Because the honest truth is that I’ m probably not going to win- I’ m going there to survive the Prologue, get through the mountains, and hopefully cross the finish line in one piece on the final day. That’ s the realistic goal, the actual mission. And for a competitive person, that’ s a weird place to sit in your own head. There’ s a whole mental game in accepting that you’ re going to be part of the pack. One bike among a few hundred, rather than gunning for the number 1 plate. I’ ve had to have a few conversations with myself about what‘ success’ actually looks like here, because if I walk into Romania measuring myself against the front-runners, Dakar winners and multi-time world enduro champs, I’ m setting myself up to fail on day one. Probably somewhere in a rock garden, probably while a rider half my size and twice my skill level
92 KIWI RIDER