Washington State Enduro Series

Apr 2, 2013
by Tyler Maine  
Racer at the first annual Tiger MT Enduro emerges through the mist during the second stage. -www.parisgore.com-

Race series aims to give back to local community by benefitting trail development and maintenance.

Answering the need for a regional enduro series, the Washington state cycling industry and advocacy organizations have banded together to create the ‘Cascadia Dirt Cup’, a new series consisting of five races that will take place this year between June and October, with plans to grow in subsequent years.

Driven by cooperation between Diamondback Bikes, Transition Bikes, and Shimano, the series aims to produce high-quality races while donating proceeds from each race to its advocacy and trail maintenance partners: The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Friends of Capitol Forest, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition and the Olympic Dirt Society.

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With the growth of the enduro format worldwide, the leadership of the Cascadia Dirt Cup recognized the need to formalize a Washington state series. Hosted on the west side of the Cascades for 2013, each venue will provide a unique blend of climbing and descending through a single-day, multi-stage event. While utilizing pre-existing races at Capitol Forest and Tiger Mountain, the series is excited to bring three new events to the table: Yacolt Burn (permit pending), Port Angeles Dry Hill and Bellingham area trails (permit pending). These venues each offer incredible terrain and a unique experience. Each venue was selected for its ability to stay true to mountain biking in its purest form through the enduro format. The series is limited to five races this year with a plan to expand through the next two years through new venues and multi-day events.

“Our ultimate goal is to run the series well enough that we can return significant contributions to each of the trail systems we race on. Builders are facing tougher budget constraints and need all the support they can get,” said James Whitesides of the MODUS Sport Group, the Shimano representatives for Washington.

“We’re rallying the local outdoor industry in Washington State,” said Jon Kennedy, Marketing Manager for Diamondback Bicycles. “The bike industry here identified that the riders in the area wanted this and that Washington advocacy and trail organizations needed this. By multiple bike and component manufacturers coming together to do what’s right for the riders of this state, we’ve been able to put something truly remarkable together.”

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“We’re excited to provide a ‘Taste of the Cascades’ with these races and are fortunate enough to have access to these riding areas through the hard work and dedication of each land steward’s efforts. It’s time to give back to the trails and trail advocacy groups, and to the riders who haven’t been exposed to this type of experience. We have so much to offer and this series is going to blow people away.” – Lars Sternberg, Transition Bikes Airtime engineer/ Professional MTB racer guy.

2013 Schedule:

6/29 Yacolt Burn Enduro - Battle Ground
7/20 Dry Hill Enduro - Port Angeles
9/14 Capitol Forest Enduro - Olympia
9/28 Tiger Mountain Enduro - Issaquah (Check out last year's event)
10/20 TBA - Bellingham

Stay in touch with the series through cascadiadirtcup.org.

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44 Comments
  • 24 0
 We still need a NorCal Enduro
  • 3 0
 Not a series but, Team Bigfoot is going to put one on here in Far-Nor-Cal. Check their web.
  • 2 0
 they need to bring a venue to the east side of the cascades! devils gulch or Mission ridge trail! 13 plus miles of beautiful singletrack!!
  • 1 1
 @crashtestdumbie: I thought of that too. However, I don't think it'd be conducive to multiple stages, nor would emergency responders be able to access the trail very well with the doubletrack washed out at the bottom. But I like what you're thinking. If there was an event hosted from the Blewett Pass side, then you might have somethin'!
  • 1 0
 @BinChaser what part of norcal will that be in?
  • 2 0
 Soquel Demo Forest is as far north as this one gets... www.californiaenduro.com
  • 1 0
 Loads of great trail there for this format. Very cool!
  • 1 0
 Weaverville, an hour west of Redding.
  • 1 0
 www.teambigfoot.net Look this over.
  • 7 1
 There should be a Klunker stage in Bellingham! So stoked to race all these!!!
  • 3 0
 I can envision quite a few great stages on Galby if permits come through. Can you imagine descending Evo to U-line to A-Dog, climbing to SST and then racing out? That'd be quite a killer event. (Though I won't get my hopes up. Nothing's final yet.)
  • 4 0
 Ooooh, inquiring minds want to know! Wink Even when the location's revealed, the actual routing won't be disclosed until a couple of days before. Otherwise, B'ham locals would have a huge advantage and same goes for every other location for that matter. Tiger's obviously a different story because of the limited amount of trail currently.
  • 1 0
 Thanks for the reassurance, EB! Will I see you at any of the events?
  • 3 0
 Wonder if there has ever been any thought about bringing back the locations the WIM series ran on which had some awesome locations for both XC and DH....
  • 1 0
 What venues are you thinkin' of? Winthrop comes to me for me, and possibly Mission Ridge. But I think the Spokane site is going away, and Tehuya doesn't really provide any vert.
I agree with you though - the series has a lot of promise to grow in this region.
  • 1 0
 The Spokane site isn't going away. There's a chance we might not be able to host future DH races but Enduro races would be awesome at Beacon. There is one Enduro already scheduled for this year.
  • 2 0
 Glad to see they finally announced the venues! Last year's event at Tiger was a lot of fun and I cant wait for even more this year.
  • 1 0
 I've gotta remember to sign up early for TIger. I missed the boat, and didn't get to race. Frown
  • 1 0
 I am so happy for this! Since I am in highschool, I was gonna have to ask my parents to drive me to Oregon for that enduro series but i am happy there is something closer
  • 2 0
 This year, I'm want to compete in one of those! Damn I say it every year...
  • 1 0
 PLEASE, route stages that dont cater to 29ers. The more rowdy the better!!!!! 26ers on the podium 90% of the time mininum, 650B's the other 10% might be ok Smile .
  • 2 0
 Well it's about time! Awesome.
  • 2 1
 This series might have the best trails of any enduro series, though I'm not familiar with the Yacolt burn trails.
  • 2 0
 www.pinkbike.com/video/231150 This video is a couple years old but is a preview of one trail in the Burn.
  • 1 0
 Thanks to the organizers for planning around the Oregon Enduro Series! Lotsa great racing to be had this summer.
  • 1 0
 We need one in Kernville. Sherman's Pass to Cannell Plunge is 27 miles of everything an AM/Trail junky could ever want,
  • 1 0
 Another run down one of the Yacolt trails.

www.pinkbike.com/video/278753

[PV=278753]
  • 2 0
 Mo Enduro, No problems
  • 1 1
 Which trail(s) in the Bellingham area are they planning on having the race?
  • 1 0
 Super stoked about this series!
  • 1 0
 you did not even read the story !
  • 1 0
 Please do one of these in Eastern WA, say State Patroll
  • 1 0
 oops forgot, hardly any mtb in eastern WA
  • 4 2
 Your wrong, and there's great riding in eastern Washington. Just need to get out of the skatepark more
  • 1 0
 true, but why should a "Washington State" enduro series be only on the west side of the cascades? (and not much mtb in tri cities)
  • 2 0
 LET"S PARRRRRTTTTYYYY
  • 1 0
 Sounds like this will be worth some road trips to come down from Canada.
  • 1 0
 Just reg'd for Yacolt, STOKED!
  • 1 0
 enduro training!
  • 1 0
 Nice trails
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