Kye Anderson’s “Triple Crown”

With the 2017 Transmoto 12-Hour, powered by KTM & Husqvarna, just three weekends away, talk is ramping up about the Ironman class and whether anyone is capable of topping Kye Anderson – the most prolific Ironman-class winner at Transmoto events over the past few years. Here’s a revealing interview we did with this sadistic character in mid 2016, shortly after he’d etched his name into the record books as the first “Triple Crown” winner. 

Kye Anderson has now won the Ironman class at Transmoto’s 6-, 8- and 12-Hour events. But which was the toughest for this self-avowed sadist?

At surfing’s elite level, in the World Surf League (WSL), the winner of three marquee end-of-season events in sport’s spiritual home of Hawaii is awarded what is arguably the most coveted and emotionally-charged prize in the sport: the “Triple Crown”. So, if there’s a dirt bike equivalent, then it has to be wining a trifecta of Transmoto events, right? Especially when those events are gruelling endeavours for riders choosing to enter not as a team, but as an Ironman.

Earlier this year, Port Macquarie-based rider Kye Anderson managed exactly that. Between July 2015 and mid-April this year, Anderson notched up three Ironman-class wins – in the inaugural Transmoto 6-Hour at Stroud, the Transmoto 12-Hour at Buckenbowra, and the inaugural Transmoto 8-Hour at Dargo. Now that the glutton for punishment has had time for his tortured body to recover, we asked him to reflect on the momentous achievement.

Transmoto: How does this Triple Crown of Transmoto events sit up there on your list of achievements, Kye?
Kye: It’s a really cool thing – especially because two of the three events I managed to win were the first time they were run. It’s also worked out really well for me because this is the year I decided to branch out from the traditional enduro racing I’ve been slogging away at for years to focus on the niche market of hard enduro events. My plan was that, by playing to my endurance strengths, I’d be able to offer my sponsors more value for their investment. And I’m glad to say it’s been working a treat. The level of exposure that’s generated at Transmoto’s events isn’t matched anywhere else. There are features in the printed mag, pics and videos on the website, and heaps of cool social media engagement that my sponsors can benefit directly from. I’ve got more exposure from those three Transmoto events than eight years of racing the AORC. I like that “Triple Crown” title, too. You guys just made that up on the spot, right?

Yeah, we did! But we reckon it’ll stick, too. Then again, what happens if you win all five of them?
Dunno. Big money for a quinella (laughs)?

Of the three Transmoto ‘ordeals’, which was the toughest race for you?
The 12-Hour for sure. That event was, hands down, the toughest thing I’ve ever done because the track just got so rough. It was so relentlessly hard on your body for the whole 12 hours, and that’s why I was delirious for the last hour or so of the thing. Everything from your feet to the top of your head are sore, hurting or simply don’t want to keep going.

Having said that, the other two events brought their own challenges – the 6-Hour was so wet and slick, while the 8-Hour at Dargo was really hilly and tech, right?
Yeah, they each had their different aspects and challenges. Stroud was super-slick and a challenge not to get bogged or overheat the bike, and it felt like the longest six hours of my life. And at the Dargo 8-Hour, you only had to make one small mistake on that track and you were down a steep, rocky hill or pinned against an off-camber tree. Being a more technical course, Dargo was really mentally draining too.

And you recently raced the Kamfari up in Darwin. We heard that had its own challenges!
On the first lap, I pulled a big gap on Mitch Harper and Brad Williscroft, who’d won the thing nine times before this year. And for a while there, it was just me and the helicopter out front. By the time I got bogged – I hit a lapper, drowned my bike and had to spend an hour stripping and resuscitating it – I had a 13-minute lead. It was my first time up there at the Kamfari and it was a super-wet year, so I’ve obviously got a bit to learn when it comes to surviving that event.

“I’ve got more exposure from those three Transmoto events than eight years of racing the AORC!”

Speaking of first-time events, you’re about to fly out to race the infamous Erzberg Rodeo hard enduro in Austria for the first time.
Yep, and I’m pretty excited about that, too. Erzberg is on the last weekend in May. I’ve heard all sorts of stories about how gnarly that event is, but I figure the only way to get into the hard enduro scene is to just throw myself in the deep-end and see what comes of it. I’m sure it’ll be an incredible experience.

Be sure to send us a few postcards from over there, mate. And good luck.
I will for sure. Many thanks.