Enduro Secrets Revealed
BOOK REVIEW
Enduro Secrets Revealed
$11.95, paperback Hourglass Publishing P0. Box 924 Salida, CO 81201
AN ENDURO IS A RACE NOT AGAINST other riders, but against time. You have to stay on time to be competitive, and to stay on time you have to keep time. That’s why enduro riders use specialized clocks and odometers—to help them arrive at the right place at the right time. The truth is, however, that if you don’t understand the fundamentals of enduro timekeeping, your precise instruments are little more than expensive handlebar weights. And to become a timekeeping wizard, you need a broad knowledge of just what enduro riding is all about.
In an effort to make that task easier, Ed Coonfield has written Enduro Secrets Revealed, a slim paperback that claims to “cover every aspect of enduro riding.” And indeed, the book does attempt to give its reader a broad knowledge of enduro competition. It’s a primer that provides a comprehensive, if basic, examination of the sport, from what an enduro is, to how to wash the bike when the event is over. It offers useful tips on bike preparation and riding gear, and even supplies the addresses and phone numbers of enduro-related en-
terprises. One particularly valuable section of the book is a 10-page glossary of terms that equips new enduro riders with a working vocabulary to help them understand the language of the sport.
Coonfield begins the book with a general overview of enduro riding, followed by chapters on scoring and on the rules. The latter is important because, as Coonfield points out, “to be able to do well you must have a working knowledge of the rules.” But for most enduro riders, from the experienced enthusiast to the rank beginner, the worth of the book will hinge on its discussion of timekeeping.
Like all the other parts of Enduro Secrets Revealed, the timekeeping section is aimed at the person who has a little enduro experience, but is still a bit confused by the whole thing. So rather than talking much about specific strategies, Coonfield spends most of the timekeeping chapter talking about the various instruments that are currently available. He points out the basic differences between the more popular computers and clocks, and even suggests how some digital wrist-watches can be used. He also discusses the different types of timekeeping necessary for various kinds of enduros. Overall, this section is clear enough to give the novice a good idea of the specifics of timekeeping without getting bogged down in too much detail.
And it’s clear that the author didn’t get bogged down with many editing details, either. There are numerous places where the text is poorly written and loosely edited. It’s also unclear what some of the pictures have to do with the surrounding text, and many of the photos are simply not of professional quality. That may be acceptable for an inexpensive trade paperback, but you expect higher quality from a book that sells for $ 11.95.
Despite its unprofessional nature, though, the book can provide diligent readers with nuggets of useful information that should help clear up some of the apparent mystery surrounding enduro riding. The experienced rider won’t find much of interest other than the section on timekeeping, but the new or occasional competitor will find the book a good source of information.
— Camron E. Bussard
