Well it's OVER, the first year of the Canadian Enduro Championship (CEC) is over!!!

And it probably exceeded everyone hopes. The racing was great, the venues were great, and the people even better!

Our man Guy on the podium, and convinced that bikes are made for taller people than him!

It was an interesting year for sure, from getting on a new bike, to racing a new format, and on way different and varying terrain to what I am used to. The CEC format was certainly new for me: three laps of a 50km loop where you ride hard but sane, with an Enduro test, an Endurocross test and an Extreme Enduro test in the loop, where you ride all three out of your mind, on very different terrain, for less than 10 minutes each. That adds up to a daily regimen of 150 km of quick liaison, with six tests lasting from 5 to 10 minutes each of flat out racing. Repeat on Sunday and you have had a very tough weekend indeed. The great news is that we now finally have a real Canadian Championship! If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, who was gonna be the rider to watch out for, or where I was gonna finish, I would have probably said that I could podium the Series..... 

Well it was harder than I thought. A bunch of guys really stepped it up, and the Western terrain really had me struggling. And today after reviewing the race result, well I can say that I suck in the Enduro test, run on difficult natural terrain where I should have done well!!! At every race, the Enduro test was my low point, the Endurocross (Close to a motocross track but without major yumos) test my highpoint, and the Extreme Enduro (With rocks, drainage pipes, water obstacles, and what have you?) was OK. One thing I heard a lot was that I was the most aggressive rider of the bunch.  I certainly did try my best at every test! And paid for it with a few mistakes…

As far as my final result, I am really happy, after starting out 11th overall after the first day in Alberta, to finishing 4th after eight days of racing.  And getting second in E2 for the year was great, as I think that BMW goals have been achieved, as well as mine, with 4 podiums in a row in the east that really helped me finish well – at least much better than after the Western rounds...

"I saw more rock in eight days of racing than in all my life before the Championship!"