national race had to be reduced because the technical level of many was not up to par for a similar event.
