The following is a press release from the AMA Hard Enduro Series
The inaugural Squamish Hard Enduro took place over the weekend in Squamish, British Columbia, as a US Hard Enduro Exhibition Round. Located only 45 minutes south of Whistler, Squamish is famously known for sitting along the ocean, which goes straight up into snow-covered peaks. This town is a mecca for outdoor recreation, and dirt bikes are just gaining popularity amongst the other sports in the area. The Squamish Dirt Bike Association has been building up the concept of this race for nearly a decade, and made it happen this year with the help of Carla and Matt Carey, Shane Cuthbertson of Red Bull Outliers, and a lot of passionate club members. Being a USHE Exhibition race, the event was part of the schedule and USHE racers were encouraged to check it out, while also providing media coverage all weekend.
The two-day race sold out at 300 racers, who all lined up at an enduro cross track along the Oceanfront on Friday for the first day of racing. All classes got to run practice, two qualifying laps, and were then placed into groups for their finals. Over one thousand spectators and dozens of vendors lined the edge of the gravel pit, with the the track laying inside of that. And the riders really toughed it out, as it rained sporadically throughout the day. In the finals, Gold Creek Lodge’s Declan McCahill won the Expert class, Sandra Gomez won the Pro Women’s class, while FMF KTM Off-Road Racing’s Trystan Hart won the final race.
Canada's own Trystan Hart is a celebrity when racing in his home country, as he was constantly flocked by fans and kids to sign autographs and take photos. His US Hard Enduro peers that drove North to race were surprised they were well-known as well, since Hart is followed so closely and those other Pros in the Top-10 are household names to many of the racers there. Even through the rain, the fanfare at the Oceanfront Prologue was impressive and the excitement was high going into the second day of racing, which took place up the mountain only 20 minutes away.
On Saturday, the format was a 4 hour, two lap race on a longer mountain course for the Expert and Amateur classes in the morning, with a 2 hour Pro-only short course in the afternoon. The Amateurs had an epic loop that went up a big mountain and back down, mixing existing hare scramble trails with virgin hard enduro lines. There was a split for the Amateurs, which took them even higher up the mountain. The most difficult part of the course was a downhill that measured nearly 2000 vertical feet, and featured exposed roots, rocks, and walk-only slopes. Declan McCahill grabbed an early lead and held that until the finish, winning the Expert class in 2 hours and 21 minutes. Sandra Gomez was riding really well and 14 minutes behind Declan, finishing in 2nd Overall in the Expert division, and also winning her class. In third was Brodie Waddell, followed by Noel Bolso and Cole Clarkson to round out the top-5.
In the Pro division, rows of 5 based on Prologue results kicked off the short course race, with hundreds of spectators flocking to the hills to watch the battles up close. On the first main obstacle, dubbed “1995”, Hart led the field up the steep, moss-covered hill by about a minute. A four-way battle took place early on between Rockstar Husqvarna’s Ryder Leblond, Bullet Proof Designs KRD’s Ryder Guest, Niko Piazza, and Champion Brick’s Matt Green. They swapped positions multiple times, but LeBlond ended up on the exit trail first, still trying to chase down Hart. Other Pro sections brought their own challenges, such as “Hart’s Hill”, “5 Things”, and “Carla’s Cafe”, as crowds of spectators were cheering on the twenty Pros battling.
As he usually does, Hart pulled away from the pack, minimizing mistakes and averaging a lap time of 33 minutes. “The Robot” ended up finishing four laps and winning the race in 2 hours and 13 minutes. About mid-race, LeBlond pulled away and finished in 2nd, with Green finishing in 3rd. Guest and Piazza rounded out the top five.
The Squamish Dirt Bike Association built some epic courses and executed a great event for their first year. The local scene in B.C. is very talented and passionate about this sport, and with Hart inspiring the future generations, expect more top-tier talent to continue emerging from this part of Canada.
The AMA National Hard Enduro Championship, Presented by IRC Tire, has a bit of a break before the Hollow Point Hard Enduro on August 8-9, in Wellsville, Ohio. The AMA East Hard Enduro Regional Championship, Presented by Klim, will have another round at the River Monster Hard Enduro in Glen Lyn, Virginia, on July 18-19.
