The Big Mountain Enduro series is back this year with three stops in Colorado. Founded and headquartered in Crested Butte, CO, the BME series touts itself as the premier Enduro series in North America that offers challenging racing on some of the country’s best trails. A quick look at the list of events confirms this.
Registration opened on January 1st, and spots usually fill up quickly. Here are the five stops for 2019.
- Santa Fe, NM
May 25-26 - Winter Park, CO
July 13 - Telluride, CO
July 27 - Big Sky, MT
August 3-4 - Aspen Snowmass, CO
August 17-18
It doesn’t matter what type of rider you are – the BME has a class for everyone. New this year they are offering the Expert Men category alongside the Amatuer and Pro classes. For Women’s, they have Amatuer and Pro. Colorado has some amazing mountain bike trails and racing in a series like this is a chance to test yourself against other riders across the state.
Enduro racing, which features timed descents and multiple stages throughout the day, focuses on downhill speed and endurance. This means a longer travel bike would be best. Ideally you would race with something having a minimum of 5” of suspension travel as there will be drops, jumps, and lots of rocks.
So far I plan on racing at the Winter Park and Telluride stops and at least attending Aspen Snowmass to watch. I participated in a few last year and quickly realized how much effort it requires to compete at the higher levels within these races. This year, I’ll be focusing a bit more on training and using a plan created by Dee Tidwell of Enduro MTB Training. In the coming months and as the season begins I will be posting articles on training, preparing, and racing Enduro in Colorado.
Title photo from www.bigmountainenduro.com
