Trail Rider Magazine

6 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Wheel Spin I AM A ROMANIAC By Kevin novello I f you have seen the introductions to the official Red Bull Romaniacs promotional videos, then you surely recognize the phrase that is the title of this month's Wheel Spin column. I don't spend much time doing the intra-psychic-exploration-thing, but I have a weird fixation on racing the Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye. Even though I swore off survival races after the NETRA Snow Run, I apparently have an inexplicable desire to take on one of the most challeng- ing rides in the world. Oh, and this fixation preceded Seasonal Affective Disorder season, so it wasn't on a whim that I got in contact with the promoters of Romaniacs about covering their event from a racer's perspective. The truth is, all of the Hard Enduros interest me - Hells Gate, Sea to Sky, etc. Everything but Erzberg - that just looks dumb. Still, I could be persuaded. I am by no means bored with the current off-road scene that is my life; quite the contrary. But there is something exciting and motivating about taking on a challenge as daunting as the Red Bull Romanaics. For those of you unfamiliar with Romaniacs, it is a five day Extreme Enduro held in the Transylvania region of Romania. The start is the city of Sibiu and the course runs through the Carpathian Mountains over a four day period and includes some of the steepest hills one can imagine. Day one is the Prologue, which can best be described as the ille- gitimate love child of endurocross and a human obstacle course. The first question I usually get is "Are you scared of the Pro- logue?" Honestly, I am not. Yet. A good finish in the Prologue provides you with an early starting number. And having heard about the two-hour bottlenecks that can take place on the course, coupled with my complete intolerance for dealing with such bottlenecks, I am motivated to do well in the Prologue. The key is to get through it without damaging bike and body. If you have witnessed the amount of carnage that takes place dur- ing this shitshow, you know that escaping unscathed is going to be a challenge. So how does one get ready for such an event? I really don't know, but with such a daunting and novel challenge comes a boat load of fresh motivation and ideas. Expanding my comfort zone is a top priority and likely to be a slow process. Obviously I need to keep it on two wheels and stay healthy during the process. I also realize that I need to do some trials cross-training and practice long, steep elevation changes; no small order in my opin- ion as I despise steep down hills. I do have a couple of things going for me, though: I am an old-school NETRA Enduro Rider whose favorite event is Hell in the Hills. Not a bad baseline in my opinion, and I have already begun a good fitness program. I have also lined up trials training sessions and have laid out the nastiest, most technically challenging course I could manage in my area. It's not Romania, but it's a start. When the snow melts in the mountains north of me, I'll looking for the steepest hills I can find. What class to ride? This year there are four classes to choose from: The Gold, which is for demi-gods like Graham Jarvis, the Expert class, which suggests a strong trials riding background and expert enduro skills (whatever that means), the Bronze Class, which recommends being a solid enduro rider, and lastly the Iron Class, which I didn't even look at because I refuse to touch it. I haven't picked a class but yet bit it obviously won't be Gold. I'll see how the training goes. As part of the deal I have to submit a daily ride and video re- port, which will include the best of my inglorious moments. So look for updates on the new Trail Rider web site (www.trail- rider.com) and our social media sites, Instragram (trailrider- magazine), facebook and twitter. I will also be doing a few cross-training stories and videos with some neat guests. So stay tuned - this is going to fun, I hope.

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