Extreme Transition: Calvin’s First Race

With help from Motology Films‘ Adam Riemann, 26-year-old Louis Calvin from Western Australia is currently making the transition from motocross racing to extreme enduro. The “Extreme Transition” video (below) that Riemann produced four months ago has now attracted more than 750,000 views on YouTube (you can read more about it in Transmoto‘s 2016 March-April issue), and to back up that astonishing feat, Calvin secured an impressive third Outright in what was his first off-road race in April at the opening round of the Western Australian Enduro Championship in Denmark.

Riemann also entered the WA Enduro Championship round in a bid to support Louis and help him make the transition into racing through the bush. With both riders entered into the E2 class, Riemann was able to help steer Calvin through the logistical aspects of enduro, like timecards, checkpoints and so on.

“Louis composed himself really well,” said Riemann. “I was a little concerned about how he’d go monitoring his timecard and riding out into the correct loop after each control, but after the second stage, he seemed to have it all dialled. As for going fast, there’s nothing I can say that he doesn’t already know. My only advice to him at the start of the day was, ‘Stay upright in the tests, mate.’ He did exactly that in four out of the five tests, but I suspect a crash in test three may have cost him a win. That’s okay – it’s better that he sees for himself how much a simple mistake in a special test can cost you in both class and outright result.”

It was quite a nostalgic weekend for Riemann, who not only returned to racing in Western Australia after a 12-year absence, but soon realised he’d first ridden the Denmark enduro race 20 years ago. By the end of the day, feeling a little worse for wear, Riemann may have regretted not opting to enter the Veteran’s Class (who do less overall distance) but was happy all the same to finish a credible sixth Outright and fifth in the E2 Class.