NomadOn2wheels updates Rex about the Red Bull Romaniacs race in S5 Ep 27

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Listen to the Be Forever Cool podcast.
My name is Rex 45. We got Nomad on two wheels in
the building again. What's going on brother?
How you doing? I'm good, man.
I'm good man. Glad to be to be back on the
show, man. Definitely, definitely.
Nice, nice to have you back and,and, and you know, get caught up
and stuff like that. I saw your post on social medias
and me social media and, and so I kind of have a little bit of

(00:23):
idea. It looks like you're having a
lot of fun on 2. Wheels over there.
Yeah, so, so, you know, I think last night you on the show, it
was right before the Romaniac race and stuff like that, the
Red Bull race. So let's kind of let's talk
about, you know, just jump into that, like getting your bike
back together and stuff like that after traveling for a few

(00:44):
years on it. Like, you know, what was that
like? And and then you know, the the
preparation and also I think I think at one time you would post
that you might not make it so tothe race.
So let's talk about like that, what happened there and, and how
you got through it and stuff like that.
Yeah, I mean, so yeah, we still,we, like I said, we left off.
I was in Netherlands, as a matter of fact, I was in

(01:06):
Netherlands preparing the bike for the race.
And yeah, there was a lot going on because I had to order parts.
I had to, you know, just things needed to align with, with
timing and, and, and getting parts for the bike.
And then also I had to make a decision whether or not I was
going to have the bike towed to the race or if I'm going to ride

(01:27):
to the race because I was in Netherlands and the race was in
Romania. So which is, I mean, that's a
good 25 hours of riding away. So yes, I mean, at the end of
the day, I was able to to make the deadline to leave on time.

(01:48):
The parts finally came in and I finally got the bike back
together. And yeah, and it was, it was, it
was woof. It was like right at the nick of
time that I was able to get the stuff together.
And then the guy Bob, Bob Bob's Bike Shop helped me so much with
everything and he helped me get the parts and get the things

(02:10):
that I need. Like I was going crazy looking
for four tubes. I couldn't find 4 tubes and he
was fine. He just sent a message out and,
and was able to get someone who was able to sell ME4 tubes that
are just out of nowhere. So because my forks were
brutally damaged, they they needed to be replaced.
So. You're going to get a job at
Yamaha R&D. Yeah.

(02:31):
Yeah, exactly. So there was a little bit of
stress building up to the race and then, you know, once I had
the bike ready and it was like, OK, clearly I'm going to ride
the bike there, I'm not going toget it towed.
I knew I was running a little bit of a risk.
Oh, there was also one thing that I needed to get, which was
a 2.5 rear rim. Generally the real rear rim that

(02:56):
I have was I think it's a three 3.5 I believe, OK, but I needed
to run a 2.5 rear rim to put moose in the tire in the rear
tire. So and the moose is like, I'm
not too sure if you're familiar with moose's, but it's like that
that rubber foam that goes inside the tubes inside the

(03:16):
tire. So that's you don't have to run
inner tubes and you don't have to worry about pumping, putting
air in it. So and because it's off road and
it's a heavy bike, you can get pinch flats if you have if you
have tubes in it. So the ideal thing to run would
be moose. Unfortunately, I was unable to

(03:39):
get Moose because I didn't have the right size rim.
Got you. I didn't have the right size rim
because I was on a massive budget, which I don't recommend
doing this race on a budget, butif you have to, then you have
to. So I was on a budget and it
would to buy a whole new rim. You know, I'm looking at a good
1200. Yeah.

(04:01):
Oh, yeah, yeah. I, I I got some rooms coming now
I know. Moose, Yeah, plus the moose and
the new tire. And I mean, and then you're
looking at another like 1500. I mean, you're looking at a
total of about 1500. So it wasn't in the budget.
And I knew that I was riding, riding the Romaniacs on tubes

(04:23):
and it would be a risk that it would.
So let me ask, after doing all the stuff that you did to the
bike and after being on a bike for a few years, what did that
bike feel like when you rolled it out of Bob's garage?
Oh man, that is Honestly, I turned it into a completely
different motorcycle. I dropped the nose off I I took

(04:47):
out about 25 to 30 lbs off of it.
Wow. It felt like the biggest dirt
bike ever. Like it was just, it was just a
massive dirt bike. It handled completely
differently. It just didn't handle like a big
bike anymore. It took me some time to get used
to it and I didn't have enough time to get used to it.

(05:09):
I only did like a small little dirt run through the dirt,
through the mud, sand, but no mountain climbing.
I didn't do any mountain climbing.
That's all Romaniacs is all mountains.
So I didn't do any uphills or downhills.
So I had to to really try to getused to that bike in a very

(05:30):
short amount of time because it felt completely different,
completely different. So but when I rolled it out
though, it was like, wow, I mean, I feel like I can just it
was so light. I can just dude like it just and
these adventure bikes are they're heavy, you know, they're
big bikes up. So, but my when I what I did to

(05:51):
it, I really, really shaved off a lot of weight and it made it.
Catchy, do you? Do you think if you knew what
you knew now, you would have done it when you first got on
the road just to save some weight?
For travel wise, no, I probably would have just used a different
bike. OK, yeah, I mean, even though

(06:13):
the bike is like one of the mostreliable bikes out there, I do.
I'm a I'm a massive fan of weight savings now.
I've always have been, but I think now I'm even more a big
fan of weight savings. And it's just like if you're
going to use this bike to travel, then you, you know, it's

(06:36):
tough to use it as a travel and also a race bike, a race bike.
So because it's a big bike, it'stop heavy.
It's it can be very heavy to pick up when you drop it because
you will drop it. And yeah, I just think that, you
know, when you try to mix the two of racing and travel, it can
be very, very difficult because,you know, you want a light bike

(06:59):
for racing, but you also want the reliable bike to be on the
road and travel with, you know, and but yeah, I mean, I think I
could possibly travel with this bike, but it's just, and there's
no big windshield on there. So the wind just smacked me in
the face. Is I got to be different.
There's some, there's some, there's some creature comforts

(07:20):
that I, I would, I would miss ifI just use this for the road as
well. So.
Got you. Now you said if you had to do it
again you would pick a differentbike.
What would it be as far as the, the the travel?
Because I think I I know you need more than one bike.
There's a reason why I have 6 bikes because like one yeah do
everything. Yeah.

(07:41):
And The thing is like, now I know what kind of traveler I am
and I love to go off road. So if I were also, if I were to
do this travel all over again, Iwould probably do more like 80%
off road. OK, I.
Did a lot of pavement riding butI would have been a lot more
dirt. With that being said, I
definitely would have gotten to choose a lighter bike.

(08:03):
Something like maybe I was looking at the a JPP R7 which is
a punching frame. That's a thumper so it's like
one single cylinder. I mean the KTM, the KTM like.
Seven O 1 or. No, then the Husqvarna, the

(08:25):
Husqvarna, the Husqvarna seven O1, not so much.
I probably would go for more forKTM like 690 or something or.
OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, now the now they have the,now they have the the Kobe, the
Kobe 800. So that's I.
Don't know that brand that's yeah, it's.
Chinese and it's hitting the market real hard right now.

(08:48):
So it's like the light, the lightest bike right now that's
adventure bike. So for racing and yeah, nice.
I mean, I, I I'm not too sure which one I would get.
I'm I'm on the market right now just looking around trying to
see what's going to come out for2026.
OK. If I don't find anything then
I'll probably go back to obtainerate that.

(09:08):
I have an old one though, like a2021.
You got you. Yeah, because they've they've
done so many electronics now to it.
And then just like I don't like the electronics, right?
Yeah. That's interesting.
So so you got the bike back together, you had to ride to
Romania, 25 hours of riding on adifferent feeling bike all
together. Like halfway through the ride

(09:31):
were you like, man, I wish I hadthe windshield.
Yeah, Oh my gosh. I think, I think when I hit
Germany it was just, oh, it was brutal.
Like it was just cold and wet. I'm like, isn't it summertime
right now? I'm thinking to myself like, why
is this weather so shitty? It's just, it's just cold and

(09:53):
wet the like the entire time I was in Germany for what, roughly
about 3 days? Yeah.
And the entire time I was like, maybe the sun came out maybe
twice and went back to grey clouds and it was just cold and
wet and just. And I was just getting hit with
all the rain and. Oh my gosh.
I mean, I had rain gear, but, and then the wind, the wind is

(10:17):
just, it's brutal. Yeah, 'cause usually, you know,
on adventure bikes you have a windscreen and you, you have
the, the wind buffing that goes hopefully goes over the head,
right? You don't have to deal with
anything. And it's, and it's actually a
massive difference because yeah,yeah.
Because you don't feel the wind blasting in your face.
That's the first thing. And it's almost like everything

(10:41):
in the cockpit feels like, like there's like nice air in that
area, you know, like, especiallyif it's a little chilly.
Yeah. When it's when it's hitting you
in the face, it's like, you know, you're.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you get more
fatigue quicker, yeah. Yeah, exactly, exactly I.
Had two naked bikes and and my first bike was a naked bike and

(11:01):
I felt it and when I got on my sport bike with a windshield
that was better I got a second naked bike and was there again
and I and I was like I was afterthat I was done I haven't had
another naked bike and like all my bikes had windshields after
that because. Like you'll get used to it, but.
You don't want to drive. You don't want to ride 25 hours.
I mean, it's one thing if you drive in, you know, 100 miles on

(11:23):
a naked bike and maybe 150 mileson a naked bike.
But anything over that man, you like you got to be in really
good shape to just get off the bike and like feel like moving.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely not.
Not fun. Not a fun experience.
So, so I, you know, I hate you there.
So OK, so you, you did the 25 hours of writing you got to the

(11:46):
Romaniacs. What was that like?
What is the I don't even want tosay track or the area like the
the community like or was it like pulling up and and and
getting through registration, all that fun stuff?
Yeah, man, I mean for those who don't know, the, the the
Romaniacs is written through theCarpathian Mountains, which is

(12:07):
like all in Romania and stuff. So it's all massive mountains up
hills. It's not a particular, I mean it
is a tract, it's mapped out. But you know, when you get there
it's like you start seeing all the different race teams and you
see all the professional racers.Like it's all pros, like a lot

(12:28):
of professionals. Even in my class there was like
there was 3 or 4 professional racers.
Wow, and you know, you see like guys, you see legends there, you
know, and you're like, dude, like this guy.
I don't see this guy on TV like just like, you know, which is
really cool. And and then the vibe in the
atmosphere was absolutely phenomenal.

(12:51):
Like I felt, I felt like I have to keep doing this for the rest
of my life. That's how I felt like I have to
get I cannot miss it every year.I have to, I can't miss it one
year. I have to keep doing this
because it was just like, everybody was like super cool.
Everybody was just on a different wavelength.

(13:14):
And it was just, it just, it wasso much explosion and there was
so much excitement. And you know, you do the
prologue and you see the guys hopping over the logs and all
the stuff and it, it just like when you see the pros go and
you're like, dude, these guys are really, really, you see guys
on my bike, my side's bike doingall kinds of crazy shit.
And you're just like, what in the world, man?
It's it's just wild. I also met like a lot of really

(13:39):
cool people. So the, you know, I became
friends with like four or five guys that, you know, we pretty
much created a team now. Like we, we're like, you know,
like, let's do this every year. Let's rent out a place.
They have their mechanic. I'll bring the mechanic.
We have two mechanics for both, for all five of us and just
we'll do it the right way. You know, I think, well, for me,

(14:02):
I felt like I did. I was a bit unprepared.
But yeah, we'll talk about that.Yeah, You know, that's, listen,
it's always like that. You know, I remember the first
time going to the track and racing and stuff like that.
It it's you're always, I think even if you had a catalog of
everything you needed to get andand you brought everything with
you, you'll still be under prepared because guys would be

(14:23):
looking at like, you don't need that.
You don't. Yeah, this will break after like
3 laps. Yeah, yeah.
And it's crazy because when I got there, people looking at me,
they're like, are you racing? I'm like, yeah.
And I was like, you don't have ahow'd you get here?
So you're like, you have New York place.

(14:46):
Did you ship it to, Did you shipit here?
He's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I rode my bike from New York, from from Boston to get here.
And they're like, what? They just, they couldn't even
process it. It was just like, listen.
Your story, your story's one of the craziest stories, bro.
I'm telling you, it's it's wild.Yeah.
They're like, you're racing thisbike, the one that you just rode

(15:08):
from the United States, like, yeah.
And it was like, they're just looking at me like, wow, like
no, and this can't be. So I've got a lot of that
because if you look, you can seeall the flags on my bike and
people, and you see the New Yorkplates and everyone.
It's like, you really took this from the States is like, yeah.

(15:29):
And Africa. And then they're like, what?
It's like, yeah, I've been doingthis for 2 1/2 years, man.
And they like, you know, there'sa flight that I get you here in
60. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then there were people that were like, wait a minute, I
heard about you. I heard about you.
Yeah. So like.
That's what's up. So yeah, you're, you're like a

(15:52):
celebrity as well getting around.
So all right, so you're there, you're meeting people and stuff
like that, you know, like, you know, what are you, you know, at
what point you see, obviously now you know, you'll go back
again for every year if you can at like, at what point did all
that sink in for you? Like, you know, after you're

(16:13):
registered, after your first runat something like, you know,
like, you know, or just the factthat, you know, you know, when
did you take a minute just to soak it all in, right?
Because you know, it's one thingto say here, you're when you're
back in New York or Boston and say, Hey, I'm going to do all
these things right here and X, this is this is where I'm going
to get to, right? I mean, a lot of people do that,
you know, every every day in life, right?

(16:33):
So like, you know, when, when, when or has it sunk in?
But you know, you know. When did that sink in for you?
I mean, it's sunk in when I got to when I started actually
walking the prologue. So I don't know if you've ever
watched the Romaniacs, The prologue has this really

(16:54):
challenging section. Well, the prologue is this kind
of challenging thing where there's, you know, man made logs
and tires and things like that and you have to hop over them
and and you see people like crashing and flipping over and,
you know, just getting complete annihilated on it.
And the day before the prologue,you're allowed to go and walk

(17:16):
the prologue. And as I'm walking the prologue
and I'm like, and I get to the top of like one of the ramps and
I'm like, I look around. I'm like, I cannot believe that
I'm here right now. It is like, 'cause like the
prologue you see on social media, you see it on TV all the
time and you see like all the top guys, the pole Taurus, you

(17:37):
know, doing stuff on the Tenerife on the prologue.
And you're just like, you see the logs that they're hopping
over and you're just like, I'm like, damn, I can't believe that
I'm here right now. I really cannot believe that I'm
here right now. But interestingly enough, I was
never nervous, I think because Ihad so much stress building up

(18:04):
to get there. And at the end when I was when I
got there, I was just like, likeit took me this long to get
here. I went through a lot of stuff to
get here, a lot of made some good choices, made some bad
choices, some choices that I some things happened that I

(18:25):
couldn't really control. And there was some stressful
moments leading up to this. And I think when I got there, I
just like all that stress was just gone.
And I think at that time I was thinking to myself, like, I I'm
here. So I don't care how I do.
I don't even care if like I do the prologue crash and I can't

(18:45):
do the rest of the race. I kind of just like, just like,
I mean, I mean, yeah. So I worked so hard to get
there. It would be a bummer if
something like that happened, but I think at the time that was
kind of the mindset. I was just like, all right, I'm
just going to do my best and just hope for the best and see
what happens because. You said stressful moments, but
it, you know, from my side and just you look on the show, I

(19:08):
would say stressful months, yeah.
Yeah, man, there were sometimes,man, there was definitely
sometimes. And I, you know, I think once I
once I had gotten there and, andI did realize that I was there,
I think I was just kind of like,well, no turning back now.

(19:28):
I'm here. We're doing this.
So you signed up for it, you're here.
And yeah, I mean, I just, I justmade the best of it, so.
So let's talk about the race a little bit.
How like you know, what makes upthe the overall race.
I assume this stages you know like what are the stages like
and a rough idea of how many miles you have to cover it to

(19:51):
complete it. Yeah.
So I would say there's still this four days, five days total,
the 5th, the 5th is the prologueor the first day is the
prologue. Then you have 4 off road days
out of the four off road days, you have one marathon stage.

(20:13):
So, so the first day, you know. Pretty much, you know, because
it's well, you get the prologue and then once you do well on the
prologue, that will put you in aposition that you're going to,
to, to start. Now it's good to start in the
beginning because the dirt in the mud starts to get piled up,

(20:37):
which I've learned. While the dirt starts piling up,
the roots start getting kicked up, the rocks start getting
kicked up so that all the hill climbs and things like that
become more challenging when youare in when you're in behind.
Yeah. So you want to you actually want
to get a good place to start when you when you start to race.

(20:57):
But yeah, I mean, the first, everyone goes to the first day.
The second day is actually the beginning of the marathon stage.
So you do what they do is they, you, you ride to a hotel, right?
You're right. You do the race and you get to
the, get to a hotel and you're not allowed, your crew is not

(21:17):
allowed to work on your bike. Only you are allowed to work on
your bike at that time. So people, everyone's like, you
know, doing, doing all the, the,the, the minor adjustments and
things like that on the, on the,on the break of the, of the
marathon stage. And then the next day you wake
up and you continue the marathonstage and it comes back to where

(21:37):
you started. And then the 4th day is the 4th
day. That's the 4th off road day.
Usually at the end of the off road day, you have a massive
hill climb to do in front of everyone.
That's if you've ever watched it, There's people that go up
this extremely, extremely steep hill that it's like everyone is
getting halfway up and the bike is going right and they're going

(22:00):
left. So there are there are people
that definitely do make it up there.
I would say the majority of the people don't make it up there,
up that hill. And yeah, you just see the bike
come tumbling back down the hill.
I I assume that's the little, that's the last race of the day,
because when your bike tumbles back down, you got to get
repaired, right? That is the last of it.

(22:22):
That is it like that is the hillclimb.
You have to get through that in order to complete the race.
Wow. And then yeah.
And then after that, it's just abig party.
Who? Doesn't like a party?
Master party man. So, yeah, so let's let's talk

(22:45):
about the stages and like, how did you, did you think you were
prepared? 75% prepared, you know, like,
you know, afterwards, you know, like how, how you're like, OK,
these are the things I need to work on next time or, or like,
you know, going through what wasit like?
Yeah, so getting there and realizing, I would say after the

(23:07):
first day, I realized a lot of things.
I realized number one, my bike wasn't was barely prepared.
I mean, I did a lot of preparation.
I spent a lot of money, spent a lot of time getting the bike
ready. I would say there are a few
things that I could have definitely done differently.

(23:27):
Number one was the rim getting asmaller rim so I can get the
Moose having more tires. I only had I had two rear tires
and 1 front tire. I would like to have a rear tire
for the first day, get a new rear tire for the second day, do

(23:51):
the Marathon Sage, and then get a rear tire for the 4th 4th day.
Wow SO3 rear tires does that. When you say rear tires, that
rear tire and rim just tire. No, just tires, Just tires.
Just tires. And probably run different
mousses in there, like softer mousses, things like that.

(24:11):
Yeah. So that's probably the biggest
regret was just not getting us amore narrow rim and putting
Moose in the rear tire. Physically.
Physically, man, yeah, let's just say I had no time to to
work out. I had no time to train.
I didn't train. I knew it was going to be

(24:32):
physically demanding, but I did not have time to really to work
out the way that I'm supposed to.
Yeah, I could have worked out inthe Netherlands, but that was
just like 2 weeks. Right.
And that wouldn't have been nowhere near enough to what I
was getting myself into. My muscles started cramping, I

(24:53):
would probably say every single major muscle in my body.
That's like hamstrings, quads, glutes.
Shoulders. Yeah, biceps, all these triceps,
everything started to completelyseize up on me.
I've never had that where it wasall seizing up at the same time.

(25:15):
Never had that and I drank so much water, I drank so much
electrolytes. I just, I had everything and I
the first day I was like, I couldn't like my, my hands would
cramp like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I couldn't. I had to.
I had to. I couldn't.

(25:36):
I couldn't control my muscles. Yeah, my arm, it was like this.
And I had to actually push it down because I couldn't, it was,
it was seizing up and I can see the muscle like just pulsing.
And then the hamstrings would just like if I sat down, my
hamstring would hurt. If I stood up, my biceps would
hurt. So it was just, I couldn't like

(25:56):
I would say like 75% through thefirst day.
I was like, I was done. Like I was, I was cooked.
I was like, this is, I don't know how I'm going to do it.
It's just like. And that's frustrating, man.
I mean, I've had that, you know,early on racing, not working out
and, you know, having my muscles, my arm muscles fail on

(26:19):
me on a bike, you know, grabbinga front brake and I'm just
falling on a tank because I can't hold myself up.
Yeah. And and that and that when you
when you, when you sit in and you know, you got time off and
you're thinking it's like, and it's like there's no quick fix.
Yeah, yeah. You just got to push through it.
You just got to push through it.That's it, man.
Yeah. So I would say yeah, my my

(26:43):
muscle endurance was just was was was brutal as far as like my
energy goes and my heart rate and breathing.
I think that was fine, but it just might the problem was just
my muscle. I had so much muscle fatigue and
the bike was definitely could have been a little bit better

(27:05):
with the bike and getting thingsgetting more of a duration with
it. So that was the first day, the
second day. So the first day I didn't
finish. Oh, and so there was a time on
the first day where I, my I stopped to grab water, all
right, and I put my right foot down.

(27:26):
So I was kind of on a slight embankment and I put my foot
down to, you know, to stand up on the bike or to sit down on
the bike, whatever. And I'm taking water.
And then I went to put my foot down and then and the embankment
was too, too low. Yeah.
So it just the bike just startedtipping over.

(27:47):
So it tipped over and it landed right on the brake lever.
Aw, man. And then I just saw the brake
lever like over there and I'm like, this is not good.
Yeah, I don't have a front brakelever.
So then I so the bike landed with the wheels facing up and
the, and the handlebars without low.
So now I had to like figure out how to get the bike up because

(28:10):
whenever it's like, you know, whenever the handlebars are
lower than the the the wheels, it's just a nightmare trying to
lift the bike. So I'm like, OK, well, let me go
on the other side of the bike and lift the bike and flip it
over to the other side and let the wheels be down there on the
hill. And now the So now I can, yeah.
So I had to figure out how to do, how to brake without or how

(28:32):
to ride without front brakes. And I'm like, there's no way
that I can ride this bike without front brakes.
Didn't you have a lot of practice in Africa?
There's no way the the hill climbs or the down the descends.
Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, way too crazy, like, and
I'm talking like they're crazy to the point where you get there

(28:52):
and you just you just look straight down and you just like,
I have to go down this and you just like, yeah, you got to go
down that. There was no way I would have
been able to complete the the race with the.
Right. So, OK, so at that point you,
you took yourself out. Well, I didn't, I actually, I
got to, I did probably another like 25% of the race without

(29:13):
the, without the front brake. And I got, I got to a hill climb
and then and I saw one of my friends and he's he, he, he had
burnt his hill, his clutch up onthat hill climb.
So he's like, that hill is fucking insane.
You're going to go up it, go to the right, stay the right
because it's going to curve to the left.
And he's like, it's a, it's an insane hill climb.

(29:34):
And I told him I was like, dude,I had no front brake.
And he looks at me and he's like, dude, you can't do this
race with the front. Brake and.
The work. So then I was like, OK, I got to
fix. I got to figure this out.
So then I looked to see what tools I have because I brought
like a bag of tools. I have a vice grips like the
mini ones. So then I just like, you know
what, I tighten it up as much asI can on it and I, you know, got

(29:57):
it. I'm like, I'm going to just
clamp it down as tight as I can so that I have a little bit of a
lever. So I'm like, OK, this works.
So I make it up the hill and I keep going, but the problem is
that that brake lever over time or the the vice grips over time
are going to get a little bit loose.
Yeah. That's what was happening.

(30:17):
It was getting loose so that when I when I pulled in the
brakes it would it would collapse a little bit.
You know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So eventually get to a point where the brakes don't work
anymore and I actually undo it and then put it cleanly.
Yeah. So I had to keep doing that.
And it was just, it was also making me a bit more skeptical

(30:39):
about going down some of the hills and.
As it should. So I was, yeah.
So I was taking my time and I knew that I was just making time
as I was getting to the checkpoints.
Right. Because they were giving you
time as you get there. And I'm like, oh, oh, man, Like,
I don't know, man. I don't know how I'm going to
make this because I, I keep justmaking it to the checkpoints.

(31:02):
And then it got to the point where I timed out.
So actually if something happened, I have a time off, my
GPS died. I had to stop and change the
battery. I think that's really when that
when that happened, that's when I realized like I'm probably
going to time off right now to the GPS.
Right. Me like 10 minutes to to to

(31:22):
change the battery in the GPS. Wow.
Yeah, because I couldn't get it out of the case.
So tired, right? Yeah, I'm like, I'm like trying
to grab it and my, my forearms are spazzing up and I'm like
trying to like open. Then I get like my tool and I'm
screwdriver and I'm like like prying it open.
It's just. Yeah, that's that's the worst

(31:44):
when you're when you're tired and you know it.
I've gone through situations like that.
Well, I've gone through situations where I would not
race when something happened andthen had to learn to fight
through stuff. And when you fighting through
it, man, it's yeah, I don't know.
There's, there's. You always get to a.
For me, it's just like, should Ijust call it?
Yeah. In my mind, then you got to,

(32:06):
then you got to, you know, push that out and keep pushing
forward. And it's, and it's, it's, it's
crazy because the simplest things just take, you know, so
long to do because, you know, you got all this adrenaline, you
know, you really thinking about getting back on the race.
And and so you're not really concentrating on what you're
doing, you know what I mean? You're just trying to do it and

(32:26):
it and it tends to make it worse.
But, you know, and I'll ask about this a little bit later.
As far as, you know, what you'velearned with the experience.
But, you know, you got through the the you timed out in that
stage. Yeah.
And So what does that mean? And were you able to go race the
next day? Yeah.
So if you if you get if you did not finish twice, then you get

(32:52):
to disqualified. So, so I had one more
opportunity. So the second day.
So yeah, so that was the first day timed out.
The second day I was like, OK, I'm ready.
I think the first day I was, I just wasn't, I wasn't mentally
there. Yeah, yeah, I was ready to do

(33:13):
it, but I just wasn't mentally there.
I, I felt so much better on the second day.
Second day, I'm like, OK, we're going to get this.
We're going to do this right. We're going to relax.
We're not going to fatigue our muscles.
We're going to, you know, and also the first day.
I know it's a race, but I felt like I didn't take it as a race

(33:36):
because I was kind of taking my time at moments.
Sightseeing and. And yeah, it it just, I was
just, I was kind of taking my time, especially after I broke
the front brake. Glover I didn't really like, I
wasn't like, all right, it's a it's a race, you know.

(33:56):
But the second day I was like, dude, this is a race.
Like I need to like get on it. I don't want to, I don't want to
time out again and I want him. I want to complete at least one
day at his race because a lot oftimes people don't complete the
race. So, so the second day I lined
up, I had to start in the position a little bit further

(34:17):
back because of the do not finish the first day, which was
fine. I, I didn't mind that.
So I was kind of more in the back end of of the race and I
was doing well. I was, I was making good time.
I was keeping pace with a friendof mine and we were kind of in

(34:40):
it together until like we lost each other.
And then there was a section where it was very fast pace.
It's kind of lazy on. So it's called a lazy on section
where like it's just kind of like you're just on a road, kind
of a wide road and you can just take that fast pace.

(35:03):
But The thing is, it's fast pace, but there was a lot of
rocks, a lot of baby heads that are stinking around.
And that entire time I was thinking to myself, like, I
probably am going to get a flat tire here on the rear because
I've aired down to about 2019 PSI And because I have a heavy

(35:30):
bike, it's going to smack one ofthese rocks that rim tube like
it's going to pitch a tube. So I'm riding and I just say
bang, bang. I'm just like hit in the rear
and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is going to be bad.
I know this tire is going to go flat.
I'm going to get a pinch tube. And then right after that

(35:50):
section, when I get to the pavedRd., my bike's just, he's just
swiggling around and I'm like, Oh my gosh, like this can't be.
And I'm like, OK, I haven't. Like I have an electric pump and
I have a spare tube. So I pull over the side of the
road and I go to put air in the tire to just to see what's going

(36:15):
on, to see like where it is or whatever.
Maybe I can just patch the tube and just call it a day and the
pump doesn't work. So the pump doesn't work.
This will go to back to what didI learn?
Yeah, don't bring an electric pump with you on these races.

(36:36):
But yeah, the pump didn't work. And I was just devastated.
I was just like, I don't even know what I'm going to do now.
So I'm hoping that maybe someonehad a pump.
So what I did was I just rode the bike to the next checkpoint
and stayed there. And maybe someone will pass by
that has an electric pump or a hand pump or something.
So what I did was I got there, Itook the wheel off the bike,

(36:58):
took the tube out, took everything off just in case
someone came by and someone did come by and they gave me a pump.
It worked for about 3-4 minutes.I put everything together, put
the bike together, put the wheelon because he gave me the he had
two pumps. Ironically, he had two pumps on

(37:19):
him. There he goes.
Traveler 2 pumps here. Traveler 2.
Yeah, so he took off and he leftme with one.
He's like, I don't know how muchuse is in there, but, you know,
just good luck. So I was like, OK, so that pump
did and it didn't. It didn't.
It died on me. So then I had to call for at

(37:40):
this point it was probably like an hour, hour and a half that
I'm losing and I'm no way I'm going to make this time if I do
get this fixed. So I just called the toe for the
race and they brought me to the service point service team where
like all the teams were. And then the people on the teams

(38:03):
in the booth were really good inthe in the in the in the teams.
The people at the service point were really cool.
All the teams in the service point were awesome.
They helped me out. They're like, what do you need?
You have a flat tire here. Just put the bike up on the
stands. Let's see what we can do.
But no one had no one had tubes.Wow.
No one had tubes because everyone uses moose.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(38:24):
When they're like, they look at me like you have tubes.
And I was like, yeah, like, why?You know, I rode here on this
bike from Boston. When I told him that I rode the
bike from the United States, they're like, that's awesome,
you're my new hero. But again, why don't you have

(38:46):
tubes? Why don't you have tubes?
Again, it's just like. So let me ask, do you think it
would have made sense for you toput Moose in while traveling,
you know, from Boston all the way, or you think the tube, like
for regular travel, would be theway to go?
Tubes are the way to go. Moose is only for something like

(39:09):
racing. Got you.
Yeah, it's, I mean it's you can just have moose in there if
you're going to do like, you know, your if you're doing a lot
of off road stuff. Like a lot of adventure stuff.
Yeah, yeah, but to go on a pavement and go hit the, hit the
hit the road at like, you know, 100 miles an hour, 80 miles an
hour, 90 miles an hour, you know, you're, you're going to

(39:30):
shred the moose in like 2 days. Oh, OK.
Yeah. So like, it's just, it's kind of
pointless on the for the pavement.
But if you, if you, if you decide to travel and you want to
say your travels are all like 95% dirt, then you can get
moose. But the problem is that moose is
not everywhere. That's that is not available

(39:52):
everywhere. A tube is very easy to find,
right? Moose.
I mean, I would think if I'm going through Africa, the only
places where I'm going to find moose are like South Africa,
maybe Senegal, possibly Namibia.But that's pretty much about it.
Maybe Nigeria in like Lagos or something, but like you're not

(40:15):
finding moose anywhere in Africalike that.
So it's just not just not available.
They always use tubes. So, so, so at that point, you
are, you're out of the race whenyou on the second day, I saw
some of your posts. I don't know how much of it you
want to talk about, but like, you know, or, or re litigate, I

(40:38):
guess, you know, but talk a little bit in your words.
You know, how it was and what you were feeling.
You know, the community seemed to have rallied around you and,
and brought your spirits back up.
So which is always beautiful and, and the motorcycle
community is, is huge for that. But like, you know what what you
know? What were you feeling at the
time? Yeah, I mean, I was, I was quite

(41:01):
disappointed. I was quite disappointed.
I it really, it hit me pretty hard.
But you the first day didn't. I would say the first day hit me
hard when I didn't finish, when I didn't, when I timed out, when
they told me I timed out, it hitme really hard.
It was like the reality check, you know, it was like, dude,
you're here, you know, like, let's go, you know, like what

(41:24):
are you doing? You know, So that's why the
second day I was, I was, I was so ready for it.
And, and I think at the time I, I was, I was, I was so ready to,
to make it to the third stage, right, to make it to the
marathon stage. Right.
Yeah. But you know, when, when my tire

(41:49):
went flat, I I was just thought I was devastated.
And then when I made the call, you know, when I had to pick up
the phone and make the call and I just, I said to myself, I was
like, I can't believe that I just, I just destroyed my, my
chances of finishing this race. And there was a lot of factors.

(42:10):
There were a lot of factors thatcontributed again, the
preparation, there was a little bit of lack of preparation.
And there are plenty things thatI would definitely do
differently. But, you know, I mean, like the
feeling. I I love being there, all right?

(42:31):
I love the the camaraderie and the people and the people that I
met and the team team guys that I met.
The experience learning so much,talking to some of the pros.
Yeah, I mean, the overall experience was absolutely
incredible. And I think, you know,
regardless if I didn't finish ornot, I think the fact that I got

(42:56):
there was like the highlight in itself.
And I think that's what most people were trying to drill into
my head. Like, dude, like you just wrote
you, you just wrote here. You wrote all the way to Romania
to complete, to compete in one of the toughest and dual races
in the world, right? So, you know, yeah, that's

(43:17):
definitely something to be proudof.
Of course, you know, yeah. But in the moment, you don't see
it because you're, you're, you got, you know, tunnel vision on
and you just think, you know, all like any human you we always
thinking of all the bad thing when 1 bad thing happened.
We think of everything else in that moment.
And we're just thinking about that.
And we're not thinking about allthe positives until time passes

(43:37):
or, you know, people come aroundyou to kind of remind you that
like, listen, this is still a success, right?
You know, which is, you know, again, right after anything
that's it's hard to see that, right?
So, you know, how quickly was itfor you to, you know, the steam
to wear away and, and get back to a point where you're looking
at like, OK, this is a success. And I'm going to come back every

(43:58):
every year. Yeah, I think, I think that
happened when I was packing up and I was packing the bike up.
And when I started packing the bike up, I noticed that everyone
was leaving and everyone was loading their bikes in the back
of the van, in the back of the truck, on a trailer.

(44:22):
I'm just some people had other people loading their bike up for
them. Yeah, I'm just throwing bags on
my bike and people are watching me.
They're like, where are you going now?
Like, wait, what is going on? Like you just, you just came
here racing, now you're just going to ride off.
It's just he was like, yeah. And then he's kind of just like,

(44:43):
like this is just this is crazy.And then they're just like,
where you going? I'm like, well, I gotta get back
to the Netherlands And. And he's like, you know, this is
like really crazy, really incredible, right?
Like you rode here and you competed in the race.
OK yeah. You didn't do as well as you
wanted to do. But then they just kind of like,
and now here you are just packing the bags and you're
biking now you're just taking off again as if like, you know,

(45:06):
like everyone's got like their, their massive van and they got
the. Tire machines, everything.
They're throwing everything in there they got and they're just
like, yeah, they're just going back, going back to, you know,
where they where they're from and and like here I am like my
travels are still continuing. Yeah, yeah, no, that's pretty
dope. And again, in the moment it's

(45:27):
hard to see that. But like from us watching you do
it, man, it is, it is definitelyincredible.
And you know, I, I suspect, you know, other people are going to,
might start showing up and stufflike this on their bike or, or
just, you know, just travelling further on their bike because a
lot of people, you know, may notdo over 200 miles on their bike
in a day, much less to, to do a lot more.

(45:49):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely, definitely.
I think, I think, you know, I'vekind of set a little bit of a
bar. You know, I was like people
like, you know, of achievements and, and I just like, OK, like
I'm, I'm actually, yeah, starting to get pretty proud of
the fact that I was able to makeit there despite all the stuff
that I was going through at the time before, before I got there.

(46:12):
And I think that I that's when Ireally started to become a bit
more, I'm more proud of myself for actually doing it and, and
accomplishing it. So.
Mister man, you survived going around all the way around the
world, but Jesus Christ, man, many continents and you know,
and you know not, you know, obviously you know from prior

(46:33):
shows you mentioned, you know, getting malaria and you know
stuff and you know, so it's not,it wasn't a completely pain.
Free. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
Huge. So, I mean, so I guess when
you're packing up, you're like, OK, I'm going to do this again.
So like, have you already start planning the trip?
You already start planning for next year's race?

(46:53):
What does that look like? Yeah.
So for next year's race, I mean,obviously there's a lot of
things that, you know, I learnedthis time around that for next
year I need to figure out. I think just probably are you
probably going to ask the question what, what, what did I
learn? So in the First things first,

(47:16):
it's just not riding there. That's that's the first thing.
Is this not riding the bike riding?
From the parking lot is it? Yeah, yeah.
So the plan is to get do it proper.
Also have a mechanic get a van. And because my bike is already,

(47:39):
I would say it's about 75% what I want it to be.
As far as like putting money into it, it won't cost me that
much to get the bike to where I where I want it, where I exactly
where I want it to be. The suspension is there, you
know, I've made it light already.

(48:04):
Yeah, the ergonomics are fine. Maybe I need to get the
different handlebars. I need to get a rear rim,
obviously 2.5, but you know, forthe most part, there's not
really much I need to do as far as prepping the bike.
I think it's it's almost there. And I think that what I would

(48:24):
probably do is because I have I met this crew and we're like,
you know, there's like five of us, five or six of us.
We're all like there's, there's social media influence.
I'm not a social media influence.
They they are like they, they got like 20,000 and above
followers and things like that. So I'm like peanuts to those

(48:45):
people when it comes to it. But they, they recognized me,
they knew who I was. They were like, Oh yeah.
So so we all ended up kind of just like becoming like really
good friends. So we, we planned for next year
to, to, to rent out a spot and have like a little garage area
and having the mechanics work onthe bike instead of having to
always go into the like the pit area to fix the bike and stuff

(49:11):
like that. So I can, you know, when the
race is over, we can bring in the bring the bikes to the
location, have the mechanics on it bringing spare parts.
I didn't bring, I didn't bring any spare parts, which is crazy.
People just kind of like you didn't bring spare parts.
I'm like, no, what happens when you break something?

(49:34):
Because this is like, you're going to break something.
Like something is going to break.
And I'm just like, I'll be fine.Yeah.
So I'm. Gonna have to get a 3D printer
man. Yeah, exactly, man.
So, yeah. So spare parts, definitely.
I'll rent. I'll buy a van, have a mechanic.

(49:58):
Yeah. And I just.
I think we'll work out like crazy.
I'll train. I mean, I always I'm a workout a
hog anyways. It's just these past 2 1/2 years
I haven't really been able to doshit so.
I was gonna I was gonna ask about workout and and so, you
know, for me, when I had when I realized I was out of shape or I
needed to be in better, I was out of shape.

(50:19):
I was out of shape, you know, I end up running the marathon the
following year. And, and so I, I, I trained like
I was running a marathon and, and after running a marathon and
racing, I, I, I started to trainas if I'm running a marathon
just for the endurance part of it and stuff like that.
So, you know, you work out a lot, you train a lot, but like,
what will that look like? Are you training like you're

(50:41):
you're going to go, you know, martial art contest, boxing
contest, like you know, to play basketball like you know how,
how, how insane is your workout going to be?
Yeah, so that's a good question.So my my background in general
is boxing and, and martial arts,but mostly, mostly boxing.

(51:02):
A boxing workout is absolutely perfect for this because it's
it's in sprints. So it's it's like Sprint
training. So it's like you calm, you calm,
you calm your heart rate and then you speed up and then you
calm, you calm, you calm and then boom, there's a lot of leg

(51:22):
training for boxing, hamstrings,quads, things like that because
you're, you're constantly bending your knees.
And then, yeah, and a lot of sprints.
I don't, I'm not a huge fan of just jogging for sprints and
then just just weight training things like, you know, deadlifts

(51:47):
because you're going to be lifting your bike, you know, you
try to do as many functional. Oh, and balance, balance in
equilibrium, I think is probablythe most important.
It's the most important because or if your core is weak, you're
going to have weak balance. And if your core is weak and

(52:08):
you're going through the forest,you're going through the woods,
you're going over roots, you're going over dirt, you're going
over sand, you're, you're slowlyclimbing obstacles, things like
that, things that require you tosit still on the bike while
while you're up on the bike. Core is very, very, very
important. And also as far as training with

(52:31):
the bike, a lot more hill climbs, a lot more throttle
control stuff. I think my throttle control is
actually pretty good. Throttle and and clutch meaning.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I need to learn how to do
things like lift the front wheelas I'm stationary and just kind
of rotate the bike around. Wow, lift the front and just.

(52:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I can do it on a bicycle
BMX. Yeah, I, I don't know if you, I
don't know if you know trials bikes.
Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So trials is the absolute 100%
best thing that you can do to train for this race.
Gotcha. That is, that is, that is the
best. Is that which as that's that's

(53:16):
what's going to my next question.
What kind of bike training are you going to do?
You know, as well to like what do you think you need to work
on? You know, so I assume you're
probably going to have to get a trial bike and, and kind of, you
know, hang out in the woods for the next year.
Definitely definitely the plan is to get a trials bike here in

(53:38):
Portugal or maybe even in Spain,but most likely Portugal and
yeah and go north and just startand go and do take like courses.
They have like trials clubs and things like that.
If I can do that man, if I couldin a trials bike is only like

(53:59):
2000 euros. I can buy one for a very, very
cheap an older model right thingbrand new or anything like that.
I can just get a crap one and just use that for just small
little things because you don't really the woods like crazy.
You just you're like literally you have like a rock hair, a
rock hair, a rock there, a tire here.

(54:21):
And then you just do this courseover and over and over again.
You know, you don't need like crazy woods.
So I can just have like a my ownlittle stationary area and and
just how to just do balance and static riding.
So. Got you.
Now you didn't finish before we wrap up.
You didn't finish the race, but you know and you know, and after

(54:45):
you know, having some time, you realize it was successful.
Do you think if you finished therace, would it still feel the
same way or you know and, and, and it's hard because you don't
know, but like, since you have already gone through the stage,
like next year, is it just, do you want to finish the race or
do you want to place high enoughin, in the in the in the

(55:07):
standings at the end? Yeah, I want to finish the race.
I definitely want to finish the race.
You know, I mean, not finishing was obviously that was a little
bit of a disappointment, but at the same time, if I had finished

(55:29):
it would have been the icing on the cake for me, you know.
But again, just getting there and achieving the goal of
getting there is is one thing, but finishing is a whole nother
ball game, especially when doingit all yourself.
Yeah, you, you are your own mechanic.
You don't have all the spare parts and you are doing it on a

(55:52):
budget. So there were a lot of things
that were a lot of factors that were like this could be tough,
right, right. Get it done, but it's going to
be a very difficult journey. So but again, finishing would
have been 100% absolutely the icing on the cake.
But you know we can't have it all, right?
Right, right. Yeah, No, I mean, you know, I

(56:13):
think the way the universe workstoo.
I mean, like I said, you've accomplished a lot and you know,
for it's, I think it's few people in, in, in your
situations. Would you know, you know, the
Rudy stories or these stories that somebody show up with their
own on the, on the car or bike they're racing or whatever
they're doing and, and, and go through the whole field and,

(56:35):
and, and come out on top. It's usually kind of like you
get there, you see what it's like, you know what to expect
next year. You come back and you know, you
talk about the Isle of Man TT like that for, you know, people
are going for Year 5 is when they finally start to get quick.
You know what I mean? Because they learned in the
track. So, you know, do you feel like

(56:55):
you will get up to speed in the next year quick enough to to
like really, you know, push yourself next year?
That's a good question because Iobviously a year is first of all
year is not a long time it's only a lot.
It's only a long time if all I do is just ride every day yeah

(57:17):
and and and train every day, butwe all know we got to work.
You know we're not we're not we're not pros at this we're not
sponsored. So we that's not our job is not
to just practice and train so wecan get better.
I think just because of the nextstep, because the fact that I
actually have to go back to the States and make some money, it's

(57:39):
it's gonna, it's gonna take a big chunk of time out of my out
of my training. Right, right.
So, you know, I think do I have enough time?
I have enough time to get better?
Do I have enough time to complete and and and do this and

(58:03):
and do and and actually finish? I believe so.
I think what will happen is after I work and I'll come back
to the Europe, I think I'm just going to dedicate all the time,
most of the time to just training.
So that's everyday. That will be everyday.
I mean you're looking at April, May, June.

(58:25):
So you're looking at roughly March, if I, if I'm done working
in March and I come back to thisto, to, to Europe in March, that
would be good because then I have March, April, May, June and
then the races in July, right, right.
I can train four to five days a week, you know, just by, you

(58:50):
know, those days. And I think it'll be significant
amount of training. Yeah, I mean, you know, and even
if you can get a, a bike over here in the States to kind of
just keep the feel, right. You know, you don't necessarily
have to go too far, but just to keep the feel.
Because, you know, I was talkingto someone about the, about
their race because they just raced this past weekend and they

(59:12):
were beating themselves up. And it's just like, listen man,
my best racing was in 21 where Ihad like 21 rounds.
When you're doing, you know, when when you're on a bike a
lot, you're going to be faster. It's just, it's really hard to
be, you know, maybe the top guyscan take months off and jump on
a bike and be, you know, 2 seconds off the best time and
stuff like that. But for the rest of us, we kind

(59:33):
of need seat time. There's a reason why, you know,
LeBron James, hold the basketball every day, not take
time off. So do you think you'd, you know,
maybe get a small bike here and,and just to, just to keep riding
and keep practicing the technical stuff?
Yeah, so I was actually thinkingabout just kind of getting like
a an enduro bike in the States, but I just don't know where I

(59:57):
would keep it because I need a place where it's got mountains.
So it would have to be somewherelike along the Rockies, you
know, Colorado or something, or even like New Hampshire area,
but it wherever, wherever I needto.

(01:00:21):
Wherever I want to ride, it needs to be in a location where
this mountains it has to becausethat's that's the best training
I can do. And I know finance is a huge
thing and I'm just as we're talking, I'm thinking is there's
enough off court, you know, dirttraining academies for lack of
better world schools and stuff like that.

(01:00:41):
So a lot of stuff you may just have to fly in and just ride
their bike and fly out for the weekend or, or four days or a
week or whatever. So you may not even have to own
a bike. You just got to figure out
schedule wise what lines up and and show up.
And also I also want to do as much practice on the bike that

(01:01:02):
I'm going to race because again,I mean, I ran into that problem
where I complete modified my bike and made all it made it
super light and made the handling pretty different and I
had to learn how to ride that bike all over again.
It was it was literally I felt like I just learned I was
learning how to how to do hill climbs with it on the first day.

(01:01:23):
So it was like it just felt so different.
The bike felt completely weird. It felt like I was going to flip
over the handlebars. It felt like like it's the
handling, like it was the way that it was moving and how light
it was nimble and it just felt like a big dirt bike.
So I think I need to get more sea time on that bike as well.
Got you. Got you.

(01:01:44):
Well, I mean, I can keep going, but I think this is a good place
to wrap up. And until next time, man, I
really appreciate you coming on and taking the time.
And we'll definitely connect when you get in the States for
sure, man, I appreciate it. Sounds good man.
Thank you so much for having me man.
Love being on the show, brother.Like likewise Nomad on two

(01:02:05):
wheels. My name is Rex 45.
It's to be forever. Cool podcast peace.