A relaxing weekend with Erzbergrodeo mastermind Karl Katoch ...

VA Erzberg allowed to enter the Erzberg area on short notice and the Iron Giant greeted all participants with foggy dew. But as soon as Karl Katoch ordered to start the engines, the mountain showed his affection for „his“ bikers. The sun broke through and 40 tour guides found picture-perfect enduro conditions at their first meeting.

The Iron Mountain and his tour guides

During the Erzbergrodeo, the 300 tour guides are a crucial part of the race organisation. Not only are they responsible for guiding back the 1500 participants of the Prologue-race; they also form the backbone of the extensive Erzbergrodeo safety concept and they guide more than 300 international journalists to the most impressive parts of the race track.

“It was about time to say thank you for the good work aside the stressful days of the Erzbergrodeo“, organiser Karl Katoch explained the reason for this meeting. “Many of these guides have been part of our event for years and years now, they will be the team leaders in 2010. So the tour guide rookies can learn from their invaluable experience“, Katoch added.

As already announced, in 2010 the tour guide organisation will be restructured to meet the new demands of the ever-growing race event.

Autumn at the Iron Giant

After a short briefing, the tour guide meeting kicked into fifth gear. Under the guidance of Karl Katoch and trial and off road legend Erich Brandauer the  whole pack wnt for a 4-hours ride across the impressing Erzberg area.

Red Bull Hare Scramble classics like the steep hills of the start of the Sunday race, the infamous Gerichtsgaben, the Dynamite Section and parts of the Prologue track were part of the very special Erzberg excursion, ending at the Bohrerschmiede, where cold beer and steaming hot goulash soup already waited for the secret heroes of the Erzbergrodeo.

Another two tour guide tours will be held until the Erzbergrodeo 2010  (June 3-6 2010). A complete list of all registered tour guides will be online very soon, a Facebook-Group will connect all official tour guides and will strengthen the team spirit of the Erzberg family even more.

Martin Kettner
Erzbergrodeo Press/Media Service

MR/HL