Road to romaniacs - episode 4 : test run

Well, we did it. And, by we, actually, I mean Andy did. He raced the Round 3 of the US Hard Enduro Series, Grinding Stone, hosted in Page, Arizona. This race is notoriously challenging, even for a hard enduro. And, the rock features are like nothing else. There are steep climbs with nothing but a sandy run up and exposure on all sides. It was terrifying to watch, let alone race.

We don’t usually race out west, because it tends to be high-consequence-racing. That is, if you’re any good, you’ll probably eventually end up hurt. We’ve both done desert races and each time we walk away counting our lucky stars for not having crashed at 80+mph in the sand or not having been yeeted off of a 50 foot cliff straight into rocks. But, it’s hard not to be tempted when you hear the bikes prepping for the race. And when you get a small town like Page hosting a race, the buzz in the air is palpable. I’ll let Andy explain his take on this particular race through the vlog, but I wanted to pause to talk about racing more generally.

First of all, despite what social media says, I’m not even an average rider but very much a novice relative to the folks who are out there actually racing. I have no delusions of grandeur and am very much grounded in the fact that I am now over 40 and have to make it to work on Monday. So, why race? Why put myself through sometimes torturous conditions against 20-somethings hitting their peak? It’s for me. It’s for no one else and for no other reason than to test my mettle. I am perfectly content knowing that I’m no pro, and there will always be someone faster and hungrier. But, I’m not content going quietly into middle age. There is nothing like the adrenaline pumping before a race and that incredible sensation when you see someone just ahead of you, just in reach and you push harder than you would on a trail ride just to catch that next rider. I concede it’s not for everyone, but I implore you to try at least one race before completely dismissing it.

Road to Romaniacs - Episode 3 : Logistics

How to get a bike to Europe. Plan B C D

As we jumped into this adventure, we knew that this would be the hardest part. Logistics. We’ve traveled coast to coast in the U.S. and have had the great fortune of riding in South America and Europe. But, always a fly and ride. I 100% recommend renting a bike if you can. But, in case you’re dead set on getting a bike to Sibiu Romania, here are your options:

By Boat

None of these options are cheap, but for just the transit over the Atlantic Ocean, this is the most economical. The problem is ships move through ports, so you’ll have to find yourself at a port to send it off and then pick it up at a port once it arrives in Europe. There are a handful of major commercial ports in Europe: Rotterdam Netherlands, Antwerp Belgium, Bremerhaven Germany and Constanta Romania. Great! Pick Constantza. Easy peasy and done, right? Wrong! So wrong. Constanta is on the Black Sea which for the past 2 years (I’m writing this in spring 2024), has seen inconsistent cargo traffic due to the war in Ukraine. There is one company, a Ukranian company, based out of New Jersey who is currently shipping to Romania, Dnipro LLC. These guys are clearly professionals, and they didn’t B.S. me. Routes are available to book today, but no one knows what things will look like in July. And, most shipments are going into Romania with very few going out, so the return shipment can not be guaranteed.

To ship to Constanta, it will take you 35-45 days out of New York.
Cost: $950 + customs, VAT tax, miscellaneous fees along the way

That leaves us with Bremerhaven being the next closest. Trying to find a european shipping company to take a motorcycle out of a container and as an LTL shipment from Bremerhaven to Sibiu Romania was impossible. I tried. But, if you are willing to ship out of New Jersey/New York and want to ride around Germany, perhaps time it to cruise through the Netherlands during tulip season, then you’re in luck. The folks over at CFR Classic have you covered with everything from receiving, loading, container drayage and port fees, ocean freight…. all the things I didn’t know I had to think about to ship a motorcycle. Only a handful of other shipping agents even got back to me, and of those Dnipro and CFR were the only that had the patience to walk through this project with me. CFR knows what they’re doing, and they care about your vehicle. Their entire specialty is shipping very cool, very expensive cars overseas. They even created a proprietary container to keep your vehicle safe.

It will take you 7-10 days to clear US Customs + approximately 20 days on the water via shared container + some shorter amount of time to clear German customs.
Cost: less than $1,500 USD.

By Plane

The guys at Dnipro were also the only ones that offered a realistic air freight option. As long as I could get the bike into a container to their hangar in New Jersey, they would be able to ship it to Bucharest. This requires disassembling your bike and putting it into the smallest volume crate possible. Air cargo is 100% dependent on the size and weight of your shipment, so if you choose this option, get creative.
Cost: a cool $4,000 one way not including customs or taxes

By Buy by

Air was definitely out. And, boat could be done, but then we would be out a bike for at least 2-3 months due to the shipping timeframes. You also run the risk of the bike not making it. We’ve all heard horror stories about packages being lost, entire shipping containers falling into the ocean, or contents being battered while at sea for a month. The whole thing makes one of us very nervous. So, why not buy a bike and either keep it in Europe or sell it at the end of the race? We didn’t just ponder this over dinner. We went all in and created a plan with the good folks at Carpathian Adventures. These guys are legit saints. They dove into this head first with us and created a plan:

• Step 1: Carpathian Adventures would source the bike, a left over or gently used 2021-2022 Yamaha Tenere 700. They did this. They found a used bike, and we learned that there is a premium on Teneres across Europe, but some can be found in good condition for about $11,000-12,000 USD. Depending on the model you’re looking for, there might be a difference in what models manufacturers offered in the states versus the EU, and there may be a difference in model year. The US 2024 Teneres turned out to be released a year earlier in Europe. There is also the issue of the title. A US citizen can not purchase and register a bike for legal use in Europe.

• Step 2: source your parts. We have some pretty phenomenal support from CamelADV, MX-Tech and Slavens Racing, and they were all in. We knew the suspension would fly with us, but every other part that went into this race bike would need to be shipped from Canada and the US or for fungible parts (brake pads, rotors, etc.) sourced locally in Romania. The parts that are shipped would need to clear customs in Romania and an additional import tax would need to be paid (19%). Before you begin this endeavor, ask yourself, “Do I want to know how much I’ve poured into this bike?” And, then, ask yourself, how long you can keep this from your partner, who will undoubtedly lose her sh*t when you complete the list. The list price for parts on a race-ready Tenere 700 and spare race parts? $17,400 USD. That’s before we add VAT. chhhyeaaahhh…that’s a solid no from me, dawg.

• Step 3: pimp your husband out. If he finds a sugar momma, you both win.

• Step 4: build. Carpathian Adventures can build you just about anything out of their shop in Sibiu and they know where to take you to test your build. They have an incredibly fair hourly labor rate and will source fungible parts for you at cost.

• Step 5: race with the hopes that you don’t break yourself or the bike.

• Step 6: sell. Once you figure out which bits are not broken, you have to figure out whether it’s worth selling the bike as is or putting it back to stock and parting out the race bits. It’s a time consuming process and you’re guaranteed only a fraction of your initial investment. How much is a gently crashed race Tenere worth in Sibiu? Your guess is as good as mine.

You guys, this was such a good idea. Was. The logistics of sourcing and shipping all those parts, building and testing in a limited time frame, and the financial impact was just not realistic. We didn’t choose this route, but I can not express how strongly I recommend Carpathian Adventures. Hour long conference calls, tapping their local resources, a willingness to be creative in solving our problem….they have been such great partners. And, they do ‘normal’ motorcycle stuff like providing support for dirt bike racers at Romaniacs and enduro tours through the Carpathian mountains.

Cost: $28,000 USD minus $8,000 (?) when the bike sells.

The Other Plane

This is perhaps, our last and final hope. We are still finalizing these logistics so I don’t want to jinx it, but we’ll include an itinerary and details in a later blog installment. Hint: there will either be pasta or feta involved.

TLDR: don’t race a custom bike overseas. And, don’t trust the guy in this video :)

Road to Romaniacs - Episode 2 : The Why

With warmer days in the forecast, we can’t believe the 2024 season is already here. We heard your input and are super stoked about partnering with some amazing folks to deliver more this season, because it’s not just about training for Romaniacs. Although, the training has not slowed down. In fact, it’s just about to ramp up.

We invited everyone to the Heavy Enduro garage last winter, and had so much fun we’re doing it again with 3 sessions ranging from trailside hacks (when BDR’s go wrong) to motocooking. We’ll have a bonfire going with s’mores and learn all about how to cook while motocamping. Check our calendar for all of our garage sessions and trainings.

Walking through our training curriculum and especially as we put together the next level classes like ADV 2.0 or our garage sessions, I couldn’t help but get a bit nervous. It’s the same feeling I get when I haven’t ridden for a couple of weeks. I start wondering if I even remember how to ride. It’s this odd space between imposter syndrome and just sheer nervousness. But, the more people I talk to, the more common I find it to be, and that in itself is a bit reassuring. The thing about riding and racing offroad is that, it’s a new adventure every time. Even when you’re revisiting a trail you’ve ridden dozens of times, nature throws something new in your way. I’ve learned to calm my nerves by finding joy in that unknown and overcoming those obstacles instead of letting the nervousness compound. And, ultimately, that’s what we teach. Once you get the basics down, the next biggest hurdle is yourself. If you’ve never ridden through the woods, your brain will be occupied by every rock, root and curve in that dirt path. It’s overwhelming because you don’t know what to ignore and what needs your attention. But, then, you keep riding and, maybe it takes a dozen repetitions or (if you’re like me) a hundred repetitions, but your brain realizes that fist-sized rocks are nothing for a 21” wheel. Your brain learns to tune out all that noise and focus on bigger and bigger obstacles. There may be a parallel for life off the bike in there somewhere also. So much of what we teach is getting back to basics so that you can build in that muscle memory, but more importantly, your brain can process the fact that you’re taking on increasingly challenging obstacles safely. What you’re seeing on our Road to Romaniacs is not some unattainable feat, but just a later part of the same journey.

Road To Romaniacs - Episode 1 : Training

Well, we’re doing this. And, we’re learning a ton just from the process of articulating what the heck is happening. This blog/vlog series will be released from two separate perspectives: Overkill Andy is releasing a weekly (ish) video on YouTube (see below), and I (Susan) am in charge of the written supplement. To be honest, I considered just copying the transcript from the YouTube video here, but I think you’d miss a critical component. To be fair, Andy is doing the heavy lifting (warning: there will be more bad puns throughout these blogs), but it’s hard to capture everything that’s going on in a 5-10 minute clip. And, no one, not even privateers at Dakkar, actually go it alone. I wanted to capture the additional perspective here and provide a bit more context. Plus, if you have particular questions, whether it pertains to logistics or training or any part of our experience, throw your question in the comments and we’ll address it in a future installment.

We tend to just appear at rides from coast to coast, but there is an awful lot that goes into this traveling circus. Andy and I both work full time jobs that are incredibly satisfying in and of themselves. We take a great deal of pride in our careers and give as much as we can to our jobs. Heavy Enduro, and getting to Romaniacs, are passion projects. We do this because we absolutely love riding and even more importantly, we want to contribute to a community that has given us so very much. You may see snippets of training or workouts on our social media pages, but the reality is, Andy is working out every day.

The current regimen is a mix of cardio and strength training that occupies at least an hour every morning before work. He comes back home to shower, make sure the dogs get a minute of love before heading into work. I try to get home early enough to walk the dogs before it’s dark out, prep dinner and then get in my own workout. Yoga and rock climbing, and Andy joins in on the rock climbing for at least a couple hours. It is an amazing total body workout that is core intensive and trains balance in unexpected and changing conditions. A huge bonus is that if you’re doing it right, you’re not over gripping each hold and it prevents arm pump on the bike. So, now we’re up to 2-3 hour workouts every day and I’m a bit fanatical about getting my steps in, so I’ll sometimes be able to con Andy into adding anywhere from 1 to 4 miles with the dogs. Are you tired yet? We haven’t even gotten to meal prep. But nutrition feels like a whole separate blog.

But then, the weekend hits. To help with off-season training, because we chose to live at the 42nd parallel, we’ve staged our bikes out west. This has meant trips to Arizona and California with another week long stint around St. George, Utah coming up in a few weeks. Glamorous, right? Fly and ride. Easy peasy. The reality is that we are incredibly fortunate to be able to do this, but it takes a good bit of finagling and I have taken intentional steps in my career to be mostly autonomous and to be able to work from the road when necessary. I fly in and drive to our target destination, filling the water tank and picking up supplies before working from the RV until Andy flies in after coordinating with a dog/house sitter and making sure he’s not leaving a dumpster fire at the shop. Still sound easy? Clearly, you’ve never driven a 29’ RV through Hawthorne Plaza just south of LAX, trying to get into the Costco only to find that (1) the speed bumps are unreasonably tall, (2) the corners are impossible without hitting a 3-point turn or hitting angry Karen’s SUV, and (3) there is no parking. I fit into 4 parking spots easily. I did not fit into that Costco. I also found that there are only 2 sites between Malibu and Tijuana that will let you fill up on potable water in the months of January or February. Super fun discovery. And then, the airport pickup. San Diego airport has a 13’ clearance for all vehicles. They don’t tell you until you’re on a one-way into the arrivals pick-up lanes with no outs. I made it, but not without a fair amount of anxiety. And, most of the desert apparently has no cell phone signal. If you don’t set up your StarLink prior to hitting a dead spot, you’ve got a $600 paperweight and will probably miss the Zoom call with opposing counsel that took weeks to schedule. So, if you’re not popping a Xanax yet, well, I suppose you’re ready to adventure with us.

TLDR? Racing is hard. Prepping for a race of this magnitude changes you. Training is a lifestyle. Working out will occupy no less than 3 hours of your day not including getting to the gym + 8 hours of work + 1.5 hour commute + prep your bike + possibly sleep. I imagine by June, we’ll be scheduling our shits.

Heavy Enduro's Road to Romaniacs- Prologue

The Red Bull Romaniacs hard enduro rallye is an off-road motorcycle race run annually in Sibiu, Romania. It was created in 2004 and year over year is considered one of the most challenging hard enduro races in the world. The race week starts off with a gnarly prolog held on the Bulevardul Coposu, a main street in the city center of Sibiu and moves to nearby mountains and forests. Then competitors are off to a four-day offroad race in enduro trails cut across the Southern Carpathian Mountains.

In case it’s unclear from the description, this is most definitely a dirt bike race. Every winner for the last decade has been on a 300 two-stroke with a certain orange brand being highly favored.

But Heavy Enduro doesn’t follow the predictable path. Heavy Enduro’s Andy Janik will be heading to Romania on a Tenere 700. To be fair, this has been done before, but by a professional racer with factory support. This is the story of Andy’s journey and what it takes to prep your average dirt bike rider both physically and mentally and how an average joe takes a moderately-priced adventure bike and turns it into a machine capable of tackling some of the hardest trails in the world.

Andy won’t be on a stock T7 and last year’s race winner definitely had some primo upgrades, but it’s worth comparing the starting point for these bikes. The winner of the 2023 Iron Class was on a Beta 300 rr, a comparable two-stroke that was similarly upgraded.

2021 YAMAHA TENERE 700
Engine Type 689cc liquid-cooled DOHC 4-stroke
Dry Weight 412 lbs
Wet Weight 452 lbs
Suspension (Front) 43mm inverted fork
Travel (Front) 8.3”
Ground Clearance 9.4”

2023 KTM 300 EXC
293 cc 2-stroke Engine Type
234 lbs Dry Weight
246 lbs Wet Weight
48mm WP Suspension (Front)
11.8” Travel (Front)
13.7” Ground Clearance

Just your average day in the woods on an easy Adventure trail through beautiful Kentucky woods.
2023 US Hard Enduro Race #22 hosted by KXCR