Different approach but same passion for two wheels
They share the passion in their maiden outing but Les Walch and Mackenzie Wiig are at different ends of the spectrum when it comes to age and the way they will go about doing their business on two wheels this month.
Walch, 44, will ride a KTM 300cc in the bronze division of the Romaniacs in a fortnight in Romania while Wiig, 18, will saddle a Beta 300cc in the silver division.
“I loved all the crazy stuff. I love things with speed and things that are dangerous,” says the teenage building apprentice, who agrees with the self-employed engineer that it’ll be an accomplishment to simply complete the extreme endurance race.
The former Napier Boys High School pupil has broken collarbones, ankles and wrists since he started riding at 6.
“I’m pretty crazy, I guess,” Wiig says with a laugh, flirting with the thought of injuries but mentally shuffling it sideways to the draft basket.
“It always goes through your head — what you do for the things you love but you just keep going.”
Walch, a former Taradale High School pupil rode bikes “forever”. It was a case of when, not if because his father, Bill Walch, of Napier, used to own several bike shops.
“I’m opposite [to Wiig]. I’m older and I haven’t broken too many [bones] so I’d like to keep it that way,” he says, putting it down to truckloads of luck.
“There’s always that risk but it’s about riding smart and minimising those risks with all that experience I picked up over the years to be there at the end.
“The results will take care of themselves because if you’re there at the end you’ve given yourself the best chance, I reckon.”
Wiig, who flies out tomorrow, reckons a big part of the five-day affair is mental.
Rambling hills are the norm on the tracks with “grippy soil” compared with the soft ones in the Bay.
“You just use similar tactics as here — all throttle and clutch control. You’re just trying your best not to flick the bike on the big hills.”
His father, Andrew Wiig, had no qualms about buying a bike for the lad who could do things on his pushbike from the time he could walk before graduating to BMX and motorbikes.
He rode motocross bikes until four years ago before an enforced break to give his weary limbs a rest for two years.
Wiig made podiums in first to third places in the silver class of the NZ Enduro Series in Christchurch last year. He got third overall in the cross-country series over four rounds in central North Island and was runner-up at the six-hour non-stop affair at Whangamata.
Last year he won the Hawke’s Bay two-hour series and followed it up with a first in the intermediate class of the NZEX Series and runnerup in the cross-country class in Tokoroa.
He is indebted to his sponsors — Skinnies Sunscreen, EXCEL Motorsports, Berkett Earthmovers, Hume Pipes, Sign Candy, Beta NZ and Total Oil.
His personal trainer, Sam Harvey, of NFinite Fitness, helped prepare him physically for the event.
Walch, who returned to Napier three months ago after 18 years in Brisbane, has never been to Romania before but is keen to experience the culture.
His brother, Tony Walch, 50, of Auckland, and nephew Lucas, 19, will be in the field too.
“The main goal is get through the five days in one piece, both bike and body, and just be there at the finish.”
Walch, who jets off on Wednesday, suspects it’ll be a lot different from New Zealand although his stint in Australia will prepare him better for it.
“The temperatures are going to be quite high over there [Romania] because it’s summer so I’m sort of used to it,” he says, grateful for the Brissy grounding.
However, a grinning Walch says no matter what, the riders tend to be in for a few surprises.
“That’s just part of the adventure,” he says, saluting sponsors AFC Motorcycles in Palmerston North.
He has done numerous international enduros in New Zealand and Australia, lapping up the camaraderie not just with the Kiwis but also overseas riders.
“I like sharing that same passion of motorbikes that brings people together as that’s what it is all about.”
He can’t put his finger on it but there’s that inexplicable bond bikers have.
Sean Clarke, of Tokoroa, has competed in the rugged Carpathian Mountains on numerous occasions with the likes of Mark Delatour, of Taupo, and Aucklander Chris Birch, who won outright in 2010 and remains the only Kiwi to achieve that feat.