PEDAL FEST: EWS ROUND 5, BURKE, USA
Words: Mike Rose
Photos: Seb Schieck
The last few months have been pretty non-stop for INTENSE Factory Racing’s Seth Sherlock. Having to balance racing both the Downhill World Cup series and the Enduro World Series (EWS) is no easy task.
Seth races in the Under 21 (year old) category at the EWS, and after some great early season results he switched his focus away from downhill to the EWS overall title chase. After some very solid podium finishes he finally found himself on the top step on home soil as he took the win in Whistler, which also gave him the series lead.
That was the halfway point of the series, with riders then crossing from the west of Canada to east of the USA, to Burke in Vermont. Seth wasn’t too keen on the more cross-country (XC) style of stages in Burke, and his main rival, Remy Meier-Smith, was back in town too… so it was going to be a tricky. Seth takes up the story.
“Burke was a fun weekend, the track for sure didn't cater to my strengths but it was a good challenge. The Pro Stage was probably the best stage for my riding style and I managed third on that with a pretty mediocre run.
Sunday started off with a super hard XC stage that was around 50% pedaling (by time). I tried my best on that one but didn't quite have the legs for a longer sprint like that and dropped back to fifth.
The next couple of stages were super fun but I didn't ride amazingly well and lost a couple more precious seconds to the podium. Stage 5 started out with a janky, technical downhill, kind of like the Pro Stage, and led into another 3-minute long pedal section. Once again I was a bit off the pace through the pedal at the bottom and ended up 11 seconds off the podium coming into the last stage.
I still had some energy left coming into stage 6, which was a repeat of the Pro Stage, and was hoping to make some time back up and maybe have a shot at the podium if the stars aligned. The top of the stage felt good but a lost chain about halfway down put an end to my hopes! Luckily I managed to limit the damage and hold onto a top 5.
At the end of the day, I was pretty happy to come away with fifth considering how much I struggled with the long pedally bits. It definitely shows that I have to work on my long sprints if I'm going to keep pursuing enduro. I'll have my work cut out for me this winter, haha. I also seem to be a little off the pace on the flatter stages where carrying your speed is key, so it's nice to know where I need to focus on improving."
Seth is now in Sugarloaf in Maine for round 6 this weekend.
“I've walked some of the stages here at Sugarloaf and they look way more DH, so I'm hoping to get some redemption here. It’s going to be a fun race.”
And it was good news for new INTENSE Ambassador, Czechoslovakian rider Milan Čižinský (above and below). Milan took the win in the EWS 100 45+ category onboard our new Tracer 279.
“Burke EWS race was a blast! The first three stages were really physical, and after them I was in second place. I gave everything on the Queen Stage, and thanks to the technical difficulty and its length I won the stage by 20 seconds, and that was the basis of my victory. On the last stage I increased my lead with a controlled ride. It was a fantastic race.” Milan Čižinský
