Do you have a good dirt bike? Do you have insane riding skills? Are you tough and resourceful? Or maybe you're just extremely lucky?

You're going to need to have all of those things as the seventh annual running of the Husqvarna Hard Adventure Enduro (HHAE) attracts the country's elite dirt bike riders to the Central North Island this coming Labour Weekend (October 20-22).

It is expected to be a "last man standing" affair again this year, with plenty of obstacles lined up to sap the spirits, trap, trick and wear down even the most experienced of dirt bike racers.

“After attending this year’s Red Bull Romaniacs (RBR) hard enduro event in Romania, some riders may be thinking we will be upping the ante for this year’s Husqvarna Hard Adventure Enduro (HHAE),” says event organiser Sean Clarke.

“But this couldn't be further from the truth. 

“The event is designed to be difficult, using a similar format to the notorious RBR. While we have copied parts of it – a sign of the love and respect we have for that significant international event – the truth is that we will never be as difficult as the Romaniacs because our terrain in New Zealand is just so different.

“However, pretty much the same level of riding skills will be required. At the RBR, if you don't know how to slip the clutch you will be forever flipping your bike over backwards as the traction is so good. Here in New Zealand, if you don't slip the clutch to get up our hills, you just end up digging big holes everywhere and going nowhere.”

 The HHAE event kicks off on Friday, October 20, with riders signing in and then undergoing motorcycle and equipment scrutineering from 3pm.

Starting in the SATCO logging attachments yard in central Tokoroa at 5pm on Friday will be the event’s arena-style "prologue", with riders tackling a man-made course to determine qualification and their starting positions in the Kinleith Forest the following day.

"The riders can expect two days of hard riding on Saturday and Sunday that will push them to their limits," says Clarke.

There is a grade for riders of all abilities, riders nominating themselves as either Iron class, Bronze, Silver or Gold.

“In the Iron class, riders can expect the most rider-friendly terrain, with plenty of bulldozed tracks and some gravel roads to by-pass them around the more technical aspects,” says Clarke. 

“The Bronze class riders will enjoy riding the tracks too, as we create a reasonably challenging, but not impossible, course that will include a few log crossings and a handful of steep down-hills.   

“The Silver class riders get a lot more up-hills than the Bronze class and each day they will face a couple of really tricky sections too, just to keep them honest.

“The Silver class course includes a section called the "Silver Test" and this is there so the riders can ask themselves at the end of it, ‘am I in the right class or should I actually have entered Bronze?’  

“The Gold class is pretty much as hard as we can get it, with a lot of technical ups and downs,” says Clarke.

“Last year I thought we had reached the limit for Gold, so this year it will probably be about the same, but no harder. At the end of the day, it will not quite be as hard as Silver at the Romaniacs.”  

Finally, when the bike engines are switched off, or the riders cry "enough", late on Sunday afternoon (October 22), the "last man standing" will have earned every accolade that could be heaped.

Last year, it was Thames rider Chris Birch who was that last man standing. Birch won the inaugural HHAE in 2016, and then ruled again in 2019 and 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic shut things down for 2021, making him a clear favourite should he choose to enter again this time around.

As a former winner also of the iconic international Romaniacs event (back in 2010) and then Silver class champion at that same event in Romania last year, it perhaps rubber stamps Birch's status as a favourite to succeed at home again in 2023.

A couple of riders that are expected to keep Birch honest will be father-and-son duo Tony and Sam Parker.

Tony Parker is aged 49 and son Sam is just 17 and they are equally skilled.

Tony Parker finished third overall last year on his Husqvarna enduro bike.

The only other individual to win the HHAE has been Cambridge’s Dylan Yearbury, victorious at the event in 2017 and 2018, although he is not expected to race this time around. 

Entries for the 2023 edition open on September 1, but competitors should be aware that rider entry numbers will quickly reach the prescribed 120, so the advice is to get signed on quickly.

There are about 300 kilometres of trail and tracks awaiting the riders at the HHAE, with section labels hinting at what lies ahead – names such as "Parachute Drop Up", "Log Jam", "Keep your Lunch Down", "Last Climb", "Rock Garden", "The Big Down" and "Romaniacs Ridge", while riders will also have to take their bikes on a Flying Fox across a river.

An indication of just how challenging the racing might be is in a note to riders that they must also carry "survival equipment", including a cell phone, first aid kit and survival blanket.

The event is sponsored by Husqvarna NZ, Forbes and Davies, O'Neal, Ogio, Arai Helmets, Maxima Racing Oils, Forma boots, Maxi Grip, Blur, Forest Trail Events, Kiwi Rider magazine, SATCO logging attachments and Michelin tyres.

-By Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com