Ryder Knoll - Kickstarting the Canadian Enduro League

The Canadian Enduro League is back, leaner, smarter, and rebuilt by someone who knows racing from the inside. Ryder Knoll joins us to unpack how buying the series during a layover turned into a full-scale rebuild focused on doing fewer rounds better, fixing rider pain points, and bringing back the vibe that made enduro weekends special.

We break down the 2026 calendar: Kelowna with Fire in the Mountains, Vedder’s classic challenge, the wildcard Cypress Hills, bucket-list Toby Creek, and a Sun Peaks finale,  plus how DH weekends and EDR windows shaped the schedule. Ryder walks us through the nuts and bolts too: tighter course marking, live timing, volunteer incentives baked into registration, and a push for reliability across every round.

We also dig into categories and pathways, from U19 Elite and adaptive racing to youth pre-rides with fast mentors and a developing grant to help a standout junior chase European EDR experience. Beyond logistics, this one’s about culture,  side events like bunny hops and grass slalom, rebuilding industry trust, and why grassroots enduro is still powered by parents, groms, privateers, and friends checking splits on the climbs.

If you love Canadian mountain biking, this one’s a must-listen. The rebuild is on, the calendar’s stacked, and enduro is finding its groove again. 

Share it with your riding crew, hit follow, and tell us where you want to ride, the next chapter starts right now.

• Get in touch via my Instagram
• Hosted and Produced by Jarrad Connolly

Transcript

Setting The Stakes For Canadian Enduro

Jarrad 0:04

Welcome back to the Dynamic Life Cycles Podcast. Today's episode sits at a pretty big moment for Canadian mountain biking. The Canadian in Jero League is coming out of a pause and stepping into a rebuild. Leading that charge is someone who didn't come from the outside, but straight out of the race state. Ride and all has gone from lining up on stages to taking on the responsibility of owning and rebuilding the National Series. This conversation isn't just about dates and venues. It's about reassessing what injuro in Canada actually needs right now. How do you balance grassroots riders and elite competition? How do you rebuild trust, momentum, and community after break? And what does the success look like even when you're trying to create something sustainable, national, and rider driven? We'll get into all of that working with communities, rider support development, attracting industry backing, and how storytelling and media can shape the future of the sport. More than anything, this is a conversation about where the Canadian injuries has been and Ryder believes it can go next. So I hope you enjoy the listen. Cheers. Yeah, nice seeing the sunset coming over the bridge too, stuck in traffic. Yeah, that that bridge traffic, I think it doesn't matter which way you're going, it's pretty hectic. Yeah, definitely it gets worse when the days get nicer. So yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's kind of funny. Like I always thought it was worse in summer, but now we're kind of in peak winter. Not that there's a lot of snow on the mountains, but I feel like the snow definitely brings people to the North Shore.

Rider’s Background And AGR Team Origins

Ryder Knoll 2:05

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, Shuttling Cypress the other weekend. It's just a constant stream of cars going up to the resort. It's pretty funny.

Jarrad 2:11

Yeah.

Ryder Knoll 2:11

Summer's dead. So it's great for riding, anyways.

Jarrad 2:15

So tell me a bit more about that. Like you uh sort of your background in riding that side of things, where did that start?

Ryder Knoll 2:24

Yeah, I always kind of rode bikes with my parents um growing up, lots of sports and everything. Um I started mountain biking just in like the river valley in Calgary, uh, where I grew up. Yeah. Um riding with my dad and friends and uh started racing probably when I was 12 and XC and sort of raced XE until 2023 and started racing endure a bit more seriously. Um from there, I guess now we're here just racing and riding out here all year round. So when sorry, when did you move over from Calgary? Uh in 2023 I moved over, yeah.

Jarrad 3:01

And then and did you start at Fox at the same time or were you bouncing around a bit?

Ryder Knoll 3:07

Yeah, I started at Fox maybe a month after I moved out here. Um I moved out here and didn't have anything really secured, but uh had sort of enough savings. I was like, yeah, it should be fine. Yeah. There's some jobs that are easy enough to get, worst case. So yeah, started working there pretty quickly after I moved out here, anyways, pretty fortunately.

Jarrad 3:25

Nice. And then while you've been out here, um you guys started up the AGR. Is it AGR? Is that correct? In saying that? Yeah, the AGR like specialized in Juro team. How did that come about?

Ryder Knoll 3:37

Yeah, so uh my friend uh Andrew Picard works at Specialized. Uh so he sort of set the groundwork of uh wanting to support some riders through Specialized, uh and him, myself, and Gezer Rogers uh put the team together in 2024, um, sort of as a just a bit of a hodgepodge setup of what kind of support can we get, um, and then we'll see what we can do with it. Um, and it's turned into a pretty cool program for 2025. We picked up some more riders and yeah, it's been been really cool.

Jarrad 4:11

Yeah, yeah, like some pretty solid results for that team too. Like for kind of piecing it together as like a I don't know, I don't want to call it subpile by any means because it had some solid support and some good riders, so yeah, it's been really cool.

Ryder Knoll 4:27

Uh in our first year, I think uh our sort of our trademark, self-trademark has been uh our racers racing downhill on trail bikes and having a tendency to do pretty well. Um it's been pretty funny. Gaza won downhill nationals, her first downhill race on her Stumpy in Sun Peaks, and that was sort of our first bigger result, which was really cool. Uh and then Hannah uh Gilchrist did that as well this year. Yeah. With some some podiums of the Dunbar series, so that was pretty funny.

Jarrad 4:55

Yeah, yeah, and it's funny, like I was actually talking about this a little bit with uh Emmy in the last pod, and it's like she was talking about the difference between racing uh downhill and enduro. Yeah, and I'm like, I feel like enduro is way more sketchy, and then like you've got the girls winning national downhill on essentially enduro bikes, yeah.

Ryder Knoll 5:18

Yeah, it's pretty funny. I think just being a good bike rider translates pretty well. Um Giz is also just really fast, so I think it worked out.

Buying The Series And Learning The Ropes

Jarrad 5:26

Yeah, yeah, geezer is a bit of a freak when it comes to riding bikes. For sure, yeah. She never seems to crash either, so that helps keep someone in peace. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, no, she's uh she's pretty insane. Yeah. So I guess uh the main reason I wanted to get you on, and uh pretty much this year coming up with the whole Canadian inju uh Canadian enduro league. Um where did that idea come from? Because I feel like it was such a massive thing over the past few years. Obviously, last year in 25 there was a bit of a pause. Where did you come into that picture?

Ryder Knoll 6:05

Uh yeah, it's yeah, a bit randomly. Um I'm not sure fully the background of Ted wanting to sell it. He's got a lot going on for sure, and uh definitely moving into a new stage of his life with having a new baby and all that. So definitely a busy guy and adding lots more to the pile as he always does. Um I was on my way to Europe for an EBR block, and during a layover, I got a text from Ted uh that he was looking to potentially see if I was interested in buying the series. Uh at that point, it's definitely like a bit of an afterthought. Like, I don't know if this is even feasible, but yeah, it had a had a bit of convincing from some friends and yeah, it turned out really good, so pretty excited for it.

Jarrad 6:52

Yeah, so I guess like taking a step back there a little bit, like was that ever on the cards? Have you done much in the way of event planning and things like that? Or is it like how like where did he come up with the idea to send you the text? I guess.

Ryder Knoll 7:08

Uh, that's a good question. I haven't gotten I haven't bothered to ask him really that yet, but uh I don't have a huge background in event planning. I've got some exposure through working uh at Fox. Um fortunately being able to work events and help plan some events, so sort of knew the chaotic lifestyle I was gonna get myself into for sure. Um, but yeah, just seeing the series back would be really cool, and that's sort of what the whole idea was about.

Jarrad 7:34

So yeah, definitely. And I think like I know in the past, and it's obvious I guess it's on a little bit of a different scale, but I was doing a lot of racing and things at a similar age to where you were. Um the club that I was racing at, the local club that I was racing at was kind of failing pretty heavily at at organizing events and sort of did the same sort of thing, took on that that priority of like setting up and and and working with the events versus actually racing in them. Like, how how do you see that changing for yourself? Like, are you still planning on competing in the events or like I know it's a it's a hard question because we haven't hit the season running yet, but um, I know that's a big question a lot of people had when I was sort of talking about them that you were coming on and things like that.

Can You Run Events And Still Race

Ryder Knoll 8:24

Yeah, for sure. It's definitely been a topic in my mind. Um, the idea initially was to try and race them. I talked to Ted about that and he did it initially as well. Um, he encouraged me to go for it. And uh I think maybe at some point it'll be doable, but for the first couple, I think it'll be see how it goes, and I'll definitely be busy, so it'll be hopefully not treading above water or trying to stay above water. But yeah, yeah, I I think uh I'm gonna I'm still gonna race for sure. Um, maybe not my own events, but um we'll see how it goes and see how it progresses and if if there is space to for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And then you've got Ted coming on as a bit of an advisor still. For sure, yeah. Ted Ted's been there to help me out whenever I need a hand, and it's been super helpful. Um, super grateful to have him in my corner. Uh definitely like a wealth of knowledge there that's pretty unbeatable. If yeah, if if I ever need anything, he's definitely there and it's super helpful, yeah.

Jarrad 9:21

Yeah, so how long has he done it for? Because I couldn't find like a beginning date as Sange.

Ryder Knoll 9:25

I think he's been involved with the series since its beginning. Uh I don't know exactly when he took it over officially, uh, but I think 2015-2016 was its first years uh as the BC Enduro series. Uh and then he had it running um till 2021 when it was sold, I think. Um then he bought it back in 2023, ran it until 2024, and then yeah, 25 was a year of no kinning duro series.

Jarrad 9:53

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And it was like I remember when all those posts came out and it's like, yeah, hit pretty hard for the for the racing community anyway.

Ryder Knoll 10:03

For sure, yeah. A bit of heartbreak. It was um from one day just hearing about what's coming and texting Ted and Jake as well, uh and some of the crew there, and to then hearing that it's not gonna happen was pretty brutal. Yeah, definitely, definitely a sore spot for continuing to our racing.

Jarrad 10:22

Yeah, definitely. So I guess let's dive into that a little bit more in the sense of uh what are some of the details with the series? Like what are we talking rounds-wise and and some of the locations?

History Of The League And The Pause

Ryder Knoll 10:35

For sure, yeah. So uh to start off the year, we're gonna go to Kelowna. Uh, we've got a great partnership with Fire in the Mountains that's been a race uh that benefits a bunch of local charities and is put on by the West Kelowna Firefighters. Uh Anthony Evans heads that one, and he was super stoked to uh collaborate on that race and have it be part of the series for the first year. Uh that's gonna be at the end of April. So it'll be the first round. Um, and then two weeks later, May 9th and 10th, I believe, we're gonna have our second race at Veter Mountain, uh, which is a pretty staple classic indoor event that it's definitely been one of my favorites. So pretty stoked to go back there. Hopefully it's not insanely muddy this year like it was the last time we raced there. Uh I think that's the only time I've ever ridden a mud spike, and that is definitely warranted. Um and then there's a bit of a break where there's some downhill racing uh and some EDR racing. So uh the goal is to sort of have it a bit balanced so everybody can race downhill if they want to, because there's definitely a lot of overlap with the people that are interested in Canadian Dura. Uh so then we're gonna go to Cypress Hills in August uh after Crankworks, I believe the 9th and 10th, if I'm remembering that correctly. Uh and that'll be Cypress Hills, uh, Alberta, where there's uh a little dead spot in the between Saskatchewan and Alberta. There's a provincial park, is where that is. Uh and they've got a little ski hill there, and there's some really good trails. Uh it's definitely not known for its super long stages, but lots of really fun, shorter tracks between three to five minutes. So it's definitely some space for some good trails. Yeah. Uh and then the weekend after we're gonna go to Toby Creek, which is my my biggest goal or like my most excited uh pocket list a little bit. Totally, yeah. I've raced there a couple years with Trans BC, and that was definitely the spot in the back of my mind uh when I was thinking about buying the series, and I didn't even have to reach out. They've got uh one guy that works there and that's been huge in developing it all, uh Jose. I can't remember his last name, but uh he reached out immediately and was just stoked to talk about the potential of having the series to Toby Creek. So pretty stoked for that. Uh and then after Toby Creek in September, we're gonna go back to Sun Peaks to wind it up.

Jarrad 12:58

So yeah. So that's a five-round series?

Ryder Knoll 13:01

Yeah, five rounds, um potential for six. Uh we're working on some stuff. But yeah, yeah.

Jarrad 13:08

Yeah, that's that's pretty sweet. And like and room to grow too, because it's like not overstretching, but at the same time, it's yeah, there's still plenty of meat there to sort of get into and for sure.

Ryder Knoll 13:20

Yeah, there's definitely some conversation between myself and some some others, uh what the point of overstretching myself would be. Um, I think I could do a really good job with five to six races, but stepping into seven or eight while still working full-time and trying to race um could be a little much for the first year. So yeah, we're just gonna see how it runs its course this year.

Jarrad 13:45

And yeah, and I think most people would be stoked to have five rounds back versus none or ten that are half run, you know, like yeah, definitely yeah.

Ryder Knoll 13:55

And I've been to a couple half-cooked events in the last year or two, and it's definitely worth, in my opinion, having a bit more of a base setup and just making sure everything's good with a little bit less stress and peace of mind.

2026 Calendar And Venues Announced

Jarrad 14:08

So yeah. So I guess that's a good point to touch on is like what are some of the sort of pain points you saw in the past couple of years and different events. You don't have to name events because we don't want to blow anyone out of the water here. But like, what are some of the stuff you've seen that you want to make sure that you get right with your events?

Ryder Knoll 14:29

For sure, yeah. Um, the biggest thing for me is just making sure everybody has an enjoyable time and wants to come back for sure. Um, making Enduro sort of the feeling of what it used to be in Canada is the biggest goal. Uh, TED always did a really good job of making it feel like a really welcoming place for everybody, and everybody had a really good time. So bringing that back would be the number one goal. Um, but I've yeah, I've definitely in the in the organizational side of things, I've definitely seen like bad course marking or um just things where people get lost because of bad course marking, and days just get so long when that happens and no fun for anybody. So that and like always there can always be timing issues, but um yeah, hopping in with a pretty reliable timing system is always helpful and just making sure that people everybody volunteers, medics, everybody knows what they're doing. So pretty yeah, having a couple solid or people with a solid understanding of what's happening and helping distribute the knowledge is gonna be key for sure.

Jarrad 15:33

Yeah, definitely. I think as a writer, that's almost the worst case scenario is if you miss a turn signal or especially on a timed part of the the course. For sure. And and then uh literally blows up your whole day, if not the series for yourself. Like totally, yeah.

Ryder Knoll 15:50

Um racing, I've never had an in-stage um miscommunication of or marking, uh, but definitely had it pre-riding where there's different uh different categories in the same course or yeah, what have you. So yeah, it's uh it's definitely not fun when that happens.

Jarrad 16:08

Yeah, no, you definitely don't want that at all. And then you you mentioned there that you're linking up with a a solid timing system. Is there like are you able to say which system you're working with?

Ryder Knoll 16:18

Totally, yeah. I'm gonna be uh well working with zone four again. Uh definitely there's some pretty popular uh options that they offer, so uh they make it pretty easy with incorporating everything. So it's pretty nice, yeah.

Jarrad 16:32

Yeah. And then will that be using like timing chips or will you be using like gates first start and finish?

Ryder Knoll 16:38

Totally, yeah. So it'll be uh it'll be the same if anybody's race can draw, it'll be the same as before, uh, where there's a gate buried in the ground and they'll have a chip on them and that'll be how it's run. Nice, yeah. Yeah, that's that's sort of the easiest way to do it for sure. Totally, yeah. They offer a pretty simple live timing um option as well, so that's definitely something a lot of racers want to see, I think, throughout their day. Yeah, no matter how the day is going. I think people always I always see people looking at live timing.

Jarrad 17:05

So Yeah, I I would have to agree. I think it's like it doesn't matter whether it's like beer league level or all the way through to the pros, it's totally it's always a good conversation to be having on the climbs and things like that. So you kind of mentioned uh at a couple of the rounds, uh definitely at the first round, but um you've got a bit of sort of collab with previous events. Did that sort of come up when you were picking locations if there was already like let's call it sustainable events that are already happening? Is that part of that decision or not entirely?

Ryder Knoll 17:38

Uh Anthony reached out initially uh when it's sort of the news kind of came out that the series was coming back um and was just really excited to see what was possible. He's worked with Ted uh previously to collaborate on the race as well. Uh, and I think the race went pretty well, and yeah, he's looking to bring it back and yeah, worked out pretty well. So yeah, we're stuck to to go back there.

Jarrad 18:01

Nice. And then when you talk about volunteers like on the course and things like that, um what are you doing to get those people involved? Is it because obviously someone from Vancouver is probably not going to Alberta to volunteer as such, unless they're a parent sort of thing. Is there ideas behind that?

Doing Fewer Rounds Well

Ryder Knoll 18:20

Yeah, so there's lots of uh ways to sign up for volunteering. It's gonna be a part of the Reg as well. So if a parent is signing up their kid uh and they want to volunteer, there's lots of great perks to volunteering, some entry discounts or discounts on product from sponsors of the series, um, or free entries potentially, depending on a couple things. Uh so there's gonna be that option to do it through Reg. Uh ever all the details will be lined up there, or we'll have a link on our website as well once everything gets launched and sorted out, uh, where you can sign up to volunteer for the round for sure.

Jarrad 18:54

Yeah, nice. Yeah, and that's I think that's one of the easiest ways to get people involved as well, is like give them a bit of a deal for their kids to race, and totally you get mum or dad out there and go from there, that's perfect. Yeah. Um, I had a another question that went with that, but it's completely slipped my mind. Um, in the sense of classes, like you're talking about having some of the kids racing and things like that. For sure. What's is it gonna be sort of that standard UCI breakdown of classes or how how are you sort of breaking those down?

Ryder Knoll 19:27

Yeah, so it's gonna be pretty standard to how it was run previously. There's a couple adjustments uh with sort of parallel to UCI and potentially the hopes of bringing stuff on later down the line or incorporating it. Uh so instead of having U21, uh the biggest change is that we're gonna move to a U19 elite category, uh, and then elite, so there's gonna be pro and junior pro essentially. Um but otherwise U15 through to 50 plus um with some e bike categories and some adaptive categories. Um Sprinkled in where is possible. Yeah. So yeah, that'd be pretty cool.

Jarrad 20:03

So tell me a bit more about that with the adaptive side of things. Like obviously not all trails are adaptive acceptable. So have you guys got a bit of a game plan with that?

Fixing Pain Points: Marking And Timing

Ryder Knoll 20:14

Yeah, so I'm actually sort of talking with Bowhead. They're giving me a lot of information about what's sort of possible, what's not. Obviously, my experience in the adaptive bike category is fairly limited. But yeah, they've given me a couple of cool resources to tap into and it should be pretty cool. It's definitely not going to be something we're putting through every single round this year. Just with the me being pretty green to it and making sure it's I don't want to put it out there half-baked and then have some issues. So yeah, there's definitely going to be a bit more effort that goes into it just to make sure it works well. So but yeah, we're we're pretty stoked to bring that into the fold. I'm not aware of any other adaptive enduro racing in Canada. So yeah, it's kind of a gap we wanted to fill. So yeah.

Jarrad 21:06

Yeah, I think it's such a good opportunity, and I've seen it with some other things happening in Australia and stuff like that. More downhill-based side of things, but um where obviously they don't have to get themselves to the top of the hill, but um yeah, I think it's like it's kind of cool to see that that's also incorporated in the series and going from there for sure. Yeah, definitely pretty excited about it. So uh in the sense of like the series, like going back a little bit here, what does it kind of mean to you? Because like obviously you raced it in the past, like what does that future look like for you in the sense of building that series out and where do you want to get it to?

Ryder Knoll 21:49

Yeah, for sure. So yeah, I kind of moved out to Vancouver with the goal of racing the series and seeing where I could go with racing bikes. Um, so for now the series is gonna stay to the or for this year, we're gonna try and aim to capture that similar level of event that Ted put on previously, which is a pretty high level of event. Um but yeah, it's I mean, the the places we could go are endless, I suppose. But yeah, it's definitely a goal to have it as a a pretty solid long-term series for Canadian Duro development for however many years to come, um, until I either finish it or pass it on to another Grom that wants to do it. But yeah.

Jarrad 22:32

So talking about like development and things like that, have you got some things lined up? I know you sort of mentioned it in the past and previous sort of owners and Ted and those guys have had certain things to help get that sort of younger generation and pathways moving forwards, obviously, with your experience in Europe, stuff like that. Have you got stuff set up there for those guys?

Volunteers, Perks, And Local Support

Ryder Knoll 22:56

Yeah, we're working on a couple things. Um, I'll leave some details out for now because there's some half-baked stuff for sure that's gonna come out a bit later. But yeah, I've got um through our team, anyways, AGR race, we've got a couple great um new groms that are coming on. Uh, so there's gonna be a pretty cool pipeline that will build through that of uh having sort of uh leaded pre-rides uh with some of the girls and uh some of the guys on the team that'll help lead uh maybe like youth pre-rides and some things like that to help sort of connect kids and build a bit of a uh community amongst people. So that'll be cool. Uh and just bring that that community back to what what it was, um, meeting new people and making connections is a pretty big part of the series, I thought. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that'll be pretty cool. And we're working on a grant as well for a young athlete for potentially a couple things. Uh one one thing it could be used for is going to Europe if a young athlete is at the caliber where they're looking to go to Europe and race an EDR block, but potentially don't have the means to do so. I've been in that place myself, and so have many others that I've raced with. So uh that'll be a pretty cool opportunity that we're we're working on. More details will come out on that a bit later, but yeah, pretty excited for a couple things there.

Jarrad 24:19

And then you sort of mentioned working with some brands and sponsors and things like that, obviously with you at Fox and then your link with specialized. Have you got much sort of industry support coming back on board and opening it back up?

Ryder Knoll 24:33

For sure, yeah. There's uh there's a couple, uh there's there's a lot of industry support for sure. Um that'll come out a bit later. Uh so uh yeah, most of the most of the support that I'm getting is through the industry. There's a lot of uh product deals. The state of the industry is a bit interesting at the moment, so um negotiating for cash can be a bit fun, but yeah, it's any support that I'm getting is super helpful. And there's definitely a couple key partners that have stepped up big time that have been just immense and really cool to see. So super helpful and really important in creating like a really strong base from the get-go here of making sure the series is gonna be something that's strong and lasts for the future as well.

Categories, U19 Elite, And Adaptive Plans

Jarrad 25:15

Yeah, yeah, and I think that's that's definitely a big key is like if you have that industry backing, it's gonna be shared sort of all the way through and deep into those roots, and um it's also gonna bring a lot of people together, and I think that's kind of a a cool way to start, and having that solid foundation is is huge for sure. For sure, yeah. So I guess moving forwards a little bit in the sense of um what was I gonna say? Um uh so like rebuilding trust and things like that with the community, obviously um with the the whole racing going on, sort of pause, um the series sort of stopping for a little bit. How and what's the plan to get that back on board? Obviously, there's there's a lot of hype with a couple of posts you've put out so far. Um, like what's the the build-up for that?

Ryder Knoll 26:24

Yeah, I think just the the biggest thing is uh making sure people are aware that it's coming back. Um a lot of the the posts have been through social media for sure. Um Pink Bike's gonna play a huge uh key in advertising that people are or that the races are gonna be back, and there's been a lot of stoke from the community so far, so pretty, pretty excited about that, and I think it'll be a pretty good turnout, um, hopefully, anyways. Yeah. So yeah, it uh it'll definitely be mostly through just word of mouth and through social media and making sure people uh know when dates are and when registers coming out, so and hopefully we get uh registration full.

Jarrad 27:07

Yeah, definitely. That's it's almost the hardest thing is making sure that people know about it. And then I know before we started recording, you kind of mentioned a bit about the social media, and I guess you just did then as well. Have you got people behind you helping with that side of things?

Ryder Knoll 27:23

Yeah, there's definitely a few key players. My parents immediately came on board to say if you need any help with anything, we're here. Um, my mom's been definitely a big uh backing and helping lots with a lot of the admin work that just is pretty tedious, so super helpful. Um, and yeah, I've got a couple friends that are super uh super invested in the series, so got lots of support with a couple little jobs here and there where I need it, and yeah, it's been really, really helpful.

Jarrad 27:51

Nice. And then in the way of like getting some of the pros on board and and things like that. I know in previous years there's been like you've had like uh Jesse Melamed, like ALN, a lot of the top pros turning up when they can, obviously when it's in between racing blocks in Europe. Have you had much of a like a chat with some of those riders and racers?

Ryder Knoll 28:13

And yeah, a few of them. Not uh not a whole lot yet. Um my head's been pretty buried under some of the other stuff going on. Uh, but yeah, there's definitely talking to the few that I have talked to, there's definitely a lot of excitement for some of the series races. Um yeah, obviously there's a few riders stepping back a little bit from EDR racing, not entirely, but um that may leave some space open for more continental North American racing. So hopefully we can see some of them at our races, which would be really cool.

Jarrad 28:44

Yeah, definitely. And then was that part of the consideration? I know you mentioned the balance between like the downhill and the injuro trying to balance when the events were on, but was that also a consideration with like racing in Europe and things like that?

Development Pathways And Grants

Ryder Knoll 28:58

For sure, yeah, it definitely was. Um I sort of know a lot of the the gripes between um going to Europe and then missing out on some of the fun local races. Obviously, the fun local races are a much lower priority, but if we can make it um so that people can race both, uh that's awesome. It's definitely a much smaller crowd that's racing both, so it's not necessarily geared towards them entirely, but um coincidentally just lined up where there's a couple other downhill series that we don't uh collide with with the dates we have, so it yeah, it just worked out really well.

Jarrad 29:35

Yeah, like is there is there much of a plan? Like you've got the five rounds, possibly a sixth round for this year coming. Is there more coming in 27, 28? Like, what's the the the future plans of that look like?

Ryder Knoll 29:50

Yeah, definitely there's coming into this year, we haven't thought about that a whole lot yet, obviously, but um Ted's obviously run nine to ten rounds in past years, and the goal is to get back to that. Um, this year being a bit of a starter year, um making sure everything runs properly. Going from there, yeah, the goal is to definitely have a Westy East Coast series again, uh, bridging over into Ontario and Quebec again would be really cool. This year, uh just having rounds that I I knew I could get done was pretty important. Uh, and I ended up with just venues that worked really well in the schedule uh pretty just easily. Um so they they ended up being venues that I'm all really happy with and yeah, pretty excited. Uh, and then moving on from this year, keeping hopefully most of those venues and adding a few and maybe adding a few new locations would be really cool. Um, there's definitely a strong scene out in the east that's just places.

Industry Backing And Funding Reality

Jarrad 30:51

Um you kind of mentioned one of the rounds, like your last round is a bucket list round. Would there be some bucketless kind of locations you haven't got hold of yet?

Ryder Knoll 31:00

Yeah, potentially for future years. Um I don't even know if I don't know what the deal is there anymore, but Ritalic would be really cool. Um they recently shut down the operation, I think, for cat skiing. But I know there was a BC and Droceries there a while ago and it looked really cool. Yeah. Ritalic or Revy or Nelson, any any location that pockets sort of a bit of a golden area for riding and a little bit less known, but I think some of the riding definitely rivals what we have on the coast here.

Jarrad 31:31

Yeah, definitely, and like big mountain stuff too, like especially places like Revy and and those areas that are the huge mountains that you can get almost like full European Enjur days as such.

Ryder Knoll 31:45

Definitely, yeah. There's a lot more opportunity for a bit more backcountry riding or big alpine days, but yeah, there's so many good trails. I think Nelson has eight or nine trail systems around it. Yeah. Which is insane. I think there's two or three trail systems within the city limits, and it's yeah, it's wild how much riding is there. It's insane. It's almost more than I feel like we have out here.

Jarrad 32:09

Yeah, yeah, which is insane because there's a lot in the Zky already. Like it's crazy already. Um talking a bit about Europe and and that area and and what's happening over there, it seems like it sort of peaked a couple of years ago with the Enduro over the past couple of years, with like different people coming into play and and politics and whatever else we don't need to talk about. Um but it seems to be on a bit of a downturn with the limelight shifting more to the downhill. How do you feel that will affect like the Canadian or the national side of things versus um yeah, obviously what's happening in the world with with that racing side of things?

Rebuilding Trust With Clear Comms

Ryder Knoll 32:54

Totally, yeah. I was definitely expecting that question. Um, yeah, there's there's an obvious bit of a downtick in EDR racing. I don't know how reflected that is in uh the media. I think maybe the media, based on what we've seen, is maybe a bit overly negative. Not like the not the articles or anything, but the views that come out of what we're seeing. Um I think five teams are registered as UCI uh World Tour or World Series teams, uh, which is definitely much lower than it's been for a long time. Uh but if you look outside that, I think you're not gonna see that many that many riders stopping. Uh I think there's definitely gonna be some riders that stop, but I'll think a lot of riders will continue on a privateer program or race a partial series. So I definitely don't think Indo is going anywhere. Um and at the the national level or at the grassroots level, it's I think it's one of the biggest disciplines still. Um there's a series in Washington and uh Oregon through the Cascadia Mountains. Uh, and they put out an article or they they sent an email today or yesterday, I think, um, pretty much about this. And I think similar to what others have seen within more local grassroots racing, their numbers have been as strong as they've ever been. Yeah. Um there's definitely no um, I guess, um sight of Enduro fading out at this level.

Jarrad 34:30

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And I think like if you ask anybody, if you said, hey, you can ride down a mountain five times in a day and get seven minutes of riding, versus you can go ride your bike all day and like hang out with your mates and go see these really cool places and new places that you might not get to see as well.

Pros, Date Balancing, And Attendance

Ryder Knoll 34:52

Yeah. Um, yeah, I think it also opens the gateway for some of the the bigger adventure style races like TransB C or Trans-Sierra Norte. Uh, those are definitely some of my favorite races that I've ever been a part of, and uh it's really cool. I think there's been a bit more exposure to those now that there's some more top-level pros maybe approaching those. Maybe it's yeah, it's a multi-day type situation. Yeah, totally, yeah. Um, so yeah, I think there's a bit more opportunity to race those than if that if the EDR side of things fades out, but I don't see it fading out really.

Jarrad 35:28

Yeah, yeah, and that's uh one point you brought up is like obviously the five registered teams that UCI are registered, I should say. But then you look at a lot of the other the riders, and um all of them are on factory-backed privateer teams as such. Yeah, there's a lot of people. Like, yeah, whether you're looking at like Emmy with Forbidden or uh like Ellie Hoskins or even like Geezer when she's over there, they're not gonna be reported as those UCI teams, but they're still gonna be at the races and going from there.

Ryder Knoll 36:07

Yeah, I think it'll be interesting to see the registration numbers or just the amount of riders that are still racing over there because there's definitely a a huge European contingent that races those versus the North American crew. I think the North American crew um is definitely a pretty tight-knit crew. Uh but yeah, there's so many Euros that go over there and race because it's easy for them.

Jarrad 36:28

And yeah, it's just driving down the down the road, it's almost like driving from here to Alberta to go to a race. Yeah.

Ryder Knoll 36:35

So yeah, it'll it'll be interesting to see that. Uh, but I yeah, I don't think this word's going anywhere.

Jarrad 36:40

Um and then you kind of mentioned right at the beginning there about getting like the vibe and the just having the fun in the event. How do you how do you plan to do that in the sense of you're gonna have like obviously a bit of a a difference in trails and skill levels on the trails and and things like that, but is there like a plan to have that sort of uh village vibe and and that type of thing happening?

Ryder Knoll 37:08

For sure, yeah. I think at every venue we're gonna have a couple different things. Um, like Ted has had in the past where there's little little activities or the uh bunny hop challenge or a grass slalom that we'll we'll bring back. Um, those have definitely been really cool to have at the rounds. Uh it definitely brings a bit of fun to each one after the race is over, have a little bunny hop competition or long jump competition or whatever's happening. Um yeah, we're bringing that back. So nice. That'll be fun.

Growth Vision: West To East Expansion

Jarrad 37:38

Is there and I've been at events that have done this where there's like almost like a fun event the night before. So like uh is there thought behind some of that sort of stuff, or is it kind of like because obviously if people are traveling a fair distance, um they're gonna be there the day before, they're probably gonna be pre-writing courses. Um is there much thought into that, or even a bit of a pro stage the night before, like they do in the AWR?

Ryder Knoll 38:08

Yeah, I think um yeah, we raced a pro stage in Bromont at Nationals this year, and it was really cool. Um, so there's definitely been a bit of thought into that. I don't know if it'll be something we do it every round, but maybe one or two where it's a bit more accessible would be really cool.

Jarrad 38:22

Yeah.

Ryder Knoll 38:22

Um, but yeah, I think previously there's been some activities the day previous to racing, uh the grass lolem and things like that, um, or little competitions. But when I find like when I'm pre-riding, uh that's that's like a whole day worth of riding. Yeah, people I think people are usually pretty cooked after that, depending on how big the race or the the day is. So yeah, uh it'd definitely be really cool to bring some some little after parties in and I don't know what we'll see, but yeah, it'd be really cool.

Jarrad 38:56

Get some stuff together and and get it exciting.

Ryder Knoll 38:58

For sure, yeah. There's definitely a bit of there's a couple projects we're working on to sort of bring back the the feeling of what Enduro used to be and capture that. Um so yeah, it'll be really cool.

Jarrad 39:10

Tell me a bit about that. Like I have an idea of what Enduro means to me, and I'm sure most people listening has the I guess their own opinions and ideas. What like what do you see that as for yourself?

Ryder Knoll 39:24

Yeah, for sure. Um the the thing I feel like Enduro really captures is the community spirit. Umduro's a rider-first sort of racing style. Um without the riders in the community. Obviously, there's not gonna be enduro, so uh yeah, lots of lots of community aspects, so just having good times basically. Uh lots of the things we're doing with the series is gonna be involving local trail associations putting lots of money and work back into the trails, um, which is really sick and keeps people happy. And make sure we're invited back is pretty important. But yeah, just I think Enduro used to be a little bit less serious and a bit more of a good time. So there'll be a bit of a goal to capture that as well, especially at the the national level or the grassroots level. Seeing a bit more of that similar to what it was previous, I suppose, would be really cool.

Enduro’s Global Momentum And Media

Jarrad 40:22

Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I think that like that the way you describe that is exactly how I feel. The same. It's like just getting out there, it's going on that like almost epic adventure ride. Totally. But then like anybody that's competitive loves like almost like arm wrestling their mates. Yeah, for sure. Um, so I think that's such a cool, cool way to look at and a cool aspect for sure. Yeah, just getting out and riding with your friends is always the best time. So making that happen is awesome. Yeah, definitely. Um before we start to wrap this up, is there any sort of like message you want to put out there to everybody that like will kind of give people that confidence back in that series?

Ryder Knoll 41:08

Totally, yeah. We're we're here to stay, I think, and it's it's gonna be a really good time, whether you like it or not. And we're just excited to be back and hopefully everybody else is excited to have it back.

Jarrad 41:18

Yeah, I think from what I've seen online so far, it's everyone's pretty keen to to get back into it and get riding again.

Ryder Knoll 41:25

Yeah, thanks, yeah. Hopefully it's hopefully it's what everybody's expecting it to be, and hopefully we can live up to the the legend. Yeah, no, for sure. I'm sure you will. Most definitely.

Jarrad 41:35

Thanks, yeah. Awesome, thanks. Okay, yeah, thanks for having me.