As far as hard enduro racing goes, the Red Bull Romaniacs ranks right up there with the Erzberg Rodeo, Hell's Gate and the Tough One in terms of difficulty. Martin Freinademetz, the mastermind behind Romaniacs, is one sick puppy. While the aforementioned hard enduros are one-day events, Martin's race is five. Erzberg racers must finish within a four-hour window, while the adjusted cut-off at Romaniacs is as long as 16 hours (four Erzbergs) and the organizers require that you carry two smoke flares, a pack of waterproof matches and a signal mirror in case you get lost. The main challenge in Romaniacs is in the endless kilometers of hidden trails that snake through the Carpathian Mountains, out of sight for all spectators save for a few surprised farmers and lonely shepherds. However, the race is well known for its wild spectator sections.
We pushed (and, at times, carried) onward for nearly 45 more minutes before arriving at the three final obstacles of the day. The first, a gigantic wooden wall ride over a river, was a snap compared to the side-hills we'd ridden that morning; the spectators cheered when we made it across, but it was clear that they wanted to see one of us take a dip. The second obstacle consisted of a square concrete telephone pole extending back to the east side of the river, which we also crossed with ease. Finally, we came to the finish line: An inviting Red Bull arch set atop a small hill. The only problem was that the finish lay on the opposite side of the river, over which was strung a sketchy wooden bridge anchored on a narrow cable. Alexander went first, and Jimmy and I watched in faraway horror as my teammate's front wheel slipped off the bridge in slow motion, sending bike and rider into the frigid river and completely underwater. Like a good teammate, I plunged in to help retrieve the bike, and with Lewis' help we hauled it out of the water and brought the soaked (but, luckily, rented) KTM back to life. The three of us then successfully crossed the bridge-albeit much more cautiously this time-and clocked in to the finish line. Soaked to the bone, completely filthy and utterly annihilated, the day ended on a high note when the scoring girl announced that Alexander and I were in fifth place.
Ride smart. Those two words had comprised the entirety of Malcolm's pre-race speech as we sat on the hot asphalt waiting for the prolog to start. With decades of experience under his belt, Malcolm knows what it takes to succeed at a race like Romaniacs. Throughout the week, he offered valuable bits of advice to us, obvious remnants from his long and successful career as an off-road racer. From what to do when you're stuck on a hill to how to effectively, nonverbally communicate with the locals, Malcolm's guidance was essential to our race effort. Likewise, Pete brought a wealth of mechanical and leadership skills to our team, and he always seemed to know what to say when we hit a tough spot. His pre-race advice was similar to Malcolm's: "Use your heads, but when the time comes to pin it, don't give 'em an inch!"
Pete Denison has wrenched...
Pete Denison has wrenched for National Enduro champ Steve Hatch,
and Malcolm Smith is... well,...
and Malcolm Smith is... well, Malcolm Smith.
The hard enduro rider ethos is exemplified in a race like the Red Bull Romaniacs. These riders are the toughest of the tough, and many of them train all year for this one event. They travel from around the globe-24 nations were represented in 2009-and pay thousands of dollars just for a shot at conquering this vicious event. Physically, the sheer size of the archetypical hard enduro racer is impressive. Alexander and I arrived in great shape, but not in the right shape: We were lean and light like featherweight boxers, while most of the others racers were built like commandos with about 40 pounds of extra muscle and reserve stores of energy. It's safe to say that Alexander and I felt a little out of place considering that our combined weight was less than that of one of the Swedish Armed Forces riders! Nevertheless, we felt a strange affiliation with our foreign competitors.
We were more than lucky to...
We were more than lucky to have support dads this qualified.
Only in Eastern Europe: A...
Only in Eastern Europe: A condemned building unsafe to occupy is apparently safe enough to ride through and over the top of.
Of course, the trip wasn't all about suffering. When we first flew into the Milan airport and spent a day with the generous Italians at the Acerbis factory, I felt like I was on vacation. Our borrowed Acerbis Sprinter van provided the perfect mode of transportation with which to explore the heart of Europe, and as we drove past the lush vineyards and lakes of Northern Italy, we hardly talked about the race ahead. Staying at our friend Andreas' flat in Vienna, we toured the old city just as any tourists would do. But once we picked up our bikes at the KTM factory in Austria and started toward Romania through Hungary, the mood changed from relaxed to focused. Our resolve grew when we finally arrived at our destination of Sibiu and began building up the race bikes with the parts that we'd shipped over weeks before. When we were finally done, our machines looked so good I felt almost guilty knowing what they were about to go through.