Shooting Pro Hard Enduro: Red Bull Outliers - Prologue
Racing at the 2023 edition of Red Bull Outliers got started on Saturday, August 26th. For those who missed it in my previous Outliers blog post, the FIM explains Hard Enduro as become “one of the most challenging off-road motorcycle [disciplines] in existence.” In a nutshell, FIM Hard Enduro World Championships consist of an Enduro Cross style prologue and one or more stages of racing in extreme off-road environments. For Red Bull Outliers, the prologue would take place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, with the single Hard Enduro stage being run in the Badlands just north of Brooks in Steveville, Alberta (about 2.5 hours east of Calgary). I covered the pro riders’ track walk of the hard enduro track in my previous post, and will cover the hard enduro stage in my next one
IRC Endurocross Series Presented by Progressive | RD 1 Recap
The 2023 IRC Endurocross Series, presented by Progressive, opened tonight in Everett, WA, at the Angel of the Winds Arena. Coming into the series, Canadian eyes were on #84 Trystan Hart (FMF KTM Factory Racing) after his second-place overall finish to Jonny Walker in the 2022 series, and with his strong first half of the 2023 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship.
Shooting Pro Hard Enduro: Red Bull Outliers - The Track Walk
In mid-August I got back from shooting for a week in Ontario at the Canadian Grand National Championships and the final round of the Triple Crown Series. Next big challenge for me was to shoot Red Bull Outliers - Round 4 of the FIM World Hard Enduro Championship Series here in, and around, my hometown of Calgary AB. As the FIM explains it, Hard Enduro has become “one of the most challenging off-road motorcycle [disciplines] in existence.”
In a nutshell, FIM Hard Enduro World Championships consist of an Enduro Cross style prologue and one or more stages of racing in extreme off-road environments. For Red Bull Outliers, the prologue would take place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, with the single Hard Enduro stage being run in the Badlands just north of Brooks in Steveville, Alberta (about 2.5 hours east of Calgary). I’ll cover the prologue and the hard enduro stage in later posts, but for this one I’m going to share my experience going to shoot the pro riders’ reconnaissance track walk out in Steveville on the Thursday afternoon before the weekend of racing.
BFD Moto Fall Super Series Recap
The 2023 BFD Moto Fall Super Series wrapped up yesterday at the Wild Rose Motocross Association track in Calgary, AB. With five rounds over three weekends and making use of all three tracks at Wild Rose, the series was highlighted by great racing and it reinforced that the young talent in Alberta MX is continuing to progress.
Tragically, the series was marred by the first-round accident that resulted, days later, in the death of Jason Slingerland. Jason was a talented young motocross and enduro rider here in Alberta. The outpouring of support from the Alberta, Canadian, and international moto community was incredible, and greatly appreciated by the Slingerland family. He will be missed.
2023 BFD MOTO Fall Super Series: RD 1
The BFD Moto Fall Super Series got started at the Wild Rose Motocross Association here in Calgary this past Sunday. The series consists of five rounds over three weekends, and is traditionally very well attended, with only the Triple Crown rounds coming close to matching them for numbers here in Alberta. For example, round 1 of this year’s Fall Super Series saw just around 450 riders registered. Adding a little bit of extra interest to the day, Trystan Hart and Will Riordan crossed over from hard enduro to take the start in a couple of morning motos.