by Peter Weiss

Heniu Hard Enduro would count as my 4th Hard Enduro race in 2021 in Romania and this was a race I really looked forward to. The head of the organisation is a really good friend of mine (Bart from Master Bike) and I expected a really nice and probably quite hard race. Also, this race would be extra interesting for me, as it would be my debut on the Sherco.

Before driving out to the race in Heniu, my girlfriend Vanessa and I drove out to the village called ‘Orlat’ Wednesday night in order to camp for the night (first night in the van!) and be close to Sibiu Thursday morning, where I would join a little ride close to Sibiu with some old colleagues and friends from my time working in the Romaniacs organisation.

Later the same day, the Sherco importer in Sibiu upgraded my bike with some protection and mousses (big mistake on my mousse & tire choice, I would later realise…)

Next morning the trip to Heniu started and as always driving through the Romanian landscape is an experience in itself. And that we are slowly starting to use the van as a camper is also a big joy.

Arriving at Heniu, we parked close to the start of the race, put my number on the bike, turned the gopro on, raced, had fun and realised afterwards that I was recording a time warp… So unfortunately, no useable footage from the first day of the race but Vanessa got some great photos:

This race was a really fast and easy one – and it was just what I needed to get started on the Sherco. My finger would still barely bend and even on the smallest of logs, I failed using my middle finger as a clutch. Not so much because I can’t use my middlefinger for the clutch, but because I tried to keep my index finger straight to enhance the chances of letting it heal. And I definitely did not want to take any risks of making it worse.

My first impression of the bike in a race is that it’s super powerfull and easy to ride. It was good enough for 4th in the Expert Class and we were 62 in my class, so not the worst result to start the race with.

Day 2 came along and would be a completely different story. It had been raining prior to the weekend as well as during both racedays, so the conditions were super slippery and while everything was good until the TankPoint, I soon realised that my tire setup was completely useless on the hard hills.

From the start to the Tankpoint I was up amongst the top runners in my category and while I don’t have any data of my position exactly at the Tankpoint, I have a feeling that I was probably top3. But after this, it all went downhill and as I was pushing my bike up literally all the hard sections, I dropped all the way down to 17th. Obviously not the result I am content with, but knowing what I did wrong is all that matters.

Here’s some of the great pictures Vanessa took of me during the race:

I filmed the entire race of day2 and broke the race down into 7 videos. This is the first one from the Start to Checkpoint 1:

Making these videos took half a day of work as I had to learn how to add a general as well as individual TimeCodes in Premiere Pro to each segment of checkpoints. I will try to figure out how to add more data such as speed and height in my next videos, which will be from Enduro Panorama next weekend.

Reflections on the race:

Would I do this race again? Absolutely! And next time I’ll make sure to show up with a soft tire and either a supersoft mousse or Tubliss.

Learn more about Heniu Hard Enduro on their website and follow them on Facebook.

Connect with Peter Weiss, the author of this review: