I've just ridden Erzberg so here's the race report!
We arrived on the Tuesday May the 20th, a bit too early really as the entrance for the quarry was still locked! Eisenerz is a small town in the Austrian Alps not far from Linz, the Erzberg area is basically a massive Iron ore quarry not as far from the town as you would imagine. I had pictured us being miles away from civilization, but in fact the Quarry buildings and offices were only a 5 minute drive from Eisenerz.
The format soon became clear as more and more people arrived during the next few days, trade stands were erected, as was the massive KTM set up, 4 articulated wagons housing the factory team, supported riders, hospitality and 1 for the KTM Adventure tours which ran all week and were booked up solid (you could go for a tour around the quarry and view some of the course riding the 950 Super enduro guided by Gio Sala the multi world enduro champ and all round nice guy).I had a scout round for the BMW Factory team but were told they weren't there this year in full force and only had 2 x G450X's entered...
We got 'Special Paddock' parking thanks to Simon Douglas and were on a smaller camping area just over the back of the Enduro-x course. Handy for the start, the Enduro-x and, we were reliably informed the further away from the main campsite the better...
We had a Burstner 690 motorhome kindly lent to us by Anchorpoint motorhomes of Limerick so we made a 'double awning' to work under with some mates from the UK who had a van full of their bikes. Not as impressive as the KTM set up but it would do for us and be the site of a week of pre race fun and numerous BBQs.
I signed on in the Race office tent on thursday morning after producing my driving licence and having my photo taken and was issued with a wrist band, 3 x numbers for my bike, timetable for events and final instructions, thankfully all in English. They did not seem to want any type of MCUI licence and there was, surprisingly no technical inspection of the bikes – quite strange, but presumably if you are mad enough to enter then the onus of riding a 'safe' bike is up to you.
The Enduro-x event was a man made course right by the paddock area and FMX jumps, there was also a small MX track for mini bikes and all day every day there were bikes in and out of the this area with a 'GANG' sticker on the front, these were the traveling marshals, all volunteers , that policed the course to ensure no one was practicing before the big race and would later help pull bikes up the endless hills...
Qualifying for the Enduro-x was very relaxed, 2 sessions a day on Thursday, friday and Saturday to do the fastest lap you could to try and make the final on saturday night. I had a go and made it round over the triple jump, sand pit, tyres,in and over the quarry truck back, through the rock section, water splash, down the big hill and back up, over more tyres, a log 'ladder' and finally a 5ft high log pyramid in a reasonable time. My time improved and l got as far as 10th fastest ending up 13th. I decided not to ride the final on saturday night as the top 15 would be aiming for the same 1 line and it looked like a good opportunity to get hurt before the main event.
We had ridden up and had a look at the 1st half of the main course which started from the flat base of a quarry and went up the big gravel hills that are made famous on the DVD as most don't even make it past this point in the main race. We walked the last rock section known as 'Jurisdiction Ditch' and rode into the 'Devils forest' to look at the main race route. I was scary how hard the course would be and l was under no illusion that this would be a seriously hard event. The forest later proved to be the hardest energy sapping section as the single track zig zags up an unbelievably step incline to the famous concrete stairway.
The 2 prologue races were Friday and Saturday and I had number 923 which meant l was due to ride at 3pm on both days – this proved chaos and I ended up going up around about 12 on friday and 10am saturday. Now this was fast. It started next to the enduro-x course and basically went to the top of the mountain using the fast sweeping quarry tracks, most of which were 6th gear with numerous hairpins and loose gravel and big loose rocks if you ventured off line or overshot corners. I did both. I also had a 6th gear 'tankslapper' that required a swift change of underwear as soon as I finished. I qualified 73rd and was not happy as the few seconds spent overshooting and missing the cornering line had cost me a front row start for the main race.
The main race starts at 12noon next to the lake in the lowest point of the quarry and 500 riders line up in rows of 50 which are started with 5 minute intervals between rows. It was sunny and I was nervous. I don't often get nervous after racing off road bikes since I was 11,but today I was nervous. I had drank about 4 litres of energy drink and it was coming out as quick as it was going in, but I had to keep drinking as I knew dehydration would set in.
We lined up at 10.30 am leaving the bikes on the line the riders sheltered from the stone cracking heat. 11.45 came and we were sitting on the bikes warming them up.
At 12.00 the flag dropped and the 1st row set off, Taddy, Cyril, Juha, Markko, Bolts and Co set off like they meant business rounding the inflatable Red Bull can in a haze of 2 stroke and dust. We were next.
I managed to get a decent start and remember saying to myself 'Steady' as we rounded the Red Bull can – this would not have been a good place to loose the front. I got in front and got out of the quarry quickly and without incident (see video on Youtube).
The forest followed and very soon I was riding down some ridiculous descents and pushing the bike up the aforementioned steep zig zags. I remember sitting on the bike and as I was about to attempt the next part a bike suddenly tried to 'mount' me as an Italian Honda rider tried to get past on a steep slow uphill, and I felt his front wheel in my back. With a swift flash of the Alpinestars sent him tumbling down the hill. Oh well, this is a race not a good manners competition.
I managed to get out of a section they call 'Dynamite' which was a really tough rocky single line track up a steep gully and under a Red Bull arch and diverted back into the forest (great) towards the concrete staircase. I arrived at the staircase and was surprised at the amount of spectators that had made the trip to the highest point of the course. I was knackered having pushed and pulled the KTM over roots and rocks for what felt like an eternity. I managed to get through the staircase fairly quickly and pushed on to Carl's Diner. The hill on the way to this was ridiculous and I nearly took a trip over the bars, I arrived at the start of the Diner to be greeted by a familar face, up until then all the help had come from the crowd and random marshals who assist by pulling riders and bikes up some of the toughest bits.
Paul Boltons Dad Peter gave me 2 litres of petrol, 2 mouthfuls of liquid and some advice on the line over a pile of rocks in the 'NO HELP ZONE' of the Diner, a 500m sction of rocks that have rolled down a massive hill onto a 20m wide ledge. No outside assistance is allowed as the rider has to heave the bike over and through rocks the size of small cars. It's tough but do-able and after the forest felt like a holiday...
Soon after the Diner another stupid down hill meant I had to ride into a tree to slow myself down. Great, I left bit more skin on another tree.
I reached the blinding white rocks of Jurisdiction Ditch and dizzily heaved the bike threw having to put everything into the last 30metres as it crossed onto a steep grass banking towards the end. On the quarry track after this the cool air blew the sweat cold as I accelerated down the hill for 300m before we yet again were faced with a steep track up a hill.
The next bit was surreal. After 10 minutes I came back down onto a track to find a few marshals and crowd at the bottom of a very steep gully. A rider was stopped as if to be queuing to go next and marshal said for me to wait as the 'rope crew' could only pull one rider at a time. At the same time a guy had stood on my left and leaned over and said 'Vell done' I looked at him and he followed it up with 'zer is only about 10 more minutes to go and I zinc zer is only about 17 riders in front of you'. The second part of his sentence didn't really register as I was dying at this point, I asked him to say it again and he repeated it. I looked back at the gully and then back at him,'Really?' I asked, 'yah' sez he. The marshal waved and I set off. I made a right balls up of the gully and took 2 goes to get as far as the rope, which was then attached to the grab strap I had fitted round the forks and I was towed up the hill by,what felt like the Austrian tug-o-war team. I rode the next 5 minutes down more silly descents and suddenly came into the main arena onto the Enduro-x track where we had to do a full lap and finish on the Tipper truck back under the Red Bull arch which was the finish line. I was ecstatic. I went mad, jumping the tyres wheeling for to the 500 or so crowd that were cheering everybody that made it into the final section. I rode up onto the truck back and there was the Race organiser Carl Katoch with the chequered flag a camera man and microphone man and the Red Bull Girls. I punched the air repeatedly and waved the chequered flag as the interviewer said 'Andrew, you are the first Irish competitor to ever finish', 'Ahh' sez me, 'I'm not actually Irish, I'm English. But I live in Ireland and my Girlfriend's Irish so does that still count?'. The crowd cheered as it was interpreted and Erin joined me on the finish line for a kiss for the camera. I looked down and saw my mates that had all finished,Paul Bolton,Mark Jackson and Martin Craven and all the lads that had traveled with them that we had been camped with all week all clapping and cheering.
I had finished 19th in the hardest 1 day Extreme Enduro in the world.
We arrived on the Tuesday May the 20th, a bit too early really as the entrance for the quarry was still locked! Eisenerz is a small town in the Austrian Alps not far from Linz, the Erzberg area is basically a massive Iron ore quarry not as far from the town as you would imagine. I had pictured us being miles away from civilization, but in fact the Quarry buildings and offices were only a 5 minute drive from Eisenerz.
The format soon became clear as more and more people arrived during the next few days, trade stands were erected, as was the massive KTM set up, 4 articulated wagons housing the factory team, supported riders, hospitality and 1 for the KTM Adventure tours which ran all week and were booked up solid (you could go for a tour around the quarry and view some of the course riding the 950 Super enduro guided by Gio Sala the multi world enduro champ and all round nice guy).I had a scout round for the BMW Factory team but were told they weren't there this year in full force and only had 2 x G450X's entered...
We got 'Special Paddock' parking thanks to Simon Douglas and were on a smaller camping area just over the back of the Enduro-x course. Handy for the start, the Enduro-x and, we were reliably informed the further away from the main campsite the better...
We had a Burstner 690 motorhome kindly lent to us by Anchorpoint motorhomes of Limerick so we made a 'double awning' to work under with some mates from the UK who had a van full of their bikes. Not as impressive as the KTM set up but it would do for us and be the site of a week of pre race fun and numerous BBQs.
I signed on in the Race office tent on thursday morning after producing my driving licence and having my photo taken and was issued with a wrist band, 3 x numbers for my bike, timetable for events and final instructions, thankfully all in English. They did not seem to want any type of MCUI licence and there was, surprisingly no technical inspection of the bikes – quite strange, but presumably if you are mad enough to enter then the onus of riding a 'safe' bike is up to you.
The Enduro-x event was a man made course right by the paddock area and FMX jumps, there was also a small MX track for mini bikes and all day every day there were bikes in and out of the this area with a 'GANG' sticker on the front, these were the traveling marshals, all volunteers , that policed the course to ensure no one was practicing before the big race and would later help pull bikes up the endless hills...
Qualifying for the Enduro-x was very relaxed, 2 sessions a day on Thursday, friday and Saturday to do the fastest lap you could to try and make the final on saturday night. I had a go and made it round over the triple jump, sand pit, tyres,in and over the quarry truck back, through the rock section, water splash, down the big hill and back up, over more tyres, a log 'ladder' and finally a 5ft high log pyramid in a reasonable time. My time improved and l got as far as 10th fastest ending up 13th. I decided not to ride the final on saturday night as the top 15 would be aiming for the same 1 line and it looked like a good opportunity to get hurt before the main event.
We had ridden up and had a look at the 1st half of the main course which started from the flat base of a quarry and went up the big gravel hills that are made famous on the DVD as most don't even make it past this point in the main race. We walked the last rock section known as 'Jurisdiction Ditch' and rode into the 'Devils forest' to look at the main race route. I was scary how hard the course would be and l was under no illusion that this would be a seriously hard event. The forest later proved to be the hardest energy sapping section as the single track zig zags up an unbelievably step incline to the famous concrete stairway.
The 2 prologue races were Friday and Saturday and I had number 923 which meant l was due to ride at 3pm on both days – this proved chaos and I ended up going up around about 12 on friday and 10am saturday. Now this was fast. It started next to the enduro-x course and basically went to the top of the mountain using the fast sweeping quarry tracks, most of which were 6th gear with numerous hairpins and loose gravel and big loose rocks if you ventured off line or overshot corners. I did both. I also had a 6th gear 'tankslapper' that required a swift change of underwear as soon as I finished. I qualified 73rd and was not happy as the few seconds spent overshooting and missing the cornering line had cost me a front row start for the main race.
The main race starts at 12noon next to the lake in the lowest point of the quarry and 500 riders line up in rows of 50 which are started with 5 minute intervals between rows. It was sunny and I was nervous. I don't often get nervous after racing off road bikes since I was 11,but today I was nervous. I had drank about 4 litres of energy drink and it was coming out as quick as it was going in, but I had to keep drinking as I knew dehydration would set in.
We lined up at 10.30 am leaving the bikes on the line the riders sheltered from the stone cracking heat. 11.45 came and we were sitting on the bikes warming them up.
At 12.00 the flag dropped and the 1st row set off, Taddy, Cyril, Juha, Markko, Bolts and Co set off like they meant business rounding the inflatable Red Bull can in a haze of 2 stroke and dust. We were next.
I managed to get a decent start and remember saying to myself 'Steady' as we rounded the Red Bull can – this would not have been a good place to loose the front. I got in front and got out of the quarry quickly and without incident (see video on Youtube).
The forest followed and very soon I was riding down some ridiculous descents and pushing the bike up the aforementioned steep zig zags. I remember sitting on the bike and as I was about to attempt the next part a bike suddenly tried to 'mount' me as an Italian Honda rider tried to get past on a steep slow uphill, and I felt his front wheel in my back. With a swift flash of the Alpinestars sent him tumbling down the hill. Oh well, this is a race not a good manners competition.
I managed to get out of a section they call 'Dynamite' which was a really tough rocky single line track up a steep gully and under a Red Bull arch and diverted back into the forest (great) towards the concrete staircase. I arrived at the staircase and was surprised at the amount of spectators that had made the trip to the highest point of the course. I was knackered having pushed and pulled the KTM over roots and rocks for what felt like an eternity. I managed to get through the staircase fairly quickly and pushed on to Carl's Diner. The hill on the way to this was ridiculous and I nearly took a trip over the bars, I arrived at the start of the Diner to be greeted by a familar face, up until then all the help had come from the crowd and random marshals who assist by pulling riders and bikes up some of the toughest bits.
Paul Boltons Dad Peter gave me 2 litres of petrol, 2 mouthfuls of liquid and some advice on the line over a pile of rocks in the 'NO HELP ZONE' of the Diner, a 500m sction of rocks that have rolled down a massive hill onto a 20m wide ledge. No outside assistance is allowed as the rider has to heave the bike over and through rocks the size of small cars. It's tough but do-able and after the forest felt like a holiday...
Soon after the Diner another stupid down hill meant I had to ride into a tree to slow myself down. Great, I left bit more skin on another tree.
I reached the blinding white rocks of Jurisdiction Ditch and dizzily heaved the bike threw having to put everything into the last 30metres as it crossed onto a steep grass banking towards the end. On the quarry track after this the cool air blew the sweat cold as I accelerated down the hill for 300m before we yet again were faced with a steep track up a hill.
The next bit was surreal. After 10 minutes I came back down onto a track to find a few marshals and crowd at the bottom of a very steep gully. A rider was stopped as if to be queuing to go next and marshal said for me to wait as the 'rope crew' could only pull one rider at a time. At the same time a guy had stood on my left and leaned over and said 'Vell done' I looked at him and he followed it up with 'zer is only about 10 more minutes to go and I zinc zer is only about 17 riders in front of you'. The second part of his sentence didn't really register as I was dying at this point, I asked him to say it again and he repeated it. I looked back at the gully and then back at him,'Really?' I asked, 'yah' sez he. The marshal waved and I set off. I made a right balls up of the gully and took 2 goes to get as far as the rope, which was then attached to the grab strap I had fitted round the forks and I was towed up the hill by,what felt like the Austrian tug-o-war team. I rode the next 5 minutes down more silly descents and suddenly came into the main arena onto the Enduro-x track where we had to do a full lap and finish on the Tipper truck back under the Red Bull arch which was the finish line. I was ecstatic. I went mad, jumping the tyres wheeling for to the 500 or so crowd that were cheering everybody that made it into the final section. I rode up onto the truck back and there was the Race organiser Carl Katoch with the chequered flag a camera man and microphone man and the Red Bull Girls. I punched the air repeatedly and waved the chequered flag as the interviewer said 'Andrew, you are the first Irish competitor to ever finish', 'Ahh' sez me, 'I'm not actually Irish, I'm English. But I live in Ireland and my Girlfriend's Irish so does that still count?'. The crowd cheered as it was interpreted and Erin joined me on the finish line for a kiss for the camera. I looked down and saw my mates that had all finished,Paul Bolton,Mark Jackson and Martin Craven and all the lads that had traveled with them that we had been camped with all week all clapping and cheering.
I had finished 19th in the hardest 1 day Extreme Enduro in the world.
after that!
