Erzbergrodeo

May 29th marks the start of this year's Erzbergrodeo, which takes place in Austria and is one of the toughest enduros in the world. Riders pound it out on ore and take on Mt. Erzberg, a.k.a.The Iron Giant.  As a bit of a testament to just how nasty a track this really is, the field usually starts with 1500 plus entrants and gets narrowed down to a third of that number for the main event, with 500 qualifying to take on the ever changing 35.0 km route up the mountain. Less than 6% of qualifiers actually manage to finish and and the winner usually clocks in at just over 3.0 hours, so technical skills and endurance are obviously a huge factor.

Mt. Erzberg

Trying to qualify for the main event

Ride 'em cowboy

Bucked off

Run for cover

 Last years 'rodeo'saw heavy rain which flooded the staging area and made for a crazy start. Check out the video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YubhPT-lkYw