WP Gravity #Enduro report back

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The Jonkers enduro was organized by WP. Their stated aim at the start briefing was to push the level up a few notches and help riders who may want to elevate themselves onto the world stage get some experience of a physically demanding and technical race. Did they manage to do this with their 4 stage long distance enduro? Lets see...

 

The first stage involved a longish climb to the start of Fire hut 2. This was billed as a warm up stage. It follows much the same line as the pre-fire trail and is more or less a flow trail with some jumps a la G Spot in places and some nice berms. It feeds into Fire Hut 3 which is less than flowy and requires quite a bit of pedaling to keep speed up. It ends well with some gradient and a few small jumps. I'd give this a 2 for technical difficulty with a six being the hardest impossible stuff you get in the Alps. Its probably the most XC oriented trail at Jonkers and was indeed a good warm up. The lack of tech didn't stop one youngster from injuring his wrist in a fall.

 

Stage 2 saw us heading up in the Saaltjie direction which as most of you know is a long climb. We took the scenic route so the gradient wasn't a problem with high gearing and a heavy bike. I decided to eat along the way and discovered that droe wors and chocolate are a good combination. A protein bar of sorts.

 

Before the Saaltjie we broke right and pedaled on the contour to the start of Canaries 2. This is one of may favourite trails at Jonkers. We had been told that this stage included Canaries 2 and 3 and a new piece of tech trail near the bottom.  

The recent heavy rain has had wonderful effect on the Canaries. Think damp, slippery and rocky deluxe. I last rode this with Johno a month or more back and it was great then. The recent rain has amped it up a bit more.My bike felt totally at home on these tracks which is rare on a local enduro where on many tracks a short travel trail bike would be a better bet. At the end of Canaries 3 we dropped down a fresh cut link to join a new black grade trail Bennet and co have been working on. It heads right and finds some gradient which they have used to create a few tech features including a "The Plumber" like rock roll with a blind entry and a rock garden at the bottom. Next came a steep descent into a boggy stream bed and finally  a series of big bermed corners with the odd jump. This was probably the best track stage of the best stage and I'd rate it a 4 on Alpine tech. Not sure of the total distance but think Canaries 2 and 3 and a km or so on top of that.

 

Stage 3 required a long climb to the Red Phoenix trail head. The gradient gets steep towards the end so some pushing was required. All fine in enduro of course. The RP has also benefited from the rain. Its grippy and has some added roughness which makes it far more fun. There were even some cheering spectators and a cowbell to add some excitement. The rocky berms at the bottom of RP  were huge fun and could be taken flat out. I bettered my strava time down this section but have no idea what my race time was. Nobody else knows either which is a major flaw in the WP enduro race timing system. I'd grade the RP at the moment as a 3.5 for tech. 

 

Stage 4 required another harsh climb to the Waterfall trail head i.e Never ending Story. I thought about bailing at this point but decided to get my monies worth and a long push ensued. The stage started at the end of the portage filled traverse to the start of Never Ending. There we learned that the stage only consisted of the upper two sections which was good news. These are the steepest fastest bits and the most fun. The rain has also done its work here and the trail was littered with marbles and quite slithery as a result. I found this stage a little trickier than I'd imagined it would be because of the slippery terrain and narrowness and I'd give it a 3.5 as well.  

 

The ride back down to the start along the lower Never Ending wasn't much fun. Too flat and pedal hungry and well left out of the race. I detoured to do a couple of the smaller jumps on the lower black route and headed back to the car for a courtesy finish line beer.

 

Overall I'd rate the event as an 8. Well organized on the day. No delays at the stage starts, 3 nice longs stages and a punishing amount of climbing. Down marks for lack of live timing and delayed results. 

 

As to whether we can ever have world level enduro races here - I don't know. I found this event pretty easy from a tech and length of stage point of view. Because we lack the sheer vertical distance of the Alps and Rockies, you never get that utterly mind blowing experience of pushing yourself for 15 minutes plus on black grade stage. That said, this one was a cut above any previous races I have done here and definitely a move in the right direction. I am still on an endorphin trip as I type this. The next WP event is at Contermanskloof in 2 weeks time.