Enduro in the Western Cape - has it died?

[Headshot]

Even during lockdown, we were bombarded with media from the Enduro Western Cape  team about upcoming events.  Come 2022 and WC Downhill are in full swing as are other provinces which have been holding enduros and downhill events for some time.

Strangely, there has been nothing about the EWC series or indeed any response to a query I posted to them via Instagram. Cape Town has great trails and lots of keen riders but seemingly no events lined up for 2022? Anyone know what's happening, or better still, could the movers and shakers at EWC give the public some feedback. 

[ChristiaanSt]

This is a great question!

[Yyyy]

yep im also interested in this

but hoping the events are not in winter for selfish reasons (i absolutely hate riding in mud and wet)

Edited March 15, 2022 by YaseenEnos

[Hairy]

5 minutes ago, Headshot said:

Even during lockdown, we were bombarded with media from the Enduro Western Cape  team about upcoming events.  Come 2022 and WC Downhill are in full swing as are other provinces which have been holding enduros and downhill events for some time.

Strangely, there has been nothing about the EWC series or indeed any response to a query I posted to them via Instagram. Cape Town has great trails and lots of keen riders but seemingly no events lined up for 2022? Anyone know what's happening, or better still, could the movers and shakers at EWC give the public some feedback. 

was their last event not stupidly expensive and had people deciding to vote with their wallets and rather race their buddies using strava?

 

[Jewbacca]

2 minutes ago, Headshot said:

Even during lockdown, we were bombarded with media from the Enduro Western Cape  team about upcoming events.  Come 2022 and WC Downhill are in full swing as are other provinces which have been holding enduros and downhill events for some time.

Strangely, there has been nothing about the EWC series or indeed any response to a query I posted to them via Instagram. Cape Town has great trails and lots of keen riders but seemingly no events lined up for 2022? Anyone know what's happening, or better still, could the movers and shakers at EWC give the public some feedback. 

EWC as an event hosting was taken over by Wildair, they had 1 event at Hoogekraal not so long ago but I'm not sure about 2022 plans.....

The WPDH is going on as usual in 2022... They have already had numerous successful events. 

The Enduro scene is unfortunately not profitable. iRide, Dirtopia and many other companies have tried to grow the scene but the issue of financial return vs the effort always kills the idea.

I've been doing the timing and volunteering at the events across the board for years and unfortunately there are not enough new faces.

The participants also expect to pay nothing, but still have top level timing and event zones, so the pressure to create something on a shoe string budget is just not worth the effort

[Nick]

Not sure if applicable here but something I've noticed while trying to populate the new Events Calendar for dates beyond June.

Smaller events are not committing details too far ahead of time. I'm assuming because of Covid uncertainties. I recall EWC generally being in the second half of the year?

[Hairy]

4 minutes ago, Nick said:

Not sure if applicable here but something I've noticed while trying to populate the new Events Calendar for dates beyond June.

Smaller events are not committing details too far ahead of time. I'm assuming because of Covid uncertainties. I recall EWC generally being in the second half of the year?

valid comment

 

[Meezo]

1 minute ago, Hairy said:

valid comment

 

Can you enduro on a Harley?

[Hairy]

4 minutes ago, Meezo said:

Can you enduro on a Harley?

I can Har(d)ley endure you

[Jbr]

18 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

The participants also expect to pay nothing, but still have top level timing and event zones, so the pressure to create something on a shoe string budget is just not worth the effort

I did one dirtopia event at muratie a while back, timing was anything but "top level", but maximum fun was had so it didn't matter. No idea what I paid at the time, but don't remember it being expensive. The format was great as you could ride the trails as many times as you wanted, it lets you just come for the day with no recon, and just take your time to learn it till you send it

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jbr

[Jewbacca]

18 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I did one dirtopia event at muratie a while back, timing was anything but "top level", but maximum fun was had so it didn't matter. No idea what I paid at the time, but don't remember it being expensive. The format was great as you could ride the trails as many times as you wanted, it lets you just come for the day with no recon, and just take your time to learn it till you send it

You might be an exception to the rule.

 

The amount of times I've been sworn at by kids and old men fighting for 38th place because the timing pod took 1 second to beep is immense.

I've even see middle aged, mid pack men rage quit and throw their bikes into bushes while glaring at me with death eyes, despite having fallen on the trail already.

The same guy then complained about the timing while whinging the the events are getting too expensive without offering anything but in the same breath saying he won't pay more or come back unless the timing system is sorted out etc.... (this is a specific example, there are many).

The organisers haven't historically made any money in the past, so pouring time, effort and resource for free, just to cop abuse isn't ideal.

Also, as Nick said, the Enduro scene is usually a spring vibe in the Cape. But it will be very interesting to see how the new organisers balance the cost, offer and entry pricing.

I know I'm seriously considering not going back to volunteer after the abuse I copped at the last few by kids and middle aged men 

 

[Yyyy]

8 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

You might be an exception to the rule.

 

The amount of times I've been sworn at by kids and old men fighting for 38th place because the timing pod took 1 second to beep is immense.

I've even see middle aged, mid pack men rage quit and throw their bikes into bushes while glaring at me with death eyes, despite having fallen on the trail already.

The same guy then complained about the timing while whinging the the events are getting too expensive without offering anything but in the same breath saying he won't pay more or come back unless the timing system is sorted out etc.... (this is a specific example, there are many).

The organisers haven't historically made any money in the past, so pouring time, effort and resource for free, just to cop abuse isn't ideal.

Also, as Nick said, the Enduro scene is usually a spring vibe in the Cape. But it will be very interesting to see how the new organisers balance the cost, offer and entry pricing.

I know I'm seriously considering not going back to volunteer after the abuse I copped at the last few by kids and middle aged men 

 

dam, i thought his type of attitude was only prevalent with mid pack mamils at road events........

Edit:

In addition to this, you can understand why you dont see new faces at these events. If the participants are too elitist it wont encourage newbies to the sport

Edited March 15, 2022 by YaseenEnos

[El Duderino]

13 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

You might be an exception to the rule.

 

The amount of times I've been sworn at by kids and old men fighting for 38th place because the timing pod took 1 second to beep is immense.

I've even see middle aged, mid pack men rage quit and throw their bikes into bushes while glaring at me with death eyes, despite having fallen on the trail already.

The same guy then complained about the timing while whinging the the events are getting too expensive without offering anything but in the same breath saying he won't pay more or come back unless the timing system is sorted out etc.... (this is a specific example, there are many).

The organisers haven't historically made any money in the past, so pouring time, effort and resource for free, just to cop abuse isn't ideal.

Also, as Nick said, the Enduro scene is usually a spring vibe in the Cape. But it will be very interesting to see how the new organisers balance the cost, offer and entry pricing.

I know I'm seriously considering not going back to volunteer after the abuse I copped at the last few by kids and middle aged men 

 

As someone who's recently moved to the Cape, it is quite disappointing to hear enduro riders behaving so poorly. The enduro scene is quite strong in KZN (where I'm from) and this type of behaviour is rare. In fact, the worst case of rider behaviour was a couple years back and the offender was a well known DH/Freerider from CT who was severely censured for his appalling abuse of a female participant.

[JacBrand]

1 hour ago, Hairy said:

was their last event not stupidly expensive and had people deciding to vote with their wallets and rather race their buddies using strava?

 

The exact reason I did not enter.

[Jewbacca]

3 minutes ago, YaseenEnos said:

dam, i thought his type of attitude was only prevalent with mid pack mamils at road events........

Edit:

In addition to this, you can understand why you dont see new faces at these events. If the participants are too elitist it wont encourage newbies to the sport

The Enduro Bro crowd mock the roadies hard for their lycra and bike computers and power meters etc but obsess over their flannel, baggies, suspension setup and tire pressures even more.

The common denominator is cyclists in general. 🤣

Also, it's not everyone. But just like I am intimidated by the roadie crowd to enter Tour du Cap, the Enduro Crowd is as difficult to feel at home with as a noob these days.

It's mostly perception, but it also isn't.

I'm pretty disconnected from the scenes in most of the event interests I do because I don't backslap on social media and I'm not in any of the cool whattsapp groups. So my impression is that of an outsider despite having been around the various scenes for a long time.

 

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Jewbacca said:

You might be an exception to the rule.

 

The amount of times I've been sworn at by kids and old men fighting for 38th place because the timing pod took 1 second to beep is immense.

I've even see middle aged, mid pack men rage quit and throw their bikes into bushes while glaring at me with death eyes, despite having fallen on the trail already.

The same guy then complained about the timing while whinging the the events are getting too expensive without offering anything but in the same breath saying he won't pay more or come back unless the timing system is sorted out etc.... (this is a specific example, there are many).

The organisers haven't historically made any money in the past, so pouring time, effort and resource for free, just to cop abuse isn't ideal.

Also, as Nick said, the Enduro scene is usually a spring vibe in the Cape. But it will be very interesting to see how the new organisers balance the cost, offer and entry pricing.

I know I'm seriously considering not going back to volunteer after the abuse I copped at the last few by kids and middle aged men 

 

What a bunch of chops!

Though back in the day when I used to still do mtb "Fun Rides" the exact same exceptional examples of human beings were doing exactly the same back then too.