#RBRSWEET16 – 16 Sweet Facts about RedBull Romaniacs (2019 Edition)
RedBull Romaniacs… It’s the gold standard for every enduro rider. It’s the goal of every enduro lover out there in the world.
Here are 16 sweet facts about my first experience with Redbull Romanicas riding in the Bronze Class.
Before that I would like to express my biggest thanks to my wife Stephanie and my brother Kakos for their support during the event. I wouldn’t have made it even one day without them. And a big thanks to the rest of my family and friends for their support.
Also a big shout out to my sponsors that believed in my abilities and made this expensive race possible for me!
1. RBR is hard
The distances and hours spent on the bike add up. This is much harder than you can imagine and difficult to train / prepare for, if you are not doing this full time. In the four day race, the Bronze class rode approx. 500 km, which for me came up at an average of 6-7 hours per day (for me).
2. Riding pace is fast
The level of the riders is high no matter what class they are in. All riders are experienced and once you are there you have to keep up with their fast pace, therefore fitness and pace management are vitally important.
3. The Carpathian Mountains repay you with spectacular views
The views you see and experience are all worth the difficulty of taking part. It’s also great to ride through it as well - it’s something you can experience only in Romania, an enduro paradise!
4. RBR is very organised
The organisation of this event is on-point. It is one of the most expensive races to participate in, but you get what you pay for. The organisers are very professional and fair with ALL the riders and everyone is super friendly.
5. Meet your enduro idols
Pro-riders and participants are all together, whether it is walking the prologue, eating dinner, or the actual race, and that’s also a great thing of our sport.
6. Prologue is intense
The prologue, first the qualifying and then the finals, is another experience in RBR all together. Riding in the finals is almost as if you have to perform on a live stage. There’s a huge crowd and nerves can get the better of you and you have to stay calm and ride through tricky obstacles without any injuries.
7. Downhills are frightening
RBR is known for its downhills, and I’m not talking about baby downhills, I’m talking about 1700m drop to 500m in 30 minutes. Even your ears pop 3-4 times. If it has also rained, or its wet, well…
8. Luck and weather are important factors
Luck and weather are factors in how well you perform. You may begin first, top of your class, and you may be lucky enough to have great weather while riding. The person who begins an hour after you - not so much. The weather in Romania is very unstable so it does factor in your performance but that’s one of the great things about enduro - you just have to have the skill to overcome it.
9. The LOGS
RBR prologue but mostly on tracks are filled with logs, in every part of the track, every angle, in all shapes and sizes, in edges of cliffs you will come across logs. Luck and weather are things you can’t control - this you can. Learn to love them, go over them, and not fear them.
10. Marking and GPS
The marking and GPS of the race is spot on. In 500km, I personally missed a turn only twice. That is an incredible feature, and it goes to show how hard the organisers work to put this race together. Remember, they have 4 classes, often 2,3,4 different routes to mark (800km in total) and the marking and GPS never failed.
I have to also give props to the fact that the organisers also take time to ‘clean-up’ and perform a mountain sweep of the tracks to gather all the ribbons placed for the race.
11. Mandatory 20 minute break per day
You are only allowed a 20-minute break per racing day, which can feel much less while you are racing. In those 20 minutes you must eat, hydrate, take care of all other needs and quickly service your bike. (You can have a longer break - but the time on your race only stops for 20 minutes so make sure you keep track of that too.)
12. Service and support teams are vital
Your service and your support team be the factor in you finishing or not finishing your race. Before going into it, since this was my first time, I hadn’t given it much thought. BUT your service team makes sure your bike is in good condition to keep you going throughout the 4 days and your support team makes sure you are fed and ready to continue the race.
13. Early mornings are brutal
The early mornings are an infamous part of RBR. To get 500+ competitors racing and then have time to check GPSs and brief everyone at night, you have to start early. They were the one of the most difficult parts of the race as you also have to deal with some sleep deprivation as well.
14. Meet enduro lovers from around the globe
Meeting people who love this sport as much as you is one of the best things RBR has to offer. It is such a huge event that people from all over the globe come to participate in (more than 50 nations participated this year) and you are lucky to meet some of them.
15. RBR is a test on your perseverance
Anything can happen, you have to be alert at all times. You shouldn’t take unnecessary risks to protect yourself and your bike. You have to keep going no matter what the Carpathian mountains and Martin Freinademetz throw at you.
Even in my very last moments of the race, I managed to drown my bike because of a fall in the mud and had to push the bike 20m to the finish.
16. RBR is an emotional rollercoaster
The highs are high and the lows are very low no matter your class or level. You have to dig deep and keep going discovering your limits are much more than you think!
This has been an amazing and unforgettable experience.
So guys, these are some of the facts that I took away from #RBRSWEET16.
Feel free to comment and share on things you took from.
Till next time,
Ride Hard,
Nik