Ryder LeBlond ' s Erzbergrodeo Experience
2021 SEER Champ Ryder LeBlond finished 10th !
interview by LISA LEBLOND photos by SEER // LISI BRATCHER
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS RACE ? Because its Erzberg …. duh !! But really , ive always wanted to do it and after winning the seer championship and doing well in other races in the states , it opened up an awesome opportunity to go race over there .
WHAT DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE RACE ? Other than watching some youtube videos and talking to some people prior to going over , I really had no clue what I was getting myself into . Although ive raced many races here in the US , I definitely underestimated how big of an event it was .
HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THE RACE ? Leading up to the race , I really didnt have too much time to prepare for it . We were pretty busy racing the US Hard Enduro series . I would consider racing and the training ive done over here preparation for it because it was just another hard enduro after it was all said and done !
WHO CAME TO RACE ? HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS ? OTHER RACERS FROM THE US / CANADA ? I think anyone who has ever made a name for them selves was there . All the big guns like Mani , Billy , Graham , etc . we also had a good group of us from North America including myself , Trystan Hart , Branden Pietrie , and Quinn Wentzel . I spent a lot of time walking with Trystan since he knew where everything was because he raced it in 2019 .
WHAT DID THE COURSE LOOK LIKE ? AS EXPECTED ? The track overall wasn ' t anything too crazy even though I didn ' t finish . A lot of fast transfer sections in between the hard spots . There wasn ' t anything too bad until Carls Diner . Carls was wayyyyy longer than I thought it would be , and unfortunately thats where my race ended ...
WHAT WAS THE RACE FORMAT ? Started with the Iron Road prologue . Wide open 6th gear for 7 minutes straight . There were 2 days of that , 2
VOL . 7 ISSUE 7- JULY 2022 // PAGE 57