Think 6,000 lovers of off-road riding of all ilks, at the base of an open pit mine, with fully 1,500 of them here to race over the weekend in three events; an insane hill-climb straight up the mountain, an Enduro-X, qualifying and a 5-hour Hare-Scramble – all on the impossibly difficult, rock-strewn side of a mountain.


We are in Eastern Austria, a three-hour drive from the Munich airport, for Erzbergrodeo XV, right in the middle of KTM and Red Bull land, two universally known brands from this mountainous, 8M inhabitants land, stuck between Hungary to the East, the Czech Republic to the north, Germany, Switzerland and Lichtenstein to the East, and Italy and the Balkan states to the south – all within a few hours drive. You can well imagine this incredible mix of cultures, all crazy about the sport.

Everybody here speaks Off-Road, a language I am discovering – finally – and starting to like very much.

Five Canadians are riding this weekend, Jillian Kings (KTM), Noel Bolso (KTM), Shane Cuthbertson (Husaberg), Jared Thomas (Husaberg) and No. 1 Enduro plate holder Cory Graffunder (KTM); check videos for interviews – if I can locate them all amongst the masses.

Saying the race is up and down the side of an Austrian mountain does not do justice to the event nor to the skill of the riders. As I write this, it is raining hard, while the riders are out there practicing on the Enduro-X qualifying course, complete with hills, slippery earth-mover tires and other impossible obstacles. The actual race course for the Sunday main event brings the riders up the mountain, on rocky slopes, then back down over a boulder field.

Watch for pictures and more words over the coming days.


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Photo Credit : GEPA