Locals dominate Enduro National Championships

After falling just short of winning his maiden national enduro title last year, Blenheim-born but Nelson-based Shannon Hewetson earned his redemption over the weekend.

He took out the top spot of the elite men’s podium on Sunday ahead of fellow local rider Brady Stone, winning by 8.28 seconds.

Last year’s national champion, Christchurch-based Charlie Murray, rounded out the podium, having had some extra hands-on experience of the Cable Bay tracks after running a coaching camp at the Adventure Park at the end of last year.

Topping the Elite Women’s division of the Cable Bay Enduro, which is run alongside the National Championship, was Rae Morrison.

She finished almost two minutes ahead of second place, France’s Julie Duvert, and more than two-and-a-half minutes ahead of fellow local racer Louise Kelly, who rounded out the podium place-getters. .

But Rae will not wear the New Zealand flag on her jersey, which is afforded to a national champion for another year after she was bested by U21 Christchurch rider Winnifred Goldsbury, who finished eight seconds ahead but in a different division.

With two stages of racing on Saturday, after practice in the morning, and five stages on Sunday, there was action aplenty as racers tested themselves over seven race stages, including one called The Poacher which was specially made ahead of the event.

While the track hadn’t opened until the first day of practice on Friday, the local crew still found the dominant form to walk away with a large haul of medals as over 200 riders tackled the different divisions.

Enduro racing sees riders take timed runs across all the stages, which are tallied to find the eventual race winner.

Unlike cross country, riders are not timed on the ascents, but they are required to ride up to the start of each stage under their own power with tight time cutoffs if they are too slow.

Competitors were given a shuttle up to start their day off, but still managed 1600 metres of ascent over the course of  race day.

This creates an interesting race dynamic where endurance is the key to success, with tired bodies for the latter stages after a hard day of riding and two days of practice runs.

It is the second year in a row that Cable Bay Enduro has doubled as the national championship, attracting the best riders from across the country as well as several international competitors.

The event also serves as a strong way for the elite riders who race in Europe through New Zealand’s winter to kick their season into gear.