Racing the Erzberg

Binni

Binni

New member
I'm taking my Gasser to the Erzberg this year, and looking forward to the fun, signed up for the whole thing, Rocket Ride, Prolog and Red Bull Hare scramble. My personal goal will be to qualify for the sunday Hare scramble and if I do so it will be my own little victory. If you have been there and have got some good advice, I'd like to hear it :-)
Also got a blogsite about my venture, and since I'm from Iceland it's in icelandic, but there is a website translator on the page if you want to read a often funny translation. Cheers!
 
I was there last year and this is where I messed up, what you need to practice is flat hairpin bends at pace. Erzberg is all about the prologue there are a lot of fast riders (that are not very good at the tech stuff)
When you go on the mass ride up the prologue to see it I would suggest you tave a helmet cam so you can memorize the route so you can go flat out on your first attempt because it gets rougher for the second run

You will get a start time for the prologue I suggest youhead to the start about an hour (at least) before then because you will be in a long queue - the earlier you start the better the route. If someone is there to help you take clothes to keep warm in the queue and a tennis ball to keep your forearms warm to avoid Armpump especially if it is cold - I know it is the middle of summer but last year it was between 9-15C most of the time!(but u from iceland and I am from africa so prob not an issue for u ;-p)


I am guessing from your post that you are not expecting to make it to the front row of the harescramble so don't worry too much about fitness because you will spend most of the 4hrs in bottlenecks waiting to hit the climbs

For the rocket ride you need to learn to hit loose climbs with a short runup start in second and do not take your feet off the pegs - the videos make those climbs look a lot harder than they are- they are quite fun but don't follow anyone because the roost is hell and if they loose it you will also need to stop

So hit that mx track and practice 180 corners and you should achieve your goal

I still have some unfinished business with the prologue, the HS has lost it's appeal but I would like to still enter that for the social aspect of the event, because without spectators it is impossible. Overall it is still an event that I think all dirtbikers should have on their bucket list

Good luck and you will have fun
 
One last thing, you spend a fair amount of time doing nothing so it is prob worth going on one of the guided rides, I am not sure where they take you (possibly just to see some of the obstacles in the HS) but it is something I regret not doing, but the weather was pretty sh!tty

And make sure you have all your paperwork for your camping area etc because with 1800 entries they have no time to negotiate!
 
Thank you very much for your good advice Swazi matt, good to hear from someone first hand, so looks like I'll be practicing the bends a lot, and you're right I'm not expecting to make front row, my goal is just to try make the cut. Did you change the final drive ratio for the prolog for greater top speed?
 
I didn't change the gearing, i went standard 13/48 (i think) because i was on a borrowed bike and did not want to end up out there with gearing i was not used to, probably should have gone 13/46 because some of those straights are long but then you need to practice riding the corners with that gearing. and then switch back to 13/48 or 13/50 for the main.

my buddy made it in on the 5th row and he changed to 13/50 for the HS but felt that for the long climbs the 50 did not have the legs and he would have been better off with the 48.

this guy has some good videos to help prepare you for the prologue, it looks a lot slower than when you actually riding it, 30 seconds was all i needed to cut to make the HS and there were 300 riders in that 30 seconds!

http://www.youtube.com/user/khan84a
and this is my other buddy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3LeX4L4t9Y&list=UUCy6KIWCZ6Uvl6mJ3SSQobQ&index=11&feature=plcp who was about the same speed as me and i thought i was going fast, would be interesting to get onboard stefan everts or Ossi Reisinger or Seppi Fally who were 4 minutes faster than me
 
Do you know how much fuel is needed for the hare scramble, are guys carrying extra fuel or large tanks?
 
the harescramble is only about 20km (if that), so doubt you will use a full tank, there are no refuels so doubt it is a problem.

the prologue is about 15km to the top and possibly a bit longer on the ride down so you will most likely only need about 20l for the whole time (unless you get really happy in the practice areas or go on a guided ride).

The mine is in isenerz so it is easy to get fuel if you need it, just dont do it on the sunday because you will never get back in the queues are so long

Are you going to be camping in the mine or staying in the town?

if you pm me your email i can send you the gps route of the prologue that you can see on google earth

also don't forget that you will need to jet your bike for there, the altitude is between 850 - 1500m
 
Those vids were great. That looks like a lot of fun actually. I'll add that to my bucket list. :D

Good luck Binni! Take some vids.
 
I was there in 2009 & 2010 the weather in 2009 was dreadful for the first two days & then was blistering hot!!! (32C, I'm Irish), then in 2010 we had sun/rain/sun & sun again for the HS. It's unpredictable to say the least. I think in 2005 they even had snow! Swazi Matt is correct about the prologue, it's a bit silly but an MX'er will qualify well, because he's fast! However he'll suffer out there in the technical stuff. Friends of mine are expert level here in Ireland & ride also in the EWC, they qualify in the 1st/2nd rows. That's pretty much how fast you'll need to be! Anyway, best of luck & remember to enjoy yourself no matter what......

Robs.
 
Thanks, I'm used to fast changing weather, being from Iceland, maybe not so used to heat above 20 deg.cel. I sure am gona enjoy it and will be happy IF I qualify, even last row. And I will be taking the gopro with me.
 
About the gopro two things to remember - there is nowhere to plug it in to recharge and the battery only lasts 2 hours, which is why I have 1h59 of the raid on isenerz and 5 seconds of the prologue!!
 
Great video GasgasTom, thanks. About charging the gopro then I will use usb car charger, I think that should work, I'm gonna try that tomorrow.
 
Binni said:
Great video GasgasTom, thanks. About charging the gopro then I will use usb car charger, I think that should work, I'm gonna try that tomorrow.
Click to expand...

That should work alternatively you can charge it in the toilet, but then you going to have to sit there with it - not cool

I was actually quite surprised at how little is provided at the race venue, I think there was only a hotdog stand and the beertent for food and everything in town (excluding restaurants) close at 5 so u need to be quite self sufficient
 
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