At the end of May 2021 it was time for my skills and conditions to be tested, no matter how much I work out or train with Marc Collins I needed to test myself to regain my confidence under competition scenario. I had never ridden a Roadbook event before so this was definitely a good test for my stamina, regained skills, strength and willpower.
The Roadbook Adventure Challenge in Romania is organised by Ferry with the aim to give beginner riders an entry point into Roadbook races and for the pro riders an extra practice ground for the upcoming enduro season and rally events. There is two tracks, one Adventure Track (190km) and one Pro Track (227km), both varied in the skills required. The real pros try to beat the time of course and just fly on those tracks. I was told they need less then 3 hours for this. Either way these events happen a few times per year in various different locations, as in this case in Apuseni Mountains (Romania). The starting point was a small hotel in a valley, which was also the campground, accommodation, dinner location with great local food and a small dealer market. In total there was 52 Starters at the event and we started in the Pro Class.
Since my condition is too risky to drive alone my better half joined me on the complete track as technical support, motivator and food supply with his big BMW R1200 GS. Ferry Fedor was also so nice to borrow us his SPOT GPS for emergency purposes and we had our gear ready the hydrapacks filled with 3 liters of water, the tailbags and tankbags filled with medication, magnesium and food. Unfortunately we also had to pack rain gear, because they announced rain during the day.
We started at approx. 9AM, luckily the sun was out but it rained the last few days so we where expecting a wet and muddy track. Right after the start we had one of the more difficult sections ahead of us, a steep incline on washed out and rocky road with cows passing our way. The track uphill was actually my first big test right in the morning, it was a good 2 or 3km uphill. Since I was already a bit tense and nervous my body definitely had to work on that part. I made it up in 2 heaps, no falls, but I had to take few deep breaths on the way to the top. My better half with his big GS also had a bit of work todo until the top, unfortunately he lost momentum in one of the tight curves because he wanted to let me and a faster motocross rider pass and his legs where simply to short in that ditch..so the cow landed on the side. I said to myself wow if this continuous like this then it will be an extra hard day.
We followed the Roadbook through beautiful scenery and landscape, rural villages, giant puddles and various underground. Of course I had to make a few stops in between and after a couple of hours my left side is completely unresponsive and numb, so the stops where necessary. I even had to take a quick nap because my brain was exhausted from all the bumps and thin air. After a while i started having cramps in my hands and our best way to fix it was to take in a magnesium shot. This definitely helped for a while.
A couple of hours down the road we ended up in a forest section and we took the wrong route into some deep forest mud section but dead end, fortunately we heard a fellow rider a little further below us so we figure out we took the wrong track. Happy of not being stuck in that mud coming back out of the forest we immediately got our cold shower…the correct track was not any better and it was literally a mud bath for us. The husky didn’t have many issues going through it but the big GS was so heavy that it just slid into the deep tracks, without any action. We tried to direct it to the right way but no chance, so my better half just continued the slide downhill. Sadly the boxer engine is very wide and he got stuck in the track, with a lot of effort and force the boxer plowed his way through the track out on the field, relief. This was fun, but a lot of sweat and work.
As we continued the track, we had some cool fun sections going fast and drifting through long curves on light gravel and the landscape above the tree zone is just amazing, too bad we had to kind of fly through it all. At about 1PM we started having strong rain and it became a few degrees colder, but we where determined to finish the track Ferry has created. We came into the finish zone at about 3PM, after 227km off-road and less then 1 hour of breaks/stops. My adrenalin kept me going and I started shouting at my boyfriend not to stop anymore for any breaks cause I could feel my body shutting down more and more and I wanted to get to the finish line. As you can tell I was always very competitive, giving up was not an option for me, regardless of pain or weather. When we arrived I was exhausted, happy and relieved, yes I did it. A huge milestone for me, regaining my confidence to ride off-road. Of course I could not have done it without help from Marc Collins and his patience when he trained me over the last few months, and of course my boyfriend Motorollo who was on my side during the whole time, he ensured I make enough stops, that I took my medication, magnesium etc. he was my guiding light and assurance that I can make it through safe.
All in all it was a wonderful event, it felt a bit like a big family there and Ferry did a good job keeping us happy and safe. Thanks Ferry. The tracks where great for us and we will definitely come back to the next challenge in September. Oh and I found out after we arrived in the finish line that my boyfriend signed me up for the pro track. If I had known that before…but now I am even more proud of myself.