Trail Rider Magazine

June 2015 11 In addion to being a TC.P xpower guide, Paul is a 3-me Romanian na- onal enduro champion and has fin- ished inside the top ten at Romaniacs, so it's no wonder that he's just silenced the group with an effortless ascent. Now high above me, Paul breaks the silence. In a thick Romanian accent he calls down to us: "Remember, use the clutch, lile bits: 5 to 10mm, easy throle, weight back, go very slow". If I loop the bike over or bobble it here, I could roll down this hill and be in a world of shit. I hit the e-start and ignite my KTM 300 EXC. I slowly re- lease the clutch and front break while gently rolling back the throle, weight back over the rear re. In a delicate, synchronous, balancing act, the rear wheel finds tracon and I inch forward. I came back to Romania for a few reasons. First, because the brief tour I did with TC.P xpower last summer le me wanng more. I had an amazing experience with TCP last year that included three days of touring and a week of race support for the 2014 Red Bull Romaniacs. Everything about TCP is perfectly organized and executed; from the airport pick-up, the accommodaons at the IBIS hotel, guided tours (especially the guided tours!), the bikes (all newer model KTMs and Husqvarnas), mechanics, guides, the instrucon, the lunches and group dinners - nothing disappoints. They are consummate professionals from start to finish and have earned my unqualified endorse- ment. Romania, in my opinion, offers the best riding on the planet. It graces the senses with crisp air, stunning scenery and near unlimited access to terrain that ranges from novice-friendly mild to completely bat-shit wild. So when TC. P xpower offered up a training session in prepa- raon for RBR, I booked it, trans-Atlanc flight be damned. A seven-day guided tour in Romania includes all of the aforemenoned services for the price of about 1,300 US dollars. Rounding it out is that Sibiu is a safe, welcoming city where almost everyone speaks English. There is much to do and see in Sibiu. Dracula's castle is a mere 40 kilo- meters away, if interested. Each morning before disap- pearing in to the majesc Transylvanian wilderness we ride from the Ibis Hotel in downtown Sibiu through the quaint and forfied Saxon villages where kids rush to high- five us and horse carts outnumber cars. I can pracce some hard enduro stuff here at home, but there is no substute for the unique hills in Romania and the necessary training required to conquer them. Here in the U.S., the emphasis is on going fast, so it's understand- able why many of us know lile about the necessary skills to complete a true Hard Enduro, especially one that places an emphasis on long, steep hill climbs. I am also entered in the 2015 Red Bull Romaniacs Hard Enduro and hope not to struggle over the terrain that wreaked havoc on me last year. Back to the ascent. I begin inching forward at a snail's pace. My feet are off the pegs but I am going up at an angle that is outside my comfort zone. The front wheel begins to li off the ground and I flick the clutch in and ease slightly off the gas, seling the front re while losing lile momentum. I go another 40 yards and approach a downed tree that forces the trail sharply to the right and then parallel along a frighteningly steep, off camber switchback. However, before the switchback I need to clear that sharp right turn - and that's going to require some fancy moves that resemble an awkward pivot turn. Just above me, the clouds roll gently through pines of this misty Transylvanian forest. I stop for a long moment and take it in before pressing on. The trail (maybe slope is a beer word) begins to bank sharply to the right as I crack the throle and work the clutch to lo the front wheel while angling it to the right, shiing my weight upslope in the process. I nearly pull it off unl a pine-needle covered root causes the slightest bit of wheel spin and I lose balance. I tumble down the hill about 20 feet and fire off an impressive barrage of ex- pleves. Watching it all unfold, Paul is now parked com- fortably on the steep slope below me. "Kevin, you and your bike need to fall on the upside of the hill," he says in Marcel Widmer clawing his way up a long climb.

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