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The Craziness That Is The ‘Erzberg Rodeo’ Returns For 2022


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As Covid hopefully wanes and the weather warms in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to get back to riding and racing. Besides MotoGP and the numerous motocross and road racing series, one of the year’s most anticipated events is the Erzberg Rodeo, a near-lunatic level off-road race that’s been on hiatus for two years now. Now, it’s back for 2022, along with seven other “hard enduro” races around the globe.

(Why are they called “hard enduros?” Because just completing one is really hard to do, let alone winning one).

Many ADVrider.com readers are familiar with the Erzberg event, which takes place in Austria. If you are hearing about it for the first time, check out the video below so you can understand why the Erzberg Rodeo is considered by many to be the toughest off-road competition on the planet.

While supercross and motocross races take place on groomed lap tracks with measured jumps and numerous safety precautions, the Erzberg Rodeo and the other hard enduro circuits are positively masochistic. Erzberg takes place in a massive rock quarry, and while there are hill climb competitions and hare scrambles, the main event is simple: Get to the top of the quarry pretty much any way you can – and hopefully do it without (major) injury to yourself or your motorcycle. During the race, many riders and spectators gleefully pitch in to help each other through obstacles, so even if you’re not racing, it’s a fairly participatory event and probably unlike anything you’ve seen or done before. Not surprisingly, extreme sports supporter (and facilitator) Red Bull is a primary backer of the event and series.

In the Erzberg races, dozens – even hundreds – of riders must conquer fields of giant boulders, 45-degree inclines littered with trenches and sharp-edged stones, steep drop-offs, deep standing water, snow, forest passages, thick mud, man-made obstacles, other riders ahead of you roosting mud and stones into your face and more. Bikes blow up, break and skitter down rocky slopes, as do unlucky riders. And while professional riders do enter the race, it’s also open to pretty much anyone who can pay the entry fee and pass a technical inspection. As such, Erzberg is more akin to running a marathon than riding in a Supercross heat. Most entrants are overjoyed just to finish riding the brutal course, not caring if they came in 5th or 255th.

The Erzberg Rodeo got started in 1995, and since then, riders on KTM, Gas Gas and Husqvarna machinery have dominated the podium. Many winners are accomplished trials riders as well as winning enduro riders. Slow-speed, rock-hopping trials-riding skills translate well to most hard enduro competitions, including Erzberg. Brit rider Graham Jarvis took the checkers on a Husky in 2019, his fifth Erzberg win.

The Erzberg Rodeo is slated for mid-June, while the hard enduro season gets underway in Israel in March. Two North America stops are on the docket this year, both in August, with one in Alberta, Canada, and another in Tennessee. Make your travel plans now, and start practicing your rock-hopping skills.

 

Vezi sursa

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