#Rodeo

The Erzberg Rodeo is the toughest enduro in the world, and Alta took two riders to Austria last month to compete. Ty Tremaine qualified 43rd in his first ever attempt at Erzberg, and Lyndon Poskitt might’ve done much better than 113th if his race bikes and gear hadn’t been stolen out of his van at a rest stop dammit! As it was, Poskitt qualified on Ty’s back-up bike and then sat out the race. All you have to do is cover 22 miles in four hours to finish Erzberg; the Alta team came up just a bit short, but with what they learned this year, Husqvarna, KTM, Gas Gas and Beta could be in for a shock in 2019.

Recently I set off on a camping trip near the San Gabriel Mountains for the weekend. I had been assigned to attend a product launch on the Friday prior so my plan was to, after the event, point my front tire hastily toward the Angeles National Forest for some close-to-home camping over the weekend.

Lately, there’s been a rise in popularity in cafe- and naked-type bikes. Take the recently reviewed Royal Enfield Continental GT, quirky Moto Guzzi V7, old-is-new-again Yamaha SR400, and of course the venerable Triumph Bonneville as examples. They are simple motorcycles that take you back to a simpler time. And these days, wearing full-fledged, Power Ranger-like protective gear just seems, well, silly.