Iron Kye: Testing Bike & Body @ Erzberg

Until his first Transmoto event a few years back, Kye Anderson was a AORC journeyman, trying to eke out a living from the sport on his own coin and barely getting any media recognition. But when he started winning the Ironman class at several Transmoto Enduro Events – and especially after he claimed the ‘Triple Crown’ in 2016 – the fit-as-f@#k Port Macquarie resident finally started to get some overdue recognition and more support from sponsors. He turned his back on the AORC in favour of a total commitment to ‘hard enduro’ events; a decision that’s since taken him and his girlfriend, Lesley, around the world. In the past few years, he’s raced Erzberg in Austria, Sea to Sky In Turkey and Romaniacs in Romania, and along the way he’s been recruited by KTM’s R&D Department in Austria to help develop their new-generation TPI two-strokes.

Having just returned from Austria for the 2018 running of the Red Bull ErzbergRodeo, Anderson sent us this interesting insight into his extreme vacation. Enjoy…

Each year as I drive over the mountain range from Leoben down into the picture-postcard perfect Eisenerz Valley, the massive Austrian structure that is ‘Erzberg’ bursts into view and consumes all of my attention. It really is a sight to be seen in the flesh, as it almost has a magnetic, addictive vibe to it, and it’s really hard to not just stop and stare in awe at the magnitude of the elements you’re within. I guess this is all part of the reason why I’ve come back to Austria to have another crack at conquering the ‘Iron Giant’.

TRACK WALK

After arriving late Sunday afternoon, I’m up early Monday morning prepping my Ogio backpack to start sneaking into the mine and scoping out sections of the 2018 ErzbergRodeo. For me, track walking at any event is extremely important, whether it’s scoping out new lines for plan A or plan B depending on the race situation, or just to ease the nerves in knowing where you’re going or what challenges lie ahead. Erzberg though, can sometimes flip that around and fuel the fire of nerves as this place is very intimidating. I partner up with my German buddy, Philip Scholz, who has defeated the Iron Giant on more than one occasion and is heavily experienced in the hard enduro world. Together we climbed up, slid down and fall down endless kilometres of treacherous terrain, which in a few days we will be battling on two wheels. In total, I hiked 46km of the track with thousands of metres of elevation.

REUNITED WITH EURO TPI

Come Thursday before the event, my beloved KTM 300EXC TPI is rolled out of the KTM semi-trailer and handed to me, ready to make some final changes before the craziness begins the very next day. Performance wise, my 300EXC TPI is as standard as they come, running the latest mapping changes I have been testing Down Under. The bike does go through an ‘armouring’ process to ensure that it can withstand the brutal blows hard enduro can throw, a hybrid mix of KTM PowerParts and Australian-made and owned B&B Offroad, along with Barkbusters’ products to put the finishing touches on my noble Erzberg stead.

GLOBAL MATES

A big part of the lure to sacrifice a normal life at home and travel the world ( and beat myself to pieces!) is the people I meet and the friends I make along the way. For me now, after racing a handful of hard enduro races, it feels like I’m racing in Oz in regards to how many people I know. It feels like one big crazy community that travels the globe racing the craziest races ever to exist. I’m not sure whether it’s because it takes a certain type of person to want to punish themselves on this level or simply half of the time we are all racing the track and terrain just to try and finish instead of beating each other.
Or we could just be all the messed up individuals from all over the world and gel together through lack of acceptance elsewhere!?

PROLOGUE

Prologue is held over two days involving a time trial race each day up the haul roads from the bottom of the mine to the top, in the process reaching speeds of 135km/h and possibly above. For me, I really struggle with this type of track. I simply struggle to go that fast on flat slippery gravel roads. I’m no Ricky Bobby! After the first prologue, I needed to make up 10 seconds to make the front row, and after reviewing my first run I felt I for sure could make it happen on day two even with everyone’s times being within a few seconds of each other. Come around to day two of prologue and the track is absolutely torn to shreds from the 2000 other competitors who have been twisting the life out of it to make it to the top. Unfortunately, I came across the ambulance on my run on a very high speed section, only to realise my mate Sam Winterburn had been in a horrific crash and was being flown away for surgery straight away. So my 10 seconds I needed to make didn’t come to fruition, and I had to settle for a second-row start.

HARE SCRAMBLE

I had a rough start to the main race. After getting T-boned by another rider so hard in the first turn and almost destroying my front brake disc, I could not stop immediately near the start to fix the issue as too many riders would pass me in the process. So I soldiered on with no front brake through some very tough sections to try and gap most of the other competitors. This led to some rather entertaining situations for the spectators, but for me they were downright scary. I’m surprised I haven’t ended up on YouTube from my get-off, coming down the Three Kings section on my arse instead of on the bike! This was the final straw as things were getting too dangerous to continue. So after stopping and pulling out my tool kit and fixing it (to a degree), I then faced the traffic in the forests, which I had to try and pass to get back into the race. I pushed hard, making back good ground on the extremely tough track, but a technical issue with the bike arose (caused by my front brakeless ventures early on) that unfortunately cost me some time that I could not afford to lose. In total, I lost approximately one hour between these two problems. So, unfortunately, the old saying ‘third time is a charm’ didn’t work in this case and I recorded a non-finisher result. It is deeply frustrating as I prepared really well before this year’s event and did the work. But this is the cruelty of motorsport and this is Erzberg, the toughest one-day race on the planet, where anything can happen.

FACTORS OF THE FACTORY

Just days after the race, I was in Mattighofen at the KTM factory catching up with Rupi, the man who really made it possible for me to continue racing in Europe and abroad for 2018. The meetings at the factory are always great as I get to meet and work with literally the R&D brains at KTM, collating and discussing all of my data acquisition from both Erzberg and in Australia, along with future plans. I cannot express how refreshing it is to be standing in a room with people who are just purely motivated to make the best bikes possible. I feel the same energetic environment at KTM as I did on training camps I did with Stephen Gall at the Australian Institute of Sport all those years ago; places like this are few and far between.

R&R OR HIKE & RECOVERY

As if the enormous task of attempting the ErzbergRodeo wasn’t energy-sapping enough, the next four days were spent hiking in the Austrian Alps in all kinds of conditions – rain, snow, and sunshine; we had it all whilst hanging around 2700m above sea level – though it was nothing that a bit of homemade schnapps, sausages and schnitzels from the locals couldn’t fix.

Until next time, thanks for the adventures. Peace out, Austria!