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Inside the new We Are One Canadian Enduro League

Mixing broader appeal and more opportunity with elite racing

When the We Are One Canadian Enduro League announced its new structure and 2023 race calendar over the weekend, there was far more information than just race dates and a name change. Formerly the Canadian Enduro Series, the new WR1 Canadian Enduro League is aiming for a broader appeal, without losing the elite, focus, and more opportunities for riders across the country.

A short list of the changes includes new ownership (with some familiar faces returning), a return to Ontario and Quebec for the first time since 2019, three new women’s race categories and an “open” category and the addition of Eastern Cup and Western Cup regional events.

Oh, and all of this is backed by one heck of a refund policy.

RELATED: 2023 We Are One Canadian Enduro League calendar spans from B.C. to Quebec

That’s 10 events, new sponsors and a bunch of big ideas. But it is all backed by an experienced team and solid plans to make it happen smoothly. We talked to Ted Morton, who returns to the helm of WR1 Canadian Enduro League as part of the new five-person ownership team, to get into the details of everything that is happening this year.

NCES Blue Mountain Sea Otter Canada Enduro. Canadian Enduro League returns this year.
Canadian Enduro League returns to Blue Mountain and Sea Otter Canada in 2023. Photo: Colin Field

We Are One Canadian Enduro League returns to the east

One major addition to the We Are One Canadian Enduro League is the addition of Eastern Cup and Western Cup events. These regional championships are intended to add a level between regular series events and the Canadian Enduro National Championships. Adding regional events meant returning to Ontario and Quebec for the first time since 2019.

“If you’re going to be a national-level event, you’ve gotten be going across Canada as much as you can,” Ted Morton said when asked if he had any doubts about expanding so far east in the new ownership team’s first year. “Obviously, there are some challenges with that. But I think the benefits outweigh the costs. Knowing the venues that we’ve been at in the best, whether that’s Blue Mountain, Bromont or Camp Fortune, they’re just such iconic riding destinations that it’s logical to bring racing there.”

It’s not just the new venues that have Morton excited about returning east, though.

“I grew up in Ontario. Having an event come to town really allows you to see where you stand before you make that jump to travel across the country to race,” says Morton. “Oftentimes, you get surprised and you’re actually more competitive than expected. That can be really motivating to follow your dreams of racing, or to go pursue an EDR event.”

NCES Sea Otter Canada enduro 2019. Canadian Enduro League is back at Sea Otter in 2023
Blue Moutain racing is back this year. Photo: Colin Field

Eastern Cup and Western Cup

Giving opportunities for riders across the country to show their skill is part of the drive for Morton, who now calls Kamloops, B.C. home, to create the two regional championship events.

“The idea was that not many people are really willing to travel across Canada to race all the races,” Morton explains. “If we could create one race that’s representative of the toughest challenge and most competitive race in the Western part of Canada and one in the Eastern part of Canada, it gives those regional riders something to shoot for that’s not nationals.”

The idea came out of a conversation with a new member of the League’s ownership, pro enduro racer Jacob Tooke.

“When we thought about getting back into the series we had a conversation about what benefited riders in the past and how we could build on that. It became really apparent that there is not enough progression in enduro in Canada. You have some really good grassroots races, like Island Cup or Marin Wildside, then it went to our series.”

Rhys Verner racing 2019 Canadian Enduro National Championships. Photo: James Cattanach / NCES

Keeping the pathway to Enduro World Cup open

Changes to international racing, the World Enduro Series moving under the UCI World Cup banner, also pushed Morton and the CEL team to reevaluate how the series is structured. The EWS qualifier series is gone. Now, riders can only qualify for World Cup racing through the amateur ERD run before the pro EDR events or through national championships.

With no EDR events in North America in 2023, Canadian Enduro National Championships is the only EDR qualifying event in Canada this year. That impacts domestic racing in two ways. First, it will make nationals a much more important, and therefore competitive event. Second, it makes the pathway to international racing much more complicated for up-and-coming Canadian riders at a time when our riders are shining brighter than ever. Two Canadians, Jesse Melamed and Emmy Lan, won EWS titles in 2022. Many more added podiums across elite and u21 racing.

To Morton, the EDR changes are pushing Canadian enduro racing to a pivotal moment. The success of those riders will motivate the next generation just as their pathway to pro racing is getting more difficult.

“I see a huge opportunity for us to have a big boom cycle in Canadian riding. We need to support and get behind that,” says Morton. “It’s taken a while to claim those podiums and now we’re a global force to be reckoned with. We don’t want to miss that opportunity. We want to keep accelerating, keep our foot on the gas for Canadian athletes.”

Morton’s witnessed first-hand how hard Canadians have worked to make this success happen.

“If you look at the riders racing in the EWS from Canada right now, like Jack Menzies, Emmett Hancock, Johathan Helly, Emmy Lan, they started their enduro racing in the Canadian Enduro Series. A lot of them we actually funded through development programs or other initiatives,” says Morton. ‘That’s come full circle, where Jacob Tooke is running and managing the We Are One Canadian Enduro League.”

Don’t like views like this mid-race? Ask for your money back. Photo: James Cattanach / NCES

Satisfaction guaranteed racing? CEL’s impressive refund policy

To get riders from regional races to the international stage, you have to get them to the races in the first place. We Are One Canadian Enduro League is trying to make that easier for racers by rolling out a refund policy that is, for mountain bike racing, unrivaled.

There are two parts to this new refund policy. Leading into the event, there’s a tiered refund policy. Riders can get different percentages of their entry back, based on how early they cancel. It’s what comes next that really gets interesting.

“We’re also doing a 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee,” Morton says. “If you go to an event, you race it, and you don’t have a good time – you think the food stations sucked, or the course wasn’t great or your friends ditched you – you can come up, speak to one of our team members and get a full refund for your race that day.”

“The only stipulation is that we’ll hold your time. So you can’t see your time for that race,” Morton explains. “I think it’s pretty fair to say, that if you had a bad day and didn’t enjoy it, and didn’t think it was worth the time and energy for you, we want to keep you stoked so we’ll give you your money back.”

NCES Revelstoke EWS North AmericaRevelstoke will host Canadian Enduro League Western Cup racing in 2023
Enduro returns to Revelstoke in 2023. Photo: Lindsay Donovan.

Building back trust and lowering prices

The 100 per cent satisfaction guarantee We Are One Canadian Enduro League is offering is bold. It’s backed by Morton’s confidence in his team and driven by a need to repair relations with racers. After running the Canadian Enduro Series for many years, Morton sold to a new owner in 2021. 2022 ended up being a rough season and that owner stepped back. Morton joined with four others to buy the series back.

“I think we need to build back the trust of the riders, that’s a big thing,” Morton says. “Obviously, we’re separate businesses. The ownership team from last year is not involved in any way, shape or form going forward.”

Morton isn’t keen to make comparisons with the past organizers. But did point out that one of his last acts as series owner was being one of the first race organizers to offer full refunds, as early as March 2020, when the pandemic first hit.

Instead, he’s looking forward to what positive changes the series can make to bring riders back.

The first two moves as organizer were to establish four racer representatives to act as the voice of racers and to issue a rider feedback survey to help shape the direction of CEL going forward.

Entry fees will also be much lower. Through the support of new series title sponsor, Kamloops-based We Are One Composites, Canadian Enduro League is offering its lowest entry fees since 2019.

Canadian Enduro League
Morton, Left, and Tooke, back in the NCES days. Photo: James Cattanach / NCES

New name, new team

To deliver this year’s 10-event series, Morton is back but he’s not alone. He’s joined by Jacob Tooke (Director of Sport & Operations), Richard MacLennan (Chief Operations Officer), Jake Paddon (Director of Marketing) and Brooke Hanson (Logistics Director). Together, the team has a wide base of experience. That includes event organizing inside and outside mountain biking and to marketing with Red Bull. But it also includes Tooke, who first raced Morton’s events at just 14 years old. Tooke went on to compete at the Enduro World Series while managing We Are One’s team.

“He understands what’s needed from an athlete’s perspective to go from racing grassroots to being on the world stage,” Morton says of Tooke. “So much input is his. He’s driving the sport’s progression.”

“It’s a really exciting time,” Morton says of his new team. “I don’t know any other events in Canada, apart from Crankworx, that have such a team of professionals. It’s mind-blowing the level of skill we have.”

He’s quick to add that the series also relies heavily on the communities they visit. “We do rely on them for support and they come out fully engaged. we couldn’t do it without the passion they have for riding.”

Canadian Enduro League is back in Revelstoke
Revelstoke apres. Photo: Steve Shannon

Community racing to build community

To Morton, the sport is all about community. The way he sees it, there is a circular loop of support that he wants the Canadian Enduro League to add to.

“It’s really important to me that we provide that progression from grassroots to national championships and beyond. It’s critical,” Morton says. But not just critical for the individual riders.

“Having that great representation on the national and international stage is really important. The cool part is the trickle-down effect. If you’re racing around the world, you’re bringing exposure to your town. That’s sometimes the impetus to get more trail infrastructure, more funding for pump tracks for training, for events, or even for a downhill track.”

It can be easy to get caught up in the details of race organization, series structure and athlete progression pathways. Morton also says that at the end of the day, the reward for putting on a race series is really simple.

“It’s cool to see how much you can influence people’s lives just by putting on a mountain bike race.”

Registration for 2023 We Are One Canadian Enduro League presented by Leatt opens on March 15th. Head to the series website for registration details.