Based in the hills of Lesmurdie, Western Australia, it'd be fair to assume that Jakob Petrig may struggle, a little, finding his way around some of the east coast AHEC circuits.
But negotiating the high country of Victoria is something that this Adventure On Store racer has already had a modicum of experience with.
Having said that though, his 'back country tourist' exploits were 'cut' a little short (pardon the pun) late last year.
Immediately following Wildwood 2023, Petrig had intended to take a decent chunk of time away from racing to familiarise himself with the terrain farther afield from Melbourne. But instead, the terrain took a chunk out of him when terra firma found him in the worst possible way.
Riding early one morning, on a morning that was just the same as the morning before that, his left foot somehow got caught between the footpeg and a gnarly log that was poking its ugly ways out into the single trail.
The pressure between the log and the peg caused his toe to nearly explode its little fleshy cap off. And the log itself, which was about 3 m long, was torn right out of the scrub and flipped head height into the air.
When it happened, he was way out the back of bum fart nowhere and, as a consequence, the 'evac' process was an absolute mission! Dad Josh made a beeline for the nearest hospital, with Jakob in toe (pun intended), leaving the last remaining of the riding party out in the scrub holding the fort. Josh wasn't able to rescue mate Todd from the wilderpeople for more than two days!
It's times like this that we should reflect, with a little gratitude, for the safety and medic shake-downs that race organisers insist on to see us go well when we race!!
When I was first received the pics of 'J Bob' chillin' in the emergency ward, I totally threw the baby out with the bath water. Immediately I thought "Well.... where is his Season '24 going now?"(grimace face emoji).
Big offs pre-season seem to be becoming the rule rather than the exception for WHES riders, with the 2022 Champion Darren Ruddling sidelined a week out from the first Australian Super Enduro Championship in Ballarat back at the start of the 2023 season. That just about killed his year, but the Raptor raged against the pain like a wild animal to finish the year on the second step of the podium.
Fortunately, this injury did not keep Jakob off the bike for long. He was back in the gym within 3 weeks and dipped a toe (see what I did there?) back into riding after only four and half weeks. Months on he is in prime condition and ready to make a mess of the landscape that tried to make a mess of him.
Looking forward to the AHEC, plenty of the older gnarled-up riders will be getting cozy at Kozzy (not pointing any specific fingers... Solar, Perry, Coleman, Woodhouse and Chadwick and brothers Ibrahim), and their antics will certainly keep us forever entertained. Of that I have little doubt.
But I reckon, as the year progresses, a real 'ding-dong' is going to be developing between the younger riders that are stepping up a class to Gold this year.
Supported by Chad's Offroad, POD Active and Sherco, 23-year-old Houston Walters is jumping into Gold after coming second in the Victorian Hard Enduro series last year. And of course, he will be giving nothing away to the incomparable Kogan Lock, the '23 VHEC Silver Class Champion.
All three of these young lads have already gone 'toe to toe' (sorry, last one I promise) once before.
They capped off an incredible year at Wildwood filling the podium for Silver. Now all three are ready to tear up the hills around Towong in Gold.
Where Kogan and Houston have a bit of a hometown advantage, Petrig certainly has one thing going his way. In spite of his injury, he has been putting rubber in the dirt in the nastiest of El Nino conditions that any rider could hope they never have to endure.
WA has had its warmest summer since observations began in 1910. And although it has been a struggle to get ride time in between fire bans, Jakob and his WHES riding buddies are well and truly conditioned for the worst that a late Victorian summer can throw at them.
That being said, Greg Peterson tells me that if it rains, Gold becomes Platinum and Silver becomes Gold. Lets hope that, if it does rain, Jakob doesn't need a toe!!! (couldn't help myself)
All the deets and everything you could possibly need to know so you can 'spec out' on this event is located right here at Hard Enduro Racing Australia!
Greg Peterson has been going 13 to the dozen, pulling 14-hour days 7 days a week in the off season to make the inaccessible world of hard enduro much more accessible. So go check it out!
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