Red Bull Knocks Me Out

The Red Bull Knock Out Beach Race was unbelievable; Scheveningen beach in The Hague, Netherlands was taken over by Red Bull and the entire European motorcycle industry where 650 racers entered ready to destroy their bikes and bodies, for three hours, on about a 5km beach course.

This course consisted of; 1.5km of what they called washboard--actually more like big sand rollers just far enough apart to be un-jumpable (except for maybe a few), several drop-offs and even a little wooden step-up on to the street. And, oh yeah, don't forget about the rising tide threatening to flood the course! This was, by far, the gnarliest event that I had ever witnessed let alone raced.

Coming into The Hague as competing magazine journalists, our little group quickly became what was to be known as Team USA. After walking the track with my new USA teammates, we found out that the bikes we were to be enduring the three hours of Scheveningen Beach hell on were KTM 400EXCs. That's not exactly my choice of bikes for a deep, sandy motocross-like race, but you know what: I can't complain. KTM was kind enough to supply the bike and support and also, being such a solid bike, it was pretty much guaranteed to finish the race.

Soon, the bikes were prepped and taken to the staging area. And with no excuses, except general American style, we were late to staging--not the greatest idea considering that 650 riders were already lining up at the gate. Our first pick of row four turned into a mad scramble for the last spot on row eight or nine. I mean with that mass of riders, it's not like we could just squeeze our way through to our designated row. None of us seemed too worried about it though, we had 90 minutes to play catch up.

As we started lining up for the start of the first 90 minute moto I believe half the guys thought the race had already started because as soon as they hit the sand they pinned it and I had to pull two tear-offs before we even got to the starting gate. That was really nice, especially since I only had seven tear-offs for the first 90 minutes.

It became clear that once on the line for the start, if you weren't on the first two rows you didn't see the flag being dropped or whatever they used to start the race. I just waited to see the guys in front of me take off and then I went for it. Actually, now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure there was a motocross starting gate. Either that or I had already ran somebody over 20 yards into the race.

Anyways, this start was like no other start I had ever seen. It was a complete chaos, bikes and bodies were everywhere! There were people swapping out in front of me, taking each other out, bikes facing the wrong way and riders sitting on the side of the track already giving up. It was crazy! And after making it around the first turn I realized that showing up late to the gate was a huge mistake.

Problem number one: Being buried deep in the pack in a beach race is never a place to be, especially with 650 riders. It was everything I could do to keep from getting tangled up with the other riders. Problem number two hit me pretty quickly when I realized that the bike I was riding couldn't pull sixth gear down the long sandy beach straightaway. I would pass guys through the rollers and they would pass me back down the straights. As long as I stuck to my plan though, I would be fine. Just ride smooth, save the bike and my body, keep from crashing and don't get stuck in the sand. Simple enough, so I thought.

I rode horrible that first 90 minute moto, probably the worst I had ever ridden. On the first lap I found myself on the ground twice due to a couple of minor swaps and I am still amazed I didn't get run over by the moto-crazed pack of riders behind me. So, I kept riding trying to loosen up and I figured that after a couple of laps the track would clear out a little and I would be able to smooth out some. Not in this race. With this many riders, it was like the first turn at an AMA National for 90 minutes straight. Bumping and rubbing, riders (including myself) would catch a rut and swerve all the way across the track only to catch another one and shoot right back across. I had never seen so much carnage. It was awesome!

By the time I came around on the second lap riders were already getting backed up in certain sections of the track. They would get stuck and then guys would crash into them, and then more would pile on in causing a huge roadblock. Probably one of the greatest things about this race is that when this happened, guys would just cut over the berms lining the track and make a new line around the block. This now became the alternate line. If the track was open, stay on the track, if it was blocked, then you were allowed to take the short cut. Just make sure the track was blocked before taking the short cut other wise I'm pretty sure you would get disqualified.