This past weekend Parry Sound, Ontario, hosted the final two rounds of the 2009 Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Championships. Matt McAnanama and his crew from dirtybikes.ca put together a challenging and fun course that received rave reviews from the riders. At the wrap-up party on Sunday evening at the Stockey Centre, the riders voted the Parry Sound Cross Test as the best of the year. BC was voted best Extreme Test, Alberta best Transfer Trail and Quebec the best Enduro Test. For full results go to: www.worldendurocanada.com.
Bill Petro, who takes photos for the Toronto Star, attended the event and there will be a write-up and photos in this weekend’s Saturday Star Wheels section. The Star is distributed across Canada with over a million readers—this is the type of exposure Enduro needs to take the sport to the next level. Be sure to get a copy this weekend—who knows, your photo might be there.
Dan Paris from directmotocross.com, who sent me the podium photos, sent me his thoughts on the inaugural year of the Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Championships. I thought Dan’s words really summed up the mission of World Enduro Canada and what we are working towards: As a moto-journalist I’d like to say a few things about the 2009 Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Series. For years, and I mean even as a little mid-’70s kid with a bowl cut, I’ve listened to people bemoaning the state of enduro and off-road racing in Canada.
Hosting FIM World Enduro rounds in 2006 and 2007 gave the sport a shot in the arm in a big way. That shot of juice kicked in when the Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Series was announced. I was stoked at the news! I mean, I’d guessed from hanging around the sidelines of off-road and motocross races for the better part of 40 years that Enduro was somehow marketable, and in some ways perhaps even more marketable than motocross. And like everyone else, I shrugged my shoulders and wished for something cool to happen. I scratch out my meagre and unusual living by talking to racers. And the racers I talked to after the opening CEC rounds in Alberta and B.C. were thrilled.
At the same time as the ultra-cool website www.directmotocross.com (shameless plug there) was really building steam, the talent of Canadian Extreme riders like Shane Cuthbertson and Cory Graffunder was shocking the European and U.S elite. After hanging out with the riders and promoters at the Quebec and Parry Sound CEC rounds I believe this series is the biggest thing to happen to dirt bike racing in Canada since the glory days of World Motocross GP racing at Copetown or St. Gabriel.
Sure, everyone in the industry expected a baby step from the CEC. A little bump in the leg like a timid dog might do when it’s deciding if you’re friendly or not. Instead the Royal Distributing series hit Canada like a great white (shark). BAM! Their full-speed attack on the status quo could be just what the industry and the sport need so badly these days. But then again, what do I know?
“Motocross is like the pointy tip of a massive iceberg,” Gopher Dunes owner Frank Schuster explained to me back when I first started writing. “Those few guys drive the sport and give the kids heroes to emulate. More and more of their used bikes pile up every year and new riders pile onto them. The further you go down the bigger that iceberg becomes. All of those weekend warriors are out there bombing around on beater bikes, just trail riding and having fun. And spending money.”
With Frank’s comment in mind, what could possibly entertain a wider audience than CEC style enduro? Aside from the fact that sports these days are all about being ‘Extreme’, Enduro racing has mixed the traditional elements of motocross, woods racing and trials competition with a down to earth vibe. It’s sort of like a racing version of your average ‘on any Sunday’s trail ride with your buddies’ when you think about it.
I overheard a disbeliever at Parry Sound saying, ‘Sure it’s cool and all, but I don’t think this series will really help sell bikes.’ To that I say baloney. The Pros of the CEC Series are the new wave of two-wheeled rock stars, kicking out the jams and showing just what is possible on a dirt bike. Thanks to the team at World Enduro Canada, plus the racers, volunteers, media and sponsors that made the Royal Distributing CEC series such a success, Enduro racing is no longer something moto-marketing gurus can ignore. Three cheers to all of you guys who made it happen!
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