Blur your eyes and cock your head, just slightly askew - is Luke standing upright with his bike on its side or is his bike upright on a terrace drop off.......with Luke about to follow it over the edge??
In this sport you never quite know which way is up, so let's just quickly ponder the three dimensions of Hard Enduro, shall we?
The first dimension is that dimension that we cannot believe.
Have you even seen the Grinding Stone Hard Enduro Arizona? If you've not, then you really need to click here. This is the type of hard enduro that leads the vast majority to conclude that they'll never give hard enduro a crack.
Not ever.....and I get that!
The second dimension is that dimension that we can only just conceive.
Events like the Wildwood Rock Extreme and the Kosciuszko Killer are the epitome of hard enduro as most of us understand it. They are events that a committed rider could, potentially, one day conceive of having a crack at.
Fortunately, for the majority of us, there is also a third dimension. That is the dimension of hard enduro that we all can realistically perceive.
Punters who are sniffing around the sidelines of hard enduro have to understand that ANYONE can give this discipline a go. All you need is a big heart, a butt tonne of patience and a little time to learn a few basic 'key' skills.
And learning those skills was the focus of the recent Enduro Bikes W.A. / W.A. Hard Enduro Series training day: to teach "dirt-in-the-veins" trail riders, with no previous hard enduro experience, the requisite skills to actually give the sport a good hard crack.
I've done a few training days in the past. Most of the time I go "fly on the wall", not getting involved; rather standing back to observe and document so I can bring the content to you, the reader.
But on this occasion, keen to throw my bike at some rocks, I thought "Nup..no way...not happening; this time I'm digging in doing it".
Come time to ride, I left my phone in the car and selected Ride Mode.
And at the end of the day I can honestly say that, not since my first year as an undergraduate, have I ever learned so much in such a short time.
The day was planned within an inch of its life. Lead Trainer, Jason Bale, lost hours of sleep running exercises over in his mind to cover off on all of the requisite HE techniques.
And in the dying days leading up to the event, he and his merry band of helpers spent innumerable hours laying out a mock race circuit, so the trainees were able to put our learnings into practice.
The format was on pointe and perfectly executed with feet up and beers in hand just as the sting was subsiding from the sun.
With the trainees broken up into four small groups to cover off on four key skills, each skill was explained, then demonstrated, then executed in an easy setting. Confident with the basics, riders then had the choice to step it up a notch in and effort to tickle the top of their own tolerances!
For example, EBWA had set up a choice of five vertical drop-offs, with each a 'cooky cutter' perfect step up from the last.
The four groups rotated throughout the morning. Training was delivered by Jason and a crew of Silver or Gold Class WHES riders, all of whom were seasoned competitors - all of whom know well what Hard Enduro is about.
On that, a massive shout out to WHES Gold Class riders Damien "the Braaaaap Daddy" Pruden and Luke "Lab Rat" Abbott for their skillful instruction on those painfully grinding hill climbs, sphincter tightening off camber cross slopes and the ever-necessary pivot turns needed for ascending incessant switch backs.
Grant McCarthy, whose energy and enthusiasm to develop hard enduro riders is frenetic enough to power a small village, helped us diffuse the frustrations of log traps and Silver Class WHES competitor Elliot Clenton was ever-present to lend a hand (and capture some killer pics).
Once we were rolling, the inimitable and ever-present Kevin Jones kept us honest on the clock!
I am willing to bet my left nut (and attached bolt) that what appealed to us about this training day would appeal to a massive portion of the slightly older trail riding fraternity out there; those that are floating around in ether wondering where next they are headed on their personal journey of dust and noise.
As Luke Rogers (a long-time trail rider) put it "Days of riding at high speeds for me are over! I really like the challenging aspects and possibilities of launching up a rock face that I could barely even climb. I'm keen to learn and develop the slow technical skills required in something like a pivot turn."
That to me seems like the perfect reason to step into hard enduro, and that he used the Pivot Turn as an example of his learning really validated what this story is all about. The Pivot Turn, too, was my little existential moment.
Over time, I've seen all the lads rip these out, ad libatum, on Gold Class lines across switch back slopes. There are few techniques in hard enduro that are as valuable as they are frequently used. There is simply no disputing it; if you know how to do a pivot turn you can put your bike anywhere you want to, to go anywhere you need to.
The problem is they look difficult to execute. But the reality is, they are not!
Not if you can learn how to break the process down into its smaller, less overwhelming components.
On steep incline we sat, front wheel to one side of a cone. All we had to do is drop, pop and push!
Sitting slightly back on the seat, both feet comfortably planted, it was a slight blip of the throttle, drop of the clutch (one finger ONLY over the lever for control and precision), a pop of the front 3-6 inches up and a shift the body weight to bring the front half a foot to one side. Then back. Then back again. A bit more confidence, a bit more gas, a bit higher lift, a bit bigger pivot.
Within 15 minutes we were zig zagging across slope with all the confidence and zest of a billy goat in mating season.
Though not all of us were double blipping over waist high logs by the days end, all of us did take up the challenge to put our skills to the test on the mock circuit.
Some of us made it all of the way around, most of us made it most of the way around. But all of us committed to trying new skills. And that was the point! The purpose of the mock race was to give us the chance, immediately, to action what we had learned.
I can remember at one point, in an insane gully, I slid off the back of the bike. The back wheel was perfectly placed on a ledge I'd just stepped up onto using the traction techniques.
I so desperately didn't want to lose my ground and waste my gains, so (like a moron) I was trying to push, lift and drag the bike around to get the front where I wanted it.
Then, following a light bulb moment, I mounted the bike, planted my feet, dropped, popped and pushed! A near 90-degree pivot that landed the front exactly where it needed to be.
I rode straight out of the next step-up and onto the next challenge.
From Luke Rogers at the end of the day - "I really enjoyed the slow steady calculated decisions required in HE and the amazing feeling of achievement after we got through that M#@$@# F@#$@ 5 tier gully! NEVER thought I'd ever be able to do that."
If your perception of hard enduro is like so many other peoples, then it is nine tenths of your problem.
Let it go - get on board and have a good hard crack.
You, like Luke, may very well surprise yourself.
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