Ashland, Oregon marked the third stop on the Oregon Enduro Series tour, featuring famed trails like BTI, Catwalk, and Upper Missing Links in a four stage, single day, enduro format rather than the super d format of previous years.
Nathan Riddle (Santa Cruz, Easton, SRAM, Dakine, WTB), Ashland local, UBI (United Bicycle Institute) Professor, and all-around good guy, placed first on a Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc running WTB Nano 2.1 29” TCS tires, a WTB Valcon Carbon saddle, and WTB Moto X Clamp-On Black/Red grips. Also of very important note, Marco Osborne, the latest fast guy addition to Team WTB, once again did exceptionally well with a fourth place finish. Marco seared the Ashland trails aboard a Cannondale Jekyll set up with a Fox 36 160mm fork, a WTB Vigilante 2.3 26” TCS front tire, a WTB Wolverine 2.2 26” AM TCS rear tire, a WTB Volt Team Saddle, WTB Moto X Clamp-On black grips, and WTB i23 rims.
Good times and great oldies at the start of Stage 4 – can’t say enduro racing isn’t fun, here’s to a little camaraderie amidst competition.
A slight dousing of rain leading up to the event helped trail conditions though BTI was incredibly dry and wrought with ruts. Event participants also got the unexpected treat of Horn Gap trail – think incredibly narrow and high speed, slicing through trees padded by world cup-esque ski lift style padding with confidence-inspiring, springy soil conditions. Riders also faced a near blind, high speed gap later on while racing down Hitt Road. All in all, fun times were had on conditions ranging from lean until you can’t believe it’s still gripping to grit-your-teeth high speed gravel chatter. Another fine showing from WTB sponsored athletes.
Jason Moeschler of Team WTB-Cannondale hustling down the lovely singletrack Ashland is famous for.
A big thanks to Bill and Sue Roussel of Ashland Mountain Adventures (541-499-2298) for their relentless efforts – we’re indebted to you!
Stay tuned for Ben Cruz and Jerome Clementz as they take on the second stop of the Enduro World Series at Val d’Allos, France this upcoming weekend, June 29-30.