Photo Gallery: Austrian Adventure

In a rare treat, we were guests of KTM at the Erzberg Rodeo XV, the 15th running of the race at the "Iron Giant" nestled in the Austrian Alps. The Erzberg Rodeo is more like a three-day carnival of dirt bikes, featuring events like the Prologue, a two-day time trials race up the truck roads of Erzberg much like Pike's Peak, the Rocket Ride which is a drag race straight up the walls of the mine, EnduroCross, FMX demos and more. Taking place on an Austrian holiday, it truly is a weekend to experience, drawing a large international crowd and serving as the "home race" for KTM, as their Matighoffen headquarters is only a few hours away.

Enjoy some pictures from our Austrian Adventure, including photos of road riding, off-road riding, sights from the pits, race action and more...

First on the agenda was a road tour through the twisty mountain roads of the Alps - not a bad start!

The "Iron Giant" (otherwise known as Erzberg) is the oldest and largest mine in Europe and has been mined for over 1000 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KTM was doing a photoshoot with the new X-Bow at Erzberg, so we got an up-close look at the exotic beauty.

A variety of orange bikes were available to us for the road tour, including the new RC8, the SMT and the 990 Adventure (shown).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Karl Katoch, the founder and promoter of the Erzberg Rodeo, and the one who lays out the treacherous Erzberg Scramble.

Former Erzberg winner Cyril Despres competed in the prologue, for the first time aboard his fully rally race bike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Karl Katoch (left) and three-time Erzberg champion Taddy Blazusiak (right) give the thumbs up.

Top competitors at the 2009 Erzberg Rodeo were introduced to the crowd at the 'Iron Cross' event on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gnarly single track and incredible views, riding off-road at Erzberg is an unforgettable experience.

Despres (left) joined our group for the KTM off-road adventure tour, and even gave us some hill-climbing lessons! Yours truly (Jean Turner - right) posing wtih Despres after an exhausting climb up some tricky switchbacks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that's right. That's an Airstream trailer turned into a monster truck.

This display showcased the actual bike ridden by Rally Mongolia winner Helly Frauwallner in his "North Light" tour around the world. Check out www.tour-nordlicht.at for more info.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first wave of 50 racers take to the Scrambles course. Following rows would start in two-minute intervals.

The top 500 qualifiers from the Prologue line up for the final event of the weekend, the Erzberg Scrambles at the base of the Iron Giant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was easy to tell where Taddy was since the Red Bull helicopter was never far off.

Taddy Blasuziak had about a half-hour lead at this point, so he wedged his bike between a stump and the slope to take a break just before check 17.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andreas Lettenbichler works his way past Lampkin, kicking rocks on the helmet-less rider, resulting in a concussion in addition to heat stroke and two broken fingers.

Fighting for second place, British trials legend Dougie Lampkin exhausted himself in this canyon, and finally slumped off the bike after a final crash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sole American rider at the Erzberg Rodeo, Kyle Redmond, fights his way back into the top ten in the final sections of the race.

The race was halted for over an hour while Lampkin was rescued via helicopter from the bottom of the extremely steep slopes of the course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like most riders, BMW's Gerhard Forster was utterly spent at the finish of the Erzberg Scramble.

Disappointed, but relieved at the finish, AmPro Yamaha's Redmond took tenth out of a mere 21 overall finishers.