The Enduro di Braggadocio

(Originally published in the Nov. 18 to 24, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

ALL trails lead to the Yellow Trail this weekend where mountain bike freaks converge for the Enduro di Braggadocio.

As of this writing, my “old” and “aging” friend Cesar Zulueta from Quirino Hill bragged that physical preparations of the trails are almost done and ready for bragging. What was originally a dream is now a reality, he bragged.

I say “old” because we have been friends since the early ‘80s when His Excellency Ferdinand Edralin Marcos was still the president of the New Republic. I can brag about that. 

That was when Quirino Hill, bragging aside, was not yet as crowded as it is now which makes anyone refuse to brag about it. Ces and I used to “jam” in the veranda of another “old” and “aging” brag friend German ‘Ulo’ Sales in Middle Quirino Hill, close to where I stayed when I was still in college.

I also say “aging” for obvious reasons. I call him “Manong Ces”, especially in the presence of the younger riders if only “to lead by example”. 

Meanwhile, I will brag about the “old” and “aging” brag ‘Ulo’ in another topic in the future, away from the subject of bicycles.

Going back, Manong Ces (who lately started spelling his nickname as Xes) bragged that the Enduro di Braggadocio will feature five “special stages” designed to test to the max the hardcore Baguio downhiller. 

“All downhill!” the old and aging Manong Ces bragged when I bumped into him at the Mandarin Restaurant last Tuesday, as if he can keep up with the braver and younger Baguio downhillers.

What’s the catch?, I asked. 

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. 

What?! (I nearly fell off my chair.)

Nothing? No nothing? No prizes? Yes, Manong Ces bragged, obviously running out patience. The same old, aging and grumpy (and brag) Manong Ces!

The riders will just be timed for their run on each stage and the rider with the shortest accumulated time wins, Manong Ces bragged.

How would you be able to attract riders if you cannot offer even a bottle of SanMig Lite as a grand prize?!

Nothing. No nothing. No prizes. Just the bragging right, the “old” and “aging” (and brag) Manong Ces answered. Just the exclusive right to brag about being the fastest among the fastest riders in the very first Enduro di Braggadocio. 

They don’t call it Enduro di Braggadocio for nothing!

The generic Baguio downhiller is really a brag. Please don’t get me wrong. Mind you, he has all the reasons to be. I can brag about that.

He has the endurance. Endurance beyond compare. He has the speed. Blinding and dizzying speed! He has the power. Unbelievable power! And he has the best bike that makes my bike just ten pesos worth. He has the looks that I don’t have. 

And he has proven himself in many a-downhill tournaments such as in Sagada early this year. 

I was there! I’m a brag!

-o0o-

DERIVED from the word “endurance”, enduro (or ND for short) is a relatively new format which appears to have taken some inspiration from both car rally and motorbike enduro racing. 

Mountain bike enduro is essentially the competitive side of the mountain biking format often referred to today as “all-mountain”. It is a stage-race format where the winner is the rider who accumulates the lowest combined time from the various timed sections. 

International or world mountain bike enduro competitions take place over the course of one or two days. Week-long enduro competitions do also exist. 

A typical one-day enduro race consists of three to five timed “special” stages --- linked by predominantly ascending “liaison” stages --- on a technically demanding, generally descending terrain. Although a rider's specific performance on the physically demanding liaison stages does not affect his or her result, the liaisons are often associated with a time-cut off (i.e. a latest permitted arrival at the summit of the next special stage).*