Multiple Winners At The Toughest One Day Hard Enduro Race | 2015 Red Bull Ezbergrodeo

I'm going to ask, get my next guest in now, which is the man himself, the World Enduro Super Series Ultimate Enduro Champion, Manny Lembechler. How are you, Manny? All good, all good. And you? I'm at 2015. We're going to be looking at the 2015 Erzberg Rodeo Hair Scramble. You ready for it? I hope so. What I remember and what my dad told me about this was a crazy year, so I'm definitely excited to watch it again. I don't want to make this one awkward for you, but your dad gets a win and some other members of the family haven't done it yet, so we'll just leave that there. Okay, okay. I'm already on my way, you know, like trying my best the last couple of years and it just won't happen. You've been close, mate. You've been close. Yeah, I've been close. It's coming. It was a super hot year, what I remember. Yeah, we can see already at the start, planes are flying in. It was such a brutal year. I think it was around 30 degrees or something like this, you know, and we just see the completely different part with the 2013 race where there was rain everywhere, you know. Would you rather it like 2013? Go on, Manny. I say, would you rather the conditions like then or a day like this? So is it so hot today it makes it really difficult physically? I would say like I would probably prefer like a wet kind of situation because there we can see all the dust. Look at the dust, man. Oh my goodness. That's one of the most terrifying prospects ever to fire a bike into that. Yeah, it's just so brutal. I remember myself and my dad was also involved. We crashed all together into the start because we couldn't see anything. So the first guy where we can see Johnny right now, he was just pulling away with such a good speed, you know, like no dust in front of him, which was such an important thing, you know. Massive advantage at this stage, isn't it? Yeah, totally massive advantage, especially there we can see Teddy, you know, he had a big crash and falling into the riders and everything. So look at this. This is huge. Yeah, this was an insane battle for the whole show, I would say. In extreme. This was his comeback year, wasn't it really? This is when he came back to the Erzberger. It was such an important thing, you know, Teddy is back, you know, everybody was talking about it. It was such a bummer, you know, like he crashed in the first uphill and had to quit the race, but it's part of racing, I would say. Anything can happen. Thankfully, I think he walked away from it, didn't he? It was a big accident, so you can always take that from it. Concussion. Yeah, he walked away. Nothing too serious. He had a concussion. Yeah, he had a concussion, nothing too serious, which was super good, but yeah, for sure it's a bummer, you know, like I think he would be also good in this year and he was always riding really good at this event. And we'll be bringing Teddy in to look at the 2016 race after this one. So Johnny Walker out front and on the move here through water pipe, isn't it, this bit? Yeah, it's water pipe. They also changed it to the last couple of years, you know, and like Paul already said, you know, like if it's wet, the dirt is so much better compared when it's dry, you know, because it's just so much more grippier and there we can see how we're always sliding away, you know, in the dust. Sorry for the amateurs. So here's the amateurs. Luckily, the dust has cleared from the previous riders, but if you're not in the first 15 or 20 over the top of there, I don't know, yeah, that is, that's horrific. Yeah, that's just brutal, you know, like I know that so many guys just crashed there and it was so scary, you know, so for me, it's always a big advantage if you're already in front and also if there's rain, like you always just prefer rain because dust is just insane and you have to have to slow down so much. It's gnarly, isn't it? Dust is almost the gnarliest thing. It's horrible. It's horrible, yeah. And with the amateur riders, you know, they just, there are a couple of fast guys also and they just hit the first uphill and can't make it and then fall into the other riders again. So it's insane with the amateur riders, especially in the dust. Yeah, it's just carnage, yeah, absolute carnage. I should think you could choke out in that much dust as well. Look at it everywhere. We're back. Yeah. So, Johnny Walker leading on, look at the size, look at the scale of it. Do you enjoy going up those big hills, Manny? I mean, it must be one of the highlights of the year, isn't it? Just firing the big 300 up those. Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. It's always nice just to send them all the way up. Yeah, we're just seeing Johnny right now in machine. It's super loose, you know, especially if it's like so dry. It's just so much harder and really loose, but he was riding really strong this year and he had such a good race, what I remember. Yeah. It was definitely a brutal year and he was riding really good at this point. Well, he's won it, you know, you don't win this without being amazing, do you? No amount of luck is going to get you the win at this race, that's for sure. Yeah, totally. I know exactly, you know, lost it last year to the man himself, Grimbo Graham, you know, it's definitely hard, but yeah, he was riding better at the end. Yeah, we can see already, you know, like Graham and my dad also, and I think Wade Young, he had also a really good start this year. He was also a really young rider at this point. Where are you at this point, man? Are you back a little bit or? I was a little bit back. I wasn't too far back, maybe around tenth. Like I had a really good race actually until I made a stupid mistake, I would say. Did you? Yeah, probably we can see it later on, I guess, because it's just an iconic moment. But yeah, it's part of the game, you know, I would say I'm going to wait until I can tell you the story, guys. We might see it, yeah. And this is the start of the no-help zone. What does that mean to you as a rider, Manny? Yeah, totally, you know, like you come in and you're like, now the real stuff is going to happen. Oh my God. Oh, there's Cameraman down. Yeah, Cameraman down, Kenny Coburn, he's always at the events with us as well. So he knows it, that a bike can fly sometimes. So probably he was a little prepared, but yeah, this forest was super steep and they made it. And this, right, I think this, Manny, might be what I looked at one year when I was commentating on it. I mean, this is nearly vertical. You can't actually, I couldn't believe you were going to ride a bike down that, it's insane. Super, super gnarly. Like when we came in and when I dropped down there, I was like, oh my God, I'm not going to ride down this. Like I have so much respect to like, I think Johnny Graham and Alfredo, like they all literally rode it down. But yeah. It's insane. Sometimes it's better to just push your bike down and be safe, save the bike. Yeah. It could go wrong fast. I mean, it's literally like riding down a cliff face. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And Carl's Dinner, how's this for you? I mean, you come like most of these top riders from, well, all of them, I guess, really from a trials background. I mean, it must be a big help just to get through this place. Look at this. Yeah. It's just insane. I mean, like every year when I come back to Erzberg, you're like, oh my God, what is it for a crazy place, you know, to race there and especially Carl's Dinner, you know, like the last couple of years, the level got so much higher from everybody and they tried to make it so much longer. So now Carl's Dinner, we go three times through there, through the rocks, always through the biggest holes. So yeah, it's a really hard one. And yeah, you could see Johnny boiling it, boiling the old bike up there. Look at, yeah. That wouldn't even feel safe to come down it like that. Look at that. Who's that riding behind? Yeah, that's Alfredo. Alfredo, my dad. Wade, you're riding it. Yeah. My dad was like, yeah. He told me already before the race, if something is super steep, just push it down, you know, we can see. Yeah. He is actually doing really well and I think he's also passing Alfredo again. Yeah, you're right. It's not Wade, it's Alfredo. Yeah. Look, you're right. Alfredo. Oh my God. Look at that, dude. But he was like, he told me about this and he was like, yeah, sometimes it's just better to push it, you know, and be safe. You know, like you can crash so easily in them loose rocks and especially if it's like so dry because it's way looser than expected. And look at that, dude. Andreas there in third place. He is an animal, your dad, isn't he? No doubt about that. Like, he's such a legend, you know. I'm also calling him boss because he's just such a boss. So yeah, he's a good lad. He's definitely a good lad. And you were the youngest ever finisher the year before, right? And you made it to the finish line at just 16 years old, man. It's insane. It was insane this year. Remember 2014, I just cramped up everywhere, but I was also so happy, you know, like didn't like came in into the race and had no expectations. And at the end, at the end, like just finishing this race, it meant quite a lot to me. So yeah, it was a good year. And then I come in into 2015 and was like, yeah, we will get it now, you know, like we were like on fire and we want to be to be better than the than the year before. And yeah, I struggle a lot with the heat, if I'm to be honest, like I struggle. Did you really? Yeah. Yeah, totally. I think everybody did, you know, and this this year was so hot. And also them, them front runners, you know, like Johnny Graham, my dad, Alfredi, you know, they're they're also slowed down a little bit in Colstina because the rocks sometimes just save the heat and they yeah, like it feels I would say 10 degrees warmer than than outside of Colstina. Yeah, that's right. All radiating up. And of course, you know, you've got like a helmet on with no breath holes in it or anything. You're just cooking. Your head is cooking, isn't it? Yeah, your head is cooking and you're also going so slow, you know, in Colstina. That's also the biggest problem. You have like no wind what's coming through or anything. They're a big part of it, the amateurs, they kind of make the event, don't they? Yeah, totally. You know, like I would say without them, it wouldn't be Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo. Like it's just so cool to see them firing up. And they tried every year again and trying to just come as far as possible. And you can't believe, you know, sometimes if you're going through the pits and the people going so crazy, crazy and it's just such a good atmosphere. It's more like an like an off road, like the biggest off road festival, I would say. Yeah, that's right. It is. It's a four day festival of motorbikes. If you like motorbikes, you need to go to the Erzberg Rodeo. It's like it's the Wild West. When I rolled up there, I was just taken aback by the fact that there were thousands of motorbikes just going in all different directions, basically doing seemingly whatever they wanted. I've never seen anything like it. Yeah, totally, totally. It's completely such a mess, you know, in the race, off the race, you know, they just so fired up. It's probably a nice one to get home from and have a shower, I'd imagine, after this. There's the amateurs battling, man. Look at it. He's got up there well. Look at that. Yeah, totally. We can see already one guy, he gets pulled from a rope or something like this. Maybe from another rider, maybe they teamed up and were like, yeah, we're going to help each other. Can be awesome. Is that what they do? Do the amateurs actually do that? They kind of work in teams, some of them, do they? Yeah, totally. Some of the riders, they literally bring a rope to the start line and take it with them on the backpack. No way. Yeah, totally. I didn't know that. And then they just pull each other up like they're really hard sections. No way. So it basically is rock climbing on motorbikes, just as I suspected. Yeah, rock climbing on motorbikes. Sometimes you need a rope. Flipping it. There's a lone four-stroke. I mean, has there ever been one on a four-stroke? Not many of you top guys run four-strokes, right, do you? If ever. No. No, normally not. I would say the proper bike is a 300 two-stroke, but yeah, we can see already. You know, my dad, I think, I don't know how many podiums he got, but he was riding the BMW 450 and he also makes it happen. Your dad was on the 450 BMW here? No, not here. A couple of years ago. Oh, in previous years before, yeah. Yeah, I think from 2007 to 2010 or something like this. I'm not quite sure, but he was ripping it on the four-stroke. Yeah, that's right. Probably with David Knight at the same time then. Was he teammates with Knighty on it or not? Did David ride it earlier? He did, yeah. Yeah, he did. He was teammate with Knighter and a couple of other guys. It was a cool project at the end from BMW to bring it into the sport, you know? Absolutely. Where are these guys now, Manny, getting back to the action? There's a fair bit going on. I'm not quite sure. Like, I'm probably, ah, I know. They are off the Karl Steiner now. It was shortly before downtown when they came into this new bit where anything got wrong, I would say. Yeah, yeah. Look at it, dude. We can see already, you know? Alfredo and Graham are pulling already each other just to help them out. It's a no-help zone, you know, from Maschinenhorn, so they teamed up. So no outside assistance, but each rider, you can help yourselves. Yeah. Riders can help each other riders, absolutely. Yeah. Here is another. Who's that coming to join the party now then? Yeah. Johnny Walker just came in and, yeah, at the end, you know, it was my dad, Graham, Alfredo and Johnny who literally teamed up because there was no chance to go up there, you know? Like, now, like, this part is completely filled with rocks. Like, it's gone, I would say, but in this point, it was also a secret spot where nobody knew that it's in and nobody tried to ride it before. Yeah. Am I right in thinking that the organizers, this is something that they do, they chuck in a section that you wouldn't expect to be in, right? At the last minute, it's kind of, you really didn't know about it. You just turn up and you're like, oh, no, here we go. Yeah, totally. Like, sometimes, you know, like, we also sometimes just sneak around and try to watch a little bit or just to check out the track or anything, you know? And at the end on Sunday, the track looks completely different because they just put tape in or just put a secret spot in where you have no idea, you know? And, yeah, this was also, downtime was also part of them secret spots and, yeah, it was a bummer. My dad told me about this, you know, like, they've been in there and they had no idea how to get up there, you know? And if four of the best riders think there's no way to go up, it's steep. Yeah, that's right. Absolutely. When it's this hard and it's absolutely unrideable or even unmanageable on your own, to you, is it too much? I mean, do you feel like you should be able to do it on your own really, Manny, or is this part of it? No, I would say, like, this year was definitely way too much, you know? Yeah. It can happen, you know? Like, everybody wants to make it. Johnny's on a rope. Yeah, Johnny is on a rope right now, you know? Probably the guides or the fans from there just gave them the ropes. But, yeah, it was, you know, like, nearly half of the race they stuck in there and also the time, you know, was running out. Yeah, because it's a four-hour time limit, right? Is that right for the hair scramble? Four hours is cut off. Four hours time limit, you know? Like, Johnny just takes a sip because it was also with the heat, you know, like 35 degrees there, and you're like, oh, my God. My dad, look, like, he told me about this and he was like, he came in into downtown and saw it and he was like, oh, my God. That gives you some idea of how steep it is, doesn't it? Look at it. It's ridiculous. Like, from my side, you know, my perspective, I would say it should be still rideable, you know, and not four guys should pull one bike in one end at a time, you know? Yeah, yeah. I suppose you've got to push the boundaries sometimes to find out where they are. But, yeah, this is, you know, I mean, it's a historic kind of end to this event as well this year. And they haven't got it wrong again since, have they, either, Manny? I mean, it's been pretty good since, right? Yeah, they learned out of their mistakes and that's really important, you know? Like, it shouldn't happen that four of the best guys help each other and try to get up a hill. And I know that they were super exhausted and were also super pissed, you know, because at the end, you know, like, it's not racing anymore. No, that's right, isn't it? That's right. You know, just take a sip of Red Bull or whatever and that's not racing, you know? So... Yeah, well, that's right. Yeah, but, yeah. But it's 35 degree heat, man. It makes no sense. It's just too hard. It happened, but I think also the organizers and the track managers learned out of it that it shouldn't happen again, you know? Yeah. Yeah, over an hour, like you said, they were stuck there, man. Yeah. Just basically lifting bikes. Yeah. Yeah, we can see my dad, how exhausted he is, you know? Like... Yeah. Oh my goodness, look at him. He's just out of energy, you know? Like, you race one and a half hours and then you come into one spot and you just get stuck in there and have to pull bikes. It's so brutal and so physical as well because you're already so exhausted. Do you get sections as hard as this in, say, Romaniacs or any other hard enduros? Well, yeah. Like, I would say not as hard that you have to pull each other, but, yeah, there are some really hard sections in Romaniacs. Like, I would say myself, I would probably say that Romaniacs is one of the hardest races because it's just so long and it makes it so physical for your body as well. Yeah, you've won it. Congratulations on that. Thanks for getting it. That's going to be a nice feeling, right? And then I believe they had to shorten the end of the lap here now. They cut a bit out, didn't they, so these riders could get in within the time limit, as I believe. Yeah, yeah. They teamed up because, like my dad told me, they were just pissed and not really happy about this situation and they were like, we don't going to race it until the finish and don't going to restart racing because it made no sense. So, they teamed up, which was such a special moment, I think, for everybody. Well, that's right. That's a nice thing that came out of it. Yeah, totally, totally. Because this event is around the camaraderie, isn't it? It is about, even to see the pros help each other, I mean, that's on another level, but that's part of the hair scramble. Look at the size of that. It's part of the hair scramble and also part of the sport, you know? Yeah. It's just so camaraderie and you respect each other so much and also, you know, sometimes you need the help from another guy. So, that's why I think it's not the same as with motocross, you know, where they just battle each other really hard and at the end, you're just doing your thing. But here, you know, you have to help each other sometimes. Yeah, they're not all friends in the motocross paddock, are they? That climb, that George climb was absolutely, it's unbelievable the size of that. The scale of it blows my mind every time I look at it. Yeah, it's the longest one of the World Trocadero and, yeah, what a special moment, you know? The guy is just waving to the camera and having a cool ride into the finish, you know? Absolutely, yeah. Right as well. So, four winners this year. Johnny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Alfredo Gomez and Andreas Lettenbichler. Did I say his name right? You tell me. Lettenbichler, yeah. It was pretty good. Lettenbichler. You know, they had to skip Lazy Noon, they had to skip Dynamite or just shorted it up, you know? So, like, there were a couple of more stuff coming normally, but they just ran out of time, so they cut the track and make it shorter at this point. They'd had enough, mate, hadn't they, by this point? Yeah. Yeah, it was time to call it a day. Yeah. Especially, as you say, in that heat, you know? I mean, the heat is a massive factor, isn't it? Yeah. I got, you know, like, we already saw the pictures in the 2013 weather part because I took my helmet off and I got disqualified at this point, which was not the best way to be in this race. But, yeah. It can happen, you know? It's just a checkpoint. Yeah. It can happen. I was in Colston and it was just so freaking hot that I made a mistake, but now I would say I'm way more wise and made not a big mistake as like this. So, there we are. You got de-queued for taking your helmet off, I guess, because it was so hot, Manny. Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Yeah. Totally. Yeah, you must have been. I know, though. When you're suffocating, though, it's pretty tempting, I should imagine. Yeah. Yes. Them four winners. Yeah. Gomez has gone on to do it again, actually, in 2017. As has Graham, of course. Would you make a Graham Jarvis, Manny? I mean, you know, he's at the other end of the spectrum age-wise for you. He's incredible to win it like he does. Five times now? Five times now, yeah. I have no idea how he's doing it. Already, like Paul said, we have no idea what he's actually doing, but he's just doing it, you know? So, he's definitely... Yeah, there we can see, actually, all them wins from Graham as well. There you go. Look at that. And the number of finishes as well. Five, then, in 2015. The lowest number of finishes, I guess, ever, definitely in the last 10 years. Yeah, totally. It was only them four winners, and Mario Roman also came into the finish super tight. I think around 3 hours 49 or something like this before the time ran out. So, five finishers is not really much from 500, I would say. No. One percent. We've got a Q&A for you now. We've got some questions in for you now, Manny. So, here from Marcus, how did you find out about your disqualification? At the end, or did they tell you there and then? No, actually, I took the helmet off in the middle of Colstina, and then I finished Colstina, made two more checkpoints, and then there was the checkpoint guy, and he told me, you can stop, you're disqualified. I was like, are you freaking kidding me? I was like, no way. Just fight with this guy. But at the end, I was super bummed because I was fifth at this point and was actually right behind them. It would be also a good year for myself, I guess. Absolutely. Let's get the next question in. From Andre in the Czech Republic, trying to come to Erzberg, what is it that makes it so special? Because everybody is going there. It's just like we already talked about it. It's just such a cool festival also, the vibes. It's the most iconic race in the season, which makes it so good. If you want to check if you're one of the best guys, you have to go to Erzberg because everybody's riding it. Even if you just go, the spectacle of the Iron Giant, of the mountain itself, it's unbelievable. One from Daniel in Austria. Your dad's won the race, you haven't so far. How often does he brag about it? Not really often. Sometimes when we're just joking around at home or just talking about it, he's like, you have to get another number one trophy. I'm trying it. I'm giving my best the last couple of years. He also told me about this. It's a win, but at the end, it was also a weird situation. I'm trying my best to get another number one trophy into the Lettenbichlhaus. It's coming, dude. It's definitely coming. George from Scotland. How would winning the Erzberg rodeo compare to winning Romaniacs, which you have done already? I would say it would mean also the same level. It's definitely also one race to win. It's the most famous race in the world. This is really important in our sport. Myself, the achievement side, I would say Romaniacs is even a little bit more because it's just so much hard work and so much racing going on. Five days of racing. Big days, right? Early starts and all that. Yes, just big days. You're just putting so much effort in that it works. Erzberg is still on the list to win. It's also the most important one to win as well. Absolutely. Well, it's coming your way, I reckon, sooner or later, Manni. We're going to say goodbye to you now for half an hour or so. I know you're going to come back and look at the 2019 race with me, but thanks for your time now, mate. It's been a pleasure. No problem. I enjoyed it. See you in half an hour. It's good fun.