Are you tough enough for the Banayad Endurocross?

Toughest enduro challenge hits the south of Manila

Enduro riding is intimidating at first, but once you get hooked into it, there's no going back. To demonstrate the skills involved in enduro riding, our friends from Tatay Tomas Trail Site in Magallanes, Cavite staged the first-ever Banayad Endurocross that got riders from Cavite, Batangas, Rizal and Bulacan battling for the coveted “Trail King” title. As the name suggests, “Banayad” means gentle or smooth sailing in english, but for these guys, it is the complete opposite.

_{This is tougher than it looks}

_{Ariel Ansaldo of Enduro.ph}

Tatay Tomas, or Ka Tomas among us who frequents the place, lives on top of a hill and is our patriarch in the area. This same hill also offers some challenging uphill climbs and descents, and hence, became the practice grounds for enduro riders around. After setting up with some boulders, logs and big tractor tires, Ka Tomas' hill is now host to the Banayad Endurocross.

80 entries joined the event from different categories, from Open Enduro (all enduro bikes are welcome, no displacement cap), All China (China-produced bikes), Executive Class (riders 40 years old and above), Local Enduro (locally produced/ available enduro bikes), Open Production (production bikes, no displacement cap) and Trail King (open to all, if you think you have what it takes).

_{Francis Fajutar who is one of the organizers of the Banayad Endurocross, shows how it should be done when crossing a wood plank}

On the top Trail King category, young gun Aaron Pacheco took the championship, while JR Apil and Herbert Gordo took the 2^nd and 3^rd place. A special event, BOSS (BMW Owners Society of Safe Riders) Vic Ochoa, Norbert Dizon, Jeffrey Encarnacion, Marcial Salamat and Emman Salazar, dropped their big adventure bikes for their light and agile enduro bikes, with the support from Francis Evangelista and Leslie Paelmo, as they literally rubbed elbows and battled against each other over log jumps, tractor wheels and wood planks.

This may not be the Erzberg Hard Enduro, but this is as close as it gets.

_{120 kilos of meat for all these hungry enduro riders and fans, it was a fiesta!}

_{Top to bottom, clockwise: Herbert Gordo, JR Apil, Aaron Pacheco, BOSS Leslie Paelmo, BOSS Francis Evangelista, Emman Salazar, Bebs Apil, BOSS Vic Ochoa, BOSS Marcial Salamat, BOSS Norbert Dizon, Brando Rosales and BOSS Jeffrey Encarnacion}

Special thanks to the generosity of BOSS riders Vic, Leslie, Francis, Marcial, Norbert and Jeffrey; Cho Delos Santos, Bebs and JR Apil; Francis Fajutar and the Team Tatay Tomas for making the Banayad Endurocross a very successful event.