You know when you have to sit out from a ride for whatever reason and your riding buddies come back and tell you, in detail, everything you missed? Well, when Denison and Lewis returned from Romania and the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye they spoke of a race like no other-one fraught with danger, pain and endurance. After that I didn't even want to think about trying it. So when Throttle Entertainment's newest DVD arrived at the office, I was ever so stoked to see what I missed, and from the comfort of my couch no less! Bring on one-and-a-half hours of pain.
Jeff Pakosta knows his stuff. In the opening sequence you feel the pain and agony of Chris Birch as he tries to navigate up a "trail." That grueling sequence sets the tone for the rest of the film and Pakosta does his documentary thing quite well (it's not his first rodeo). Close-up action shots of the world's most talented riders doing impossible things split with intimate interviews with the top riders are the main course here. And if you really look at what they're doing on the bike, you'll freak out. They make impossible look easy. Also featured quite well are the working men of Extreme Enduro-crazy individuals racing on their vacations to just finish and sometimes catching on fire in the process.
One large section of the DVD is devoted to two strapping American lads (Denison and Alexander Smith) and their father/son race quest. This breaks up the hard-core pain and suffering of the race and puts the whole world of Extreme Enduro into a context we 'Mericans can "get." I would have enjoyed some up-close info on bikes and mods to feed my tech hunger but other than that I'm happily watching this movie over and over again.
If a film like this makes me want to go riding, I consider it well done. And after watching it, conquering the Red Bull Romaniacs actually sounds like a tiny bit of fun. -Jesse Ziegler