VOL. 53 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 11, 2016 P83
ing gloves… there was one race
where we did three laps through-
out the day and I was changing
my whole gear setup every lap.
It just wears on you mentally and
physically.
Was it tough to adjust to all
that?
Yeah. I actually did really well
at the second race [in Portugal],
which was the first wet race we
had. I won the E2 class there,
which, I kinda surprised myself.
I mean, I never ride in the mud. I
live in Arizona and it doesn't rain
at all here. Whatever the condi-
tions, it comes down to who
makes the least amount of mis-
takes. There's usually always four
or five guys that are really close in
times, and if you wreck one time
and you're out of it. Luckily that
race I didn't make any mistakes,
but there were some other races
where I made some big mistakes.
So yeah, it was a hard adjustment
and more than anything it was
just exhausting.
It is harder to keep up the
intensity when you're racing
against the clock and you
don't have the competitor
right next to you?
No not for me. Just because
I've done Six Days so many
times and I know that aspect of
it. But what's frustrating is that
you can't watch [the other rac-
ers]. You have no idea where
those guys are going faster than
you! You can do a test as perfect
as you think you can, and you're
like 'There's no way anybody can
go faster.' And then you look at
the times at the end of the day
and somebody went 10, 15, 20
seconds faster than you and
you're mind-blown like, 'I have no
idea where that's possible.' But
obviously it is because they're
doing it! [laughs]
There were a few times this
season you said it was really
sketchy and that you were rid-
ing at levels you weren't com-
fortable with. Talk about that.
(Above) Each
round of the
EWC was
a grueling
weeklong
effort for the
Arizona rider.
(Left) The
Friday evening
Super Tests
gave Robert
a chance to
flex some
EnduroCross
skills. (Right)
Not many were
expecting big
things from
the young
American,
but Robert
gained plenty
of notice from
the European
crowd.
