Romaniacs : Off-Road Day 1
TLDR: After opting out of the prologue due to the high risk of damage both to bike and rider, Andy started in 153rd place out of 157 riders. Riders in each class are assigned a start time based on prologue results and if they did not participate, then based on registration order. Andy had a late start time which means he got to experience torrential rains and zero traction scenarios before timing out.
Pre-race prep: The evening after the prologue is a mad dash to ensure each rider is prepared for the next day. Support crews are stationed in the paddock or nearby. In our case, our support crew, Carpathian Adventures, has a homebase 1km from the paddock where the bikes are kept. It’s a bit of a mad dash to lay out all the gear Andy will need for the first race day, confirm with the service crew that the bike is prepped and then drop off a box of parts, snacks, and extra gear to be brought to the service point.
There’s a balance between what Andy can carry on himself and the bike and being light enough to make it through a 100km+ day. There are multiple points where riders can fill up on water, but only one Service Point. That means if Andy snaps a chain 30km prior to the service point, that’s the end of his day. The Tenere has a bit more room under the seat than most dirt bikes, but still only enough room to carry absolute essentials. The items that are most likely to brake and can be repaired trialside as well as the emergency recovery equipment. The service crew will bring additional parts and tools. For Andy, they’re also carrying an extra set of goggles and gloves, essential if it starts to rain, and foods we know will agree with Andy’s stomach.
Amidst the regular race prep, we are managing the added hiccup of an arm injury from a collision with another rider on a training ride just 2 days prior to the race start. This is when I’m thankful for how much we’ve traveled, being able to speak multiple languages, and how often I’m injured (bit of a joke but bit of truth there). What you know at home doesn’t always translate to what is available in a foreign country. In most European countries, your local grocery store is not going to carry neosporin and drug stores the way we know them do not exist. There is no room for the big box store. Most of Europe has pharmacies that are just that. There is no makeup aisle, snack packs or Hallmark greeting cards. Scoping things out ahead of time means you’ll be able to make an efficient plan.
So we’ve run around Sibiu, picked up first aid supplies, water, extra protein bars, organized the bike and extra parts with the service crew, then tried to cram as many calories into Andy as possible, and it’s nearing midnight. Now we try to rest.
Race Start: The running around isn’t over. The morning of the race, Andy drives to the support crew. It’s half a km (about a quarter mile) but not worth expending the energy to walk his gear over. From there, the riders gear up and head to the paddock where they pick up their GPS’s and wait for their start time. Racers are released from the paddock 30 seconds apart and they have a 30 minute window to ride 18km on paved roads to the off-road start.
The day by the numbers: Each rider is scanned in at the off-road start to allow for the staggered start. Cumulative ride time across all days determines your place. But where the first race day spans 120km (75 miles) across the mountains, timing is everything. Start times range from 6:00am to 10:30am across all classes with race organizers anticipating a 3 and a half hour day for the iron class. The reality is, the first rider made it back in 3 hours and 58 minutes at 12:27pm. The last rider to make it to the finish came in at 8 hours 47 minutes at almost 6:30pm. Andy rode for just under 5 hours to make it to the Service Point, approximately half way through the race.
Weather moves fast through the mountains and the riders that were able to get an early start experienced a completely different track than those with a later start time. The top ten guys had a completely dry race where the latter half of the pack experienced torrential rains. Severe weather reports forced the race organization to cut the race short and reroute some of the riders. Again, timing is everything.
And they’re off! Andy started off strong on day 1 right into a section along a river, where he passed 20 or 30 riders. But, about an hour in, the trail cut across the mountains and the riders faced a downed tree that was suspended over the trail at an angle, pointing downhill. Other riders were able to pop the front end up and land their skid plates on the tree. From there, they pulled the rear end up and over. Not an easy task on a dirt bike and it would not have been worth trying on a different adventure bike without lower frame rails. Andy got the front end up and over only to have the skid plate slide on the tree and over the edge of the trail, tumbling about 6 feet down and upside down. He hit his head on the way down and most likely suffered a mild concussion, so did not think to grab his winch. Instead there were riders telling him to continue down the side of the mountain to try and ride up further down the trail. Unfortunately, he found himself 35 feet down in a ravine full of logs. A German father and son pair went down to help him and called in more German reinforcements. With 4 other riders and the help of the Green Chile Z-drag system, they were able to get the bike back on the trail. This 45 minute delay would prove to be too much to overcome.
Andy continued on through more climbs and steep descents, but the Tenere was fast and flowy between the next 2 check points and Andy was able to pass more riders before getting to the service point at 2:00pm. Just as he was about to exit the service point, the entire ride changed again. I was with the media crew but trying to track Andy when, suddenly, all of our phones started blaring with severe weather warnings. Thunderstorms were rolling through, but Andy proceeded on, riding in the rain for the next 3 hours. The rain turned the downhills to a sloppy mess with hail sprinkled on top. The bike tracked uphill so long as he had momentum, but the downhills required him to get off the bike and walk next to it. If you’ve followed Romaniacs, you’ve seen this technique before. Even the gold riders will walk their bikes down the mountainside, praying their boots find traction. The technique is the same, but the consequences of sliding with a 195kg (430 pound) bike are that much more severe. Andy pushed for 3 hours before finding himself in a mud rut where the bike physically did not fit. It took 5 members of the sweep crew to pick up the mud-caked bike and get it on firm enough ground to ride out.
At the end of the day, the bike and Andy survived, a bit battered and bruised, but ready to tackle Off-Road Day 2.
