The inaugural Kingdom Enduro went down in the landlocked Kingdom of Lesotho recently, so we caught up with main man Rene Damseaux for a chat.
Every race has a different story, the people, the terrain, the complexities of that country all come together to create a very different experience.
Rene Damseaux is a man with a plan and kicked off the inaugural Kingdom Enduro which is now part of the African Continental Enduro Series. Pete had a chat with the man himself to see what goes into race organisation in Lesotho.
Photos by Mick Kirkman.
Who is Rene Damseaux?
King of the Congo and fast at forty.
What’s your background in cycling and the cycling industry?
I started riding 2004 in the UK with my brother. We rode in Friston Forest every week building and learning how to ride. Then got in to downhill through the PORC series, Dragon series, it was awesome.
Then we went on a holiday to Morzine, I had a Mountain Cycle San Andreas and my brother was on a Specialized P3. We were addicted straight away. We were always on the first at the chair lift and last people on the trails.
The return to Friston Forest was like a bad come-down so we stopped riding till 2011. During this time we travel the world and started a business.
Between 2011 and now, we have done several multi-day races, UK Gravity Enduros and a few trips abroad. I then moved to Molini di Triora as a guide and trail builder.
How did Kingdom Enduro come about?
About 4 years ago I went on a road trip through Lesotho from Maseru to Sani Pass and it was paradise with mountains every where. I had been to Andes Pacifico to race and loved the vibe.
From that day I just want to bring all my riding friends here and last year I met Christian Schmidt after spending 3 year the highlands searching for trails. We met and all our dreams came alive.
Had you ever organised a race of this kind and calibre before?
Never, but thanks to Darol Howes and Christian Schmibt we made it happen.
How did you choose which tracks to use?
Well Darol and Chris, my partners, have been in Lesotho for several years running Lesotho Sky and helping marking the Roof of Africa which has been running for 50 years. They’ve made a long network of routes and we used 3 of them for the race.
Myself and Tumelo spent 5 months walking up and down, left and right looking for every possible way to make the best of the paths we found with some innovative sections, I love the raw, organic enduro.
What kind of terrain and dirt are you dealing with?
There is a diverse terrain in Lesotho. It’s amazing as it always change from top to bottom. The grip in the rain is better at the top on the Basalt rock but as you descend it ether goes into sandstone or clay which is so slippery.
In the dry the Basalt rock is like the anti grip in Chile, but then the sandstone becomes the polar opposite so does the clay. Always a different game to keep you on your toes.
How many people make up Kingdom Enduro and what do they do?
Darol Howes, Christian Schmidt and myself. We do everything.
What did you have to sacrifice to get to this stage?
Well, not going mad in the city.
Has any work you’ve done before helped with get the race off the ground?
No, I just have a great position when I put my mind to something. I guess some of my previous trail building back ground helped, and maybe travelling the world and seeing other trails, but nothing formal or specific.
How many variations in course did you have before getting to the final route?
Day 1 had no changes, Day 2 all stage got changed to make it more fun and tough, Day 3 no changes.
How is organising a race in Lesotho different to anywhere else?
I usually chat to the chiefs in the villages to make sure they happy with us riding in their area. Anybody who knows Africa will know that organisation is tough.
First we’re in Lesotho and I don’t speak the language, so communicating in the mountains was not easy, but Tumelo, a local to Lesotho and now my friend is my right hand. We managed to find what we need and connect with the people in the villages.
As far as the locals are concerned they have an amazing laid-back life style which I would choose for my self but like I said before I’m a passionate in what I do and time management is important which makes it tricky to have schedule running on time for an event and everything else in the background.
It’s nice but can be challenging when you need to get this done. But thanks so much for been such amazing people putting up with me.
Any disasters?
It rained two of the days but that’s not really a disasters just unlucky and luckily the guys had fun.
Favourite moment(s)?
Spending time in the mountains with the local kids, they very special and close to me.
The kids are the joy of my soul, the vision of my passed child hood and soul mate for life, the kids are who I spent the most time with looking for trails to walk up and down all day for months.
I had water and some thing to eat they didn’t eat or drink all day. It made it very hard to eat as they didn’t need much in the day as I could not work all day and not eat or my mood would change, but they where always happy and play from the morning till the evening with big smiles and laughter.
They all have their characters which I love and got to understand who was who in the zoo, without many words we understood each other. They would show me in the middle of nowhere a spring to drink water from, or a root of a plant to eat, or a leaf. Their knowledge was amazing on how to survive in the mountains and they must have only been around 3-6 years old.
Where next for Kingdom Enduro? How do you plan to go about getting extra helpers etc. etc.?
All of this is new for me so not really sure yet, but Kingdom Enduro will all ways be in Lesotho. Anka Martin and Mick Kirkman are my mentors. We’re working on that.
Anybody to thank at this point in the journey? Long suffering spouses/parents/friends?
Well first the people of Lesotho for being such amazing hosts and allowing us to put on the race in their country.
Well everybody in the Kingdom Enduro team, from the staff at Roma trading post to the media crew, the medics, the tech support and all the riders for coming. Many thanks guys.
