This past weekend I made a last minute decision to head out to the North American Enduro Cup at Silver Mountain Resort at Silver Mountain to do some heckling for our pro enduro race team, Eric Olsen and Andrew Cavaye, as well as our coworkers Rich, Ian, and Branham and Fanatik ambassador Jonah Brinkerhoff.

Day 1, Saturday, consisted of five stages that would descend a total of 8400 ft, some of which the riders had to pedal up to and others that were lift access. Day 2 was a single stage, DH style day that was lift-accessed and consisted of 3360 ft of descending over 4.4 miles. Brutal.

I've had the opportunity to ride with our pro enduro racers Eric Olsen and Andrew Cavaye a handful of times, but watching them push themselves this weekend was pretty incredible. With 67 racers including the likes of Cody Kelley and Mitch Ropelato, the pro field was stacked, and despite several seemingly catastrophic mechanicals (Andrew lost his rear brake at the end of Day 1?!) these two threw down in a BIG way.

Eric Olson squashing a drop on Stage 2 of the 2021 NAEC.

Eric and Andrew crushed it, with Andrew pulling 10th place, only 1 min 23 seconds back from first (out of 40+ mins!!) and Eric right behind him in 14th place. Insanely impressive, and although both of them are itching to place even higher, we couldn’t be more stoked.

Andrew Cavaye cruising through the insanely burly Stage 4.

Our coworker Branham, who rides for Rocky Mountain Cycles, caught his chainring on a root and broke it in half off on Day 2, after putting down a bunch of incredibly fast times on Day 1.

Fanatik mechanic Branham Snyder scrubbing off the step down on Stage 2.

Our main customer service man Rich had a bummer of a Day 1, and after breaking some spokes on his wheel but getting a spare wheel, he got tricked into taking the wrong stage by a wayward volunteer. By the time he realized, his tire was going flat and he called it a day. C'est la vie.

Fanatik graphic designer Ian took it fairly easy due a wrist injury and ended up placing 13th in the expert class, while having a blast with his friends from Montana.

Our young ambassador Jonah took 7th out of 26 in Junior Expert boys 17 and under, all with a busted up hand after a crash early Day 1. I saw him at the top with his index and ring fingers taped together, but he still pushed hard and had a blast.

We had the Fanatik tent set up at the end of the course where all the racers came through, and gave them all Coca Colas and Frito Lays. They were all very appreciative and happy to see us, although they did all think I was Carrot Top.

Despite my red hair, I am not Carrot Top

Eric and Andrew are both headed to California next week for the California Enduro Series at China Peak so give em a follow on Instagram, and if you're gonna be there, swing by the Fanatik tent to say hi! We'll see you there! - Dan at Fanatik

All photos by Gavi Perl

Racing made possible with support from the following brands:

• Forbidden Bike Company - Frames
• Fox - Suspension
• Race Face - Components and Apparel
• Schwalbe - Tires
• Hayes - Brakes and rotors
• OneUp - Tools
• MTX - Brake Pads