Press Release

2018 CLIF Enduro East Series featuring EWS Continental Championships Finals and Two EWS Qualifiers

2018 CLIF Enduro East Series featuring EWS Continental Championships Finals and Two EWS Qualifiers


 


There's no denying that enduro racing is about the hottest thing on two wheels these days. It seems every bike club and trail network in the country is offering an enduro race of some sort. The Enduro World Series has absolutely taken off and is garnering a bigger and bigger slice of the bike world's attention. For those looking to get in on the action, or even see if they have what it takes to earn EWS points, the CLIF Enduro East by Maxxis ESC series is back for another year. After giving the two-day race format a try last year, CLIF Enduro East will once again offer some of the best enduro racing on the continent and a chance to earn points towards a starting spot in the EWS. The two-day race format is a totally different beast from other races in the region and leaves a lasting impression on those who step up to the challenge.

While last year's events were stand-alone competitions, this year the CLIF Enduro East is a series with overall champions being crowned when the dust settles. With a $5,000 purse up for grabs at each event, racers will need to bring their A-game to take home a piece of the prize pie. Because this is now a three-part series, the overall champions will also split a $5,000 purse at the finals. Win the race and the series and take home a couple grand. All three CLIF Enduro East events are sanctioned by the Enduro World Series, which has revamped their points structure for this coming season. The EWS now has three tiers of races: Qualifiers, Continental Championships and the World Series. The first two CLIF Enduro East races will be EWS qualifier events and the finals at Burke will be a Continental Championship race. Lots of EWS points up for grabs on the East Coast this summer!Racers can earn points in any of the races but they are weighted differently. For comparison a men's winner of the following are awarded points as below:

Enduro World Series - 500

Continental Championship- 250

Qualifier - 125

There's only so much enduro love to go around though. The CLIF Enduro East race entries will be limited to the first 150 racers in the EWS classes and the first 100 in the amateur classes. Get registered now, use the code EWS20 and save $20 until May 1st so don't miss out. Race registration includes three days of lift passes, parties, a couple beers, great trails and a whole lot of fun.

CLIF has stepped up big time in the last few years to support mountain biking and their continued efforts help put East Coast racing on the world map. “As a company that was truly, ‘born on a bike,’ mountain biking is and has always been a proud part of our DNA at Clif Bar, and the Clif Enduro East series perfectly represents everything we love about the sport- epic trails, fun times, and an amazing MTB community coming together to celebrate the sport and the outdoors. We are excited to enter Year #2 of the series and have some fun surprises in-store that will truly elevate this series to new levels!” -Will Yandell, Regional Marketing Manager, NORTHEAST, for Clif Bar & Co.

The first round of the CLIF Enduro East series will be at Mountain Creek Bike Park in Vernon, N.J. It's been a couple years since the Creek hosted a big enduro race. The mountain is known for its rocky and technical terrain but also has some of the sweetest flow and jump lines on the East coast. With two days of racing there will surely be a major sampling of some off-the-map offerings. This will be an EWS Qualifier event and take place June 30 and July 1.

The second round will be at Thunder Mountain Bike Park in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. After storming onto the mountain bike scene in 2015, Thunder Mountain and has been turning heads with their aggressive building strategy and outstanding terrain. Rugged single track plunges and fast machine-built works of art are a common theme at Thunder Mountain. The two-day format also allows organizers to take advantage of the superb network of trails across the valley from the main mountain. This will also be an EWS Qualifier-level event and will be contested on July 28 and 29.

The final round of the series will be the EWS North American Continental Championships finals and bring racers to the world class riding destinations of Burke Mountain and Victory Hill in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. Victory Hill, on the backside of Burke Mountain, is in the midst of an all-out trail construction boom. Every year the network grows and the trails have been getting glowing reviews. Burke Mountain is renowned for its technical trails off the summit. Big descents lead to the bike park with some of the most beautifully sculpted flow trails on the planet. The other two legs of the Continental Championships will be held in California and Colorado so this will be a real change of pace for what will likely be a highly competitive field of enduro big hitters. 

The EWS point structure can be a bit confusing. In a nut shell, racers earn EWS Global Ranking points for their finishing place at all CLIF Enduro East events. When a racer's points are added up at the end of the year they receive a final Global Ranking point total and this determines who gets the automatic 2019 EWS entries. The automatic qualifiers are: Top 300 ranked Men, Top 75 ranked Women, Top 100 U21 Men, Top 20 U21 Women, Top 50 Master 40+ Men, and Top 20 Master 35+ Women.In addition the Top 3 riders in every category at each EWS Continental Championship (Burke/Victory) event will automatically qualify and the winner of each category in every EWS Qualifier event (Mountain Creek and Thunder Mountain) will also get an automatic berth.

We've been talking a lot about points and rankings but CLIF Enduro East events are mostly about fun racing and are open to everyone. The series will have categories for amateurs with great prizes up for grabs. In addition to men's and women's amateur categories there will be a 16-and-under youth category for the young rippers. Licenses are not required to race any of the events, but its important to note that anyone wishing to receive EWS Global Ranking points must have an EWS license before racing. The CLIF Enduro East race series offers the highest level of enduro racing ever offered in this neck of the woods. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your enduro game to the next level. Use the links below to find out more information and to register, but don't wait the EWS Classes are limited to 150 racers and the Amateur Classes to 100.

SCHEDULE:2018 CLIF ENDURO EAST presented by Maxxis ESC

June 30-July 1 Mountain Creek, NJ – EWS Qualifier

July 28-29 Thunder Mountain, MA – EWS Qualifier

Sept. 15-16 Victory Hill / Burke Mountain – EWS North American Continental Championships FINALS

If you're new to the game check this out:2018 CLIF ENDURO LITE presented by Maxxis ESC

July 8 Burke Mountain - Beginner Enduro Racers - Families - Kids - Fun !


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