Every person has their own hobbies and interest. From something quiet like chess or as extreme as dirt bike racing. Like all sports, dirt bike also has its own line of terminologies. Some of them are familiar to us, but there are also terms that are quite deep. These terms are essential factors that makes dirt bike racing not just as a sport but as a complicated series of one whole thing.
What is Enduro?
For some people who are into dirtbike, the word “Enduro” is very common, but most doesn’t really know what it means. Enduro means a long-distance race, especially for motor vehicles, motorcycles, or bicycles, typically over rough terrain, designed to test endurance. Originating from France in 2003, the format is based on motorbike enduro and anyone who has followed car rallying should find it instantly familiar. Racing is over a series of special stages and whoever has the fastest combined time after those stages wins.
What kind of bikes should I use?
Of course, you can’t join an enduro race by just having a scooter. There are specialized bikes that are meant and suitable in such rough terrains. Enduro motorcycles closely resemble motocross, or “MX” bikes (upon which they are often based).They may have special features such as oversized gas tanks, engines tuned for reliability and longevity, sump protectors, and more durable (and heavier) components.
Enduro bikes combine the long-travel suspension of an off-road motocross bike with engines that are reliable and durable over long distances, and may be fitted with oversize gas tanks for adequate range. Some enduro bikes have street-legal features such as headlights and quiet mufflers to enable them to use public roadways. The engine of an enduro bike is usually a single cylinder 2-stroke between 125 cc and 360 cc, or 4-stroke between 195 and 650 cc.
Enduro legends
As this is a competition, in results, legends are born. These people are experienced enough to gain them that title. Here are few out of the many professional riders of dirt bike.
Everytime the phrase “Hard Enduro” is mentioned, names like Graham Jarvis, Jonny Walker, Alfredo Gomez and Taddy Blazusiak comes out. These are the legends of hard enduro in the golden age.
Graham Jarvis, who tagged as, according to his popularity, the best of the best hard enduro rider of all time. Jarvis who is a former moto trials rider before coming into the extreme Enduro racing, has the record of holding the most wins of the British Trials champion, 4-time Scottish Six Day Trial winner and the first to win the infamous Scott Trial 9 times, more than anyone has ever won it in the race’s 100 year history. He has having won his first trial when he was 10 years old. He continues to excel in the hard enduro racing at the age of 42.
His winnings include 3-time ErzberRodeo winner, 4-time Red Bull Sea to Sky winner, 6-time Red Bull Romaniacs (record holder) and 5-time Hell’s Gate winner(also a record).
Who doesn’t know Tadeusz Błażusiak? or better know as Taddy Blazusiak. Taddy is currently the rider with the most ErzbergRodeo wins– 5 wins in a row. Not only that he has a 5-winning streak, he also won his first ErzbergRodeo with a borrowed bike from KTM. He is a real natural.
As he shifted his course from extreme enduro to Endurocross, Taddy made a name for himself winning with five AMA EnduroCross titles and six SuperEnduro World Championships considered as one of the most successful Endurocross rider of this age.
However, one name is challenging to beat that record– Colton Haaker.
We also have Cody Webb (EnduroCross champion, Extreme Enduro winner) who might be the most talented off-road rider in the world. This year he put all that skill to good use, winning all three of America’s most difficult off-road races: King of the Motos, Last Dog Standing and the Tennessee Knockout. In EnduroCross, he had a spectacular year and emerged as the new champion. That eclipses his earlier career in trials, where he earned the 2010 national championship. Colton Haaker (EnduroCross winner) EnduroCross seems to be random and chaotic, but when the same guy turns in the fastest lap time after time, it means there’s a method to the madness. Colton Haaker is the king of the Hot Lap at most EnduroCross events, meaning he has the ability go faster than anyone else in a sprint. At several events this year, he turned that ability into victory at the end of the night. In the very specialized world of EnduroCross, he has become the ultimate specialist.
These guys are just few of the many professional riders who spent countless of hours of practice and suffered numbers of falls and stumbles before they reached the top of the board.
What are most celebrated Enduro events?
The World Enduro Championship (WEC) was started in 1990, replacing the European Enduro Championship, which had been contested since 1968. The championship is run under the FIM and generally consists of around eight or nine Grands Prix spread around the globe. These events are split into two days (and two different races), from which points towards the world championship are awarded. Each round includes a motocross test and an “extreme test”, in addition to the enduro test.
The International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) has been held since 1913, and it is the oldest off-road event in the FIM calendar. The event brings together the best riders to represent their national team, and it is often referred to as the “World Cup of Enduro” or the “Olympics of Motorcycling”.
The FIM SuperEnduro World Championship is an endurocross series held primarily in Europe since 2007. It is held from October to March, during the Northern Hemisphere winter and the Enduro World Championship off-season. Circuits are built inside stadiums or arenas, recreating obstacles such as rocks, boulders and logs.
