Whistler’s Wei Tien Ho defended home turf last month at the Norco Canadian Enduro Championships.
Though he was competing in the U21 men’s division on Sept. 24 and 25, Ho posted the event’s fastest time by more than 18 seconds. However, with the pro men’s field lacking Enduro World Series champ Jesse Melamed and other local heavy hitters, he’s not reading too much into the result.
“I was really happy to end the season off with the win, and I’m happy with my riding,” he said. “There were no EWS people there, like Jesse, so I’m definitely happy to have the fastest time, but there should have been some pros there.
“It’s a half-win.”
Still, Ho could only beat the riders who signed up, and the fact he outraced them all just weeks after breaking his ribs is all the more impressive. The injury kept Ho, primarily a downhiller, out of the UCI World Championships and the final Junior World Cup of the season.
“I was pretty much fully recovered. It was more that my fitness wasn’t necessarily there, and I hadn’t been on a trail bike for awhile,” he said, noting that he only started riding again just over a week before the race following a layoff of nearly three weeks. “I’ve just got to be ready to suffer.”
While Ho ages out of the junior division for downhill in 2023, he is still eligible to compete against his U21 peers in enduro, which he plans to race more of next year.
“I decided to focus on downhill since it’s my last year in junior, just to see what I can do,” he said. “Next year, because I’ll be in elite downhill, I’ll definitely dabble in it, gain some experience and learn some things, but I’m going to focus more on enduro next year.”
Ho is also an accomplished freeskier, and having graduated high school, he’s taking a gap year to allow himself both pursuits this winter, including competing in some Freeride World Qualifier events and serving as a forerunner for Freeride World Tour competitions at Kicking Horse and Andorra.
Just behind Ho in the division was Pemberton’s Tegan Cruz, who rebounded from a rough first stage to finish 24 seconds back in a silver-level performance.
“It was a little last-minute decision to race the enduro nationals in Whistler. I had a lot of fun with my friends and it went well,” Cruz said.
With a primary focus on downhill, Cruz will recall the summer of 2022 fondly, as he claimed his first UCI Junior World Cup podium at Vallnord, Andorra in July.
The following weekend, he earned the junior men’s downhill title at Kicking Horse with a time that would have put him on the elite men’s podium with older brother Lucas, who placed second.
“I’m really happy to be the Canadian champion moving into next season and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going,” he said.
LONG CLAIMS SECOND IN PRO WOMEN'S
Meanwhile, Whistler’s Julia Long won a stage and finished 4.8 seconds back of Kamloops’ Jennifer Jackson to take second in the pro women’s category.
“It was more just a day for me to have fun. I feel like I did put a bit of pressure on myself, so I was just trying to stay humble. I didn’t look at the results all day, I just had fun riding with friends,” the University of Victoria kinesiology student said. “It was just coming home for the weekend and enjoying the Whistler trails.”
The highlight of Long’s day was riding Micro Climate, a trail she knows well.
“I really tried to charge on it, and tried to go full gas on the whole thing,” she said. “I made a few mistakes, but that’s all a part of enduro.”
Long competed in six of eight Enduro World Series events in the pro women’s division, gaining momentum as the year went on—she finished in the top 20 in her final three races, including a season-high 18th in Whistler.
“It was almost my first full season, so I’m really stoked on that,” said Long, who comes from a cross-country background.
Other Whistlerites who excelled at national champs included: Riley King (second in pro men’s); Tristan Sanders (third in pro men’s); Natalia Sisolakova (first in open women’s); Tom Webb (first in 30-39 men’s); Billy Marnane (second in 30-39 men’s); Will Leverton (second in 21-29 men’s); Shane Gayton (first in 40-49 men’s); Flavio Kodato (third in 40-49 men’s); Sion Gwynn (first in expert men’s); Alvaro Sanchez (third in expert men’s); and Peta Gascoigne (second in short course adult).
Full results are at zone4.ca.
