California Enduro Series Announces 2015 Schedule

California Enduro Series Announces 2015 Schedule
Words by Michele Lamelin • Photos by Called To Creation, Bogdan Marian, and Mary DiNapoli

The California Enduro Series (CES) is pleased to announce the 2015 race schedule and promises another great year of Enduro racing. In its third year, CES proves its commitment to growing this popular cycling sport by expanding its schedule to include additional fun and challenging venues, offering more race categories, and maintaining equal pro payout to both men and women for series overall top placement.

Liz Miller’s determination, focus and strong riding took her to a 2nd place Kamikaze finish and 1st overall expert women. Liz is eager for the 2015 season, saying “CES has unlimited potential with new venues to explore and sweet singletracks to shred. So stoked for what awaits.” (Called To Creation).

Additional events, multi-day races
For 2015, the series is expanding to seven rounds, welcoming back popular venues from last year and adding two new events: the Wild Wood Adventure Enduro on the Mendocino coast and the Ashland Mountain Challenge. Additionally, 2015 will introduce the first multi-day Enduros—with both Wild Wood and Northstar leading the way with back-to-back exciting days of racing.

CES Director Steve Gemelos says, “We’re looking forward to bringing back venues from last year that hosted great races and really showcased the diverse mountain biking zones in California.” Gemelos adds, “We’re thrilled with the addition of the Ashland and Mendocino venues, with Ashland offering some of the best mountain biking on the west coast, and Mendocino opening up a whole new riding region for many participants. Throw in our very first multi-day races, and this is going to be one heck of a year.”

The 2014 season kick off, the Battle Born Enduro, challenged racers with loose sandy single track, rocky technical descents, and punchy climbs (Called To Creation).

With the expansion to seven events, the 2015 series points will be based on the top five results of the seven races. Gemelos explains, “Sometimes things don’t work out at a race; a flat tire, a mechanical, or just an off day can ruin your series. We want to keep things fun and competitive. This season, a bad race won’t end your series. You get seven opportunities to post your five best results. This will make it much more competitive for the series overall standings, and more competition makes it more fun.”

An off day on the bike won’t necessarily ruin your series in 2015 (Bogdan Marian).

2015 Event Schedule
Visit the CES website for details about these outstanding venues.

May 9: Battle Born Enduro on Peavine Mountain in the Reno/Tahoe area, to benefit The Poedunks
June 13-14: Wild Wood Adventure Enduro on the Mendocino coast in Caspar, presented by Mendocino Bike Sprite
June 27-28: VP EnduroFest at China Peak Mountain Resort in Lakeshore, presented by VP Components
July 11-12: Ashland Mountain Challenge at Lithia Park in Ashland, presented by Ashland Mountain Adventures
TBD: Santa Cruz Super Enduro at Soquel Demonstration State Forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains, presented by Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz
August 29-30: Northstar Enduro at Northstar California Resort in Truckee
September 24-27: Kamikaze Bike Games Enduro at Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes

2014 Season Finale at the Santa Cruz Super Enduro (Called To Creation).

Equal pro purse for series overall
CES continues to prove its commitment to supporting female riders by again offering equal pro purses for both women and men for the series top finishers.

CES 2014 Pro Women 2nd place winner Brianne Spiersch enthuses, “Leading the way with equal Pro payout in 2014 demonstrated the series’ character and I’m thrilled to hear they will continue to do so. As a female racer, I believe this provides incentive for more girls to race the whole series and also encourages the wide-scope growth of more women wanting to improve and move up through the ranks. This overall enthusiasm and excitement transcends more than racing. For example, the excellent coverage of these events showcasing great photos of talented female athletes also gets more women stoked to get out and shred. The more people riding bikes, the better for everyone!”

Pro rider Amy Morrison charges the VP EnduroFest course, taking 1st for the day and 3rd overall for 2014. Amy commends the series’ efforts to promote female participation via media coverage and equal overall payout, explaining “It’s about feeling valued in a sport dominated by men.” (Called To Creation).

Additional categories
In addition to an expanded schedule, CES is also increasing the selection of race categories. Additional age groups have been included in the Men’s Sport and Expert classes, and the Junior Boys category has been split into Sport and Expert classes.

Junior racer Liam Ruff—who took 4th place overall in 2014—says, “I’m excited to hear the folks at CES listened to us junior racers and added an Junior Expert category for the upcoming season. I have no doubt the CES lineup will feature some of the most fun and competitive Enduro races in 2015.”

Future Pro podium. 2014 Junior Boys winners celebrate a season of dedicated racing at the series finale, the Santa Cruz Super Enduro. 1st Dillon Santos, 2nd Mitch Pisciotta, 3rd Ryan Simonovich, 4th Liam Ruff, 5th Cole Sutton (Called To Creation).

Spirit of Enduro
The California Enduro Series (CES) is a for riders, by riders non-profit organization (501c3 pending) dedicated to promoting world-class Enduro events that everyone from amateur to pro can enjoy, at a geographically diverse range of venues. The series is quickly becoming renowned for fostering an exceptional sense of community. Casey Coffman—2014 series Pro fourth place finisher—says, “I’m excited to get the CES traveling circus back together. All the racers became such a good group of close friends by the end of the season. I'm excited to see the series grow!”

With many riders arriving a day early to practice for the 2014 series finale, the Santa Cruz Super Enduro, Soquel Demonstration State Forest was quickly infused with the camaraderie inherent in the sport.

Series Sponsors
CES 2015 is grateful for the continued support of founding sponsor VP Components. VP Brand Director and CES founding officer Erik Saunders is pleased with how quickly the series has grown, and how well its objectives are being met. “My vision was to create a vibrant, inclusive, and diverse landscape of related events for riders of all abilities to enjoy, and a pathway for aspiring athletes to progress.” Saunders adds, “It’s great to see how CES and each independent event have been enthusiastically supported by riders, the bike industry, land managers, and the general public.”

CES is currently seeking sponsors for the 2015 series. Sponsoring the series is an excellent way for a business to inspire loyalty, increase sales, and generate interest at local, national and international levels, while supporting the Enduro community and mountain biking at large. Contact CES for the 2015 sponsorship kit.

2014 Northstar Livewire Classic Enduro champ Marco Osborne, running VP VX Trail Race pedals, astounded the masses with a 1st place Pro GRT downhill win on his 6” travel bike the day before (Mary DiNapoli).

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For more information about the California Enduro Series, visit www.californiaenduroseries.com. Follow CES on Facebook and Instagram.