by Jose Cisneros
What’s your name?
Jose Cisneros
How old are you?
29
Where are you from?
Mexico City
When did you get into the sport of hard enduro and when did you ride a dirt bike for the first time?
Hard enduro around 5 years and dirt bikes 11 years ago.
What bike do you ride?
My own Bike, KTM 2021 XC-W 300CC
What team do you ride in (if any)
Family Team
How many hard enduro races have you entered (roughly, doesn’t have to be 100% accurate)?
8
If possible, what would you characterize yourself as? Beginner, weekend warrior, ambitious amateur, semi-pro or pro?
Ambitious Amateur
What race are you going to talk about and what year did you do it?
Sierra Hard Enduro
What was the race format like – how many days, hours or races did you have to do to finish/win the race?
2 days, first day a 1.5h hard enduro fast lap, very demanding, Results would set your starting position. Day 2, S2S race Type, The checkpoint you reach is the medal you would get. 2 day you had 7 hr to finish.
What excited you the most about this race? Was it the terrain, the grip, the camaraderie, the organisation, the weather, your own performance or something entirely different?
I had ride before in the same mountains so i knew it was going to be gnarly. There are just a few races of hard enduro in Mexico so we normally take any opportunity we can.
What kind of tires/mousse/tubliss/tube did you use and why? More importantly – would you recommend your setup or did you learn that something else would have been better?
It depends on how good of a rider you are. If you have good control of clutch i would recommend a soft tire and soft mouse like I used because in the gnarly hill climbs the grip helped a lot! But if you don’t have that good control of clutch then definitely a Medium tire because the terrain is very rough and abrasive.
Was there anything bike setup-wise that you discovered to work great and that you’d like to share?
YES bar mount XC GEAR MAKO 360 helped a looot to reduce the arm pump in the ETERNAL rivers of rocks. Also good suspensions with correct SAG are recommended.
How tough did you find the track physically and mentally?
One of the toughest I’ve done! A mix of a very demanding terrain and the really hot weather made it really challenging. I discover that if i want to ever get the gold medal i need to train way mor physically in order to have the strength to keep going. Technically wise, it was very equilibrated.
Was the track easy to follow (markings or GPS tracks) and was the difficulty level what you expected, easier or harder?
Perfectly marked, i had to use very little the GPS and a lot of times the track was intuitive. The level was WAY HARDER than expected.
Where did you stay during the race, was it a good choice and would you do it again? (camping, hotel, private etc.)
Private apartment 🙂
What result did you get and are you happy with it?
Can the official results be seen somewhere you know of? Im very happy with my result! I got what i deserved, I did no stupid mistakes and give it all.
Did you feel like you got a good value for your money at this race?
TOTALLY
What would be your best piece of advice, to a person who is considering entering this race for the first time?
SUPER HOT WEATHER GEAR, 3Lt water bladder is a must, Ride and train for big rocky river beds and technical hill climbs.
What (if anything) would you like to see changed in the event to improve it?
More checkpoints with water, it doesn’t need to be drinkable if they drop it on you it would be great. Maybe less riverbeds and more climbs.
Finally, would you do this race again and recommend it to other riders?
TOTALLY super looking forward for edition 2.0
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