Thursday, September 30, 2010

Jared Wilson wins Enduro DH on his Rune.

Crankworx Canadian Open Enduro 2010

Hey everyone,
Keith asked me to do this ages ago, but a broken left wrist has had me a little preoccupied the last month so better late than never!

Just a quick race report aboard my 2010 Banshee Rune, which I raced in the Whistler Crankworx enduro DH.

Weighing up the bike options coming into this event wasn't to hard. Do I take the Dh bike, as the majority of the course was gnarly downhill, and loose out on the up hills or take the trail bike that could easily hammer uphill without really compromising the downhills? The Rune was the bike for the job and with the addition of some dh tubes, 2.5 minions and a very last minute home made chain guide (garden hose and cable ties!) the night before things stayed pretty much stock.

The race saw us mass start at the top of the Whistler Bike Park just behind the Chic Pea building straight into a short uphill to the top of the Gabanzo chairlift then funnelling into what ended up being the majority of the Garbanzo race track. They through in a heap of punchy uphill fire road climbs that made you want to cry then back into more gnarly downhill. Some people opted of their full DH bikes, others on shorter travel trail bikes, the Rune had the best of both worlds. This race was only 2 days after I raced in the Garbanzo Downhill, where I just missed out on the top 10 with 11th on my Banshee Legend mkII. Trust me there was a lot of times I forgot I was on my Rune coming into sections wayyyyy to hot, only to remember mid air tighten my butt cheeks and hang on. I came out of every section with a smile I was having so much fun on it. Apart from a wrong turn and having to run back up the hill, thanks to some missing course making tape and a screaming Marshall, not one bike drama to be had, everything worked out really well. I finished in 1st place in Senior Men's with a time of 23:03, 33seconds clear of 2nd place. Stoked!! Two days later with the xc tires back on, it went back to its normal duties as my daily trail bike, easy as that!

Looks like I wont be riding again till next summer thanks to the wrist, so make the most of whats left of the awesome fall conditions and ill see you all next summer!!!

-Jared Wilson