There was a lot of betting and side action going on at Erzberg. It was the reason McGrath was there, as I believe Travis bet Jeremy a dollar he would beat him on the hare scrambles. The Nitro Circus Crew was making all kinds of bets on how far Pastrana would end up going. I didn't have a bet with fellow American journalist Ryan Dudek, who took my former job at Cycle World magazine, but he seemed to be trying to beat me to take less heat from his coworkers at the streetbike book. McGrath obviously had no idea what he was in for. I knew that when I passed him up a slimy root hill as he was sliding down backward-behind his bike. This is no way to see the King of SX, but it sure felt good at the moment. Pastrana was at one point actually leading, but Knight soon found his way to the front with Andres Lettenbichler, Despres and Graham Jarvis in tow, staying that way till the finish. Two of the four names you may not know, as they are trials guys; Lettenbichler was only riding a true enduro bike for three days before the event!
I trudged along in pure survival mode and made it over the top of the mountain. I rode up stone staircases and successfully hopped the gully on a 45-degree hill with the trolly track in it. Managed to get enough help to get tugged up more than one vertical wall of roots and mud, in part thanks to my Tugger straps and the human chain that pulled me. On my way down, I knew that I'd eventually finish; I just had to get my bike through the three remaining rock gardens. At this point, I had clawed my way up into the top 15, way out of touch with the top-10 goal I'd set. Methodically, I was saving energy but still picking guys off. In the first rock garden, called Karl's Diner, which was supposed to be a no-assistance area, drama erupted. My buddy Mr. Cutoff Guy decided on an impossible lower line. Impossible that is until a helper rides up on a trials bike and pulls him up out of it. Making matters worse was the guy in front of me falling into every hole possible and getting stuck, leaving no way around. Then the guy on the trials bike actually cut me off! At that point, I was ready to blow. Louwre [Louwrenc?] Mahony from South Africa launched his bike to try and go around all of us, but he lost his balance and instead knocked me and my Gas Gas into a rock hole, breaking off my front brake lever in the process. I was super-pissed, and I actually took a swing at the guy before I sensed the fear of death from him. Knowing my race could be over, I started to demand he give me his front brake lever. After all, he had a fanny pack and I had nothing. I got his spare and a 10mm wrench before he took off; I believe I gestured to him that he was number one. And wouldn't you know it? The KTM lever didn't work on the Gas Gas. I thought I was done. And if you think that you don't need a front brake, well, you have no idea!
I hiked out of Karl's Diner and proceeded to beg with the course workers who were there to borrow a front lever off of one of their bikes, which were, of course, mostly new KTMs. But I located an older KTM, but that still wouldn't work. Then I came upon a Yamaha. I couldn't find the owner, yeah, I tried, and I quickly liberated its front brake lever, as it would work on my bike. (I found the guy later and gave him a reward!) McGrath had just arrived. He had run out of gas in the rock pile and was having his mob find some fuel. Out of gas in 15 miles, gives you an idea of the situation. I couldn't believe he was still riding, and we decided we'd ride the rest together, making sure we both made it to the finish. Hey, I might have needed the help more than him! We worked our way through the rocks till the downhill that followed. It was just steep enough to make you think that you could ride down it, which you could if it didn't terminate into a giant pile of rocks. And as I was off bulldogging my bike, I heard Jeremy ask, "Can't you ride down this?"
He passed me quite in control, but the rock's consistency changed to boulders, and as his speed picked up, his only saving grace was to slide out. Luckily, Jeremy used his head-even though it was to hit a small tree, which actually slowed his descent to a stop. Off-line and in rocks the size of car tires, he had a little more work cut out for him to get to the bottom.
Don't think the guy didn't impress me in other sections. He found the killer line through another rock hill and hopped a giant hole that would have easily swallowed his bike if he hadn't cleared it. We were tangled in with some other stragglers and making slow and steady progress when Pastrana showed up at the bottom of one of the rocky canyons. He'd already finished, was in street clothes and decided to come back to heckle McGrath, stoked he was a dollar richer. Later, obviously feeling as if he'd rubbed it in, he said. "Man, that may have been a little too much." But he deserved to relish his glory, as he'd really put it all together to finish one of the most grueling races on the face of the earth. Especially considering he has a slightly harder time than most people just staying on two wheels. "I got a good start then just took it easy. I was really waiting for Jeremy to catch me, but it never happened. I actually rode smart," Travis recalled. "It's hard to come to a race like this knowing that I can't beat guys like Knight, but at least this time I finished!"
Dudek had now caught up to us, and we, without speaking, decided it was going to be an American trio to the finish. Although we all endured hardships throughout the last five miles-stuck, under the bike, pinned against trees and wedged between rocks-none of us bolted on the other two. We got near the finish line and decided we'd race over the last set of giant tractor tires to the checkered flag.
As we lined up to start, McGrath asked, "How the hell do you get over those?" Just about the same time a fourth rider pulled up. We didn't hesitate, and before there was an answer, we shot off at the 4-foot-tall tires with rim holes easily big enough to swallow a bike. The fans loved it, and somehow I managed to get the jump, though I'm pretty sure both Dudek and McGrath could out-holeshot me any time they wanted. I launched my bike halfway onto the tires, dragged it up the rest, got it down the backside and then managed to rocket my way to the top of the sandhill finish, taking 27th place.
Looking back at all the good memories and cross-referencing them with sore muscles, I can say the Erzberg Rodeo is a lot more fun after you finish then when you are actually doing it. But since I was like a pig in poop (literally) during the whole mess ,you can't believe how much fun it is telling stories about it now. It's a circus, and I fit right in-too bad it's a half-world and another year away till the next one!