The title chose itself.

300. A peculiar number on which to base a story.

300 is the extraordinarily small number of Sparton soldiers that King Leonidas gathered as an “expeditionary” force, which he then sent into battle against some 180 000 Persians troupes in 400 BC.

300 is the capacity of what are, arguably, the hardest bikes to hang on to at any given hard enduro event.

300 is approximately the number of minutes that the some of the Silver and Gold Class mid-fielders endured absolute hell for during the Toodyay Terror 2.0.

To hang on to a 300 and ride hard enduro for 300 minutes you really need to be about as fit as 'The 300'.

Of that, there is no question.

WRD knows this and that is why, using the collective expertise of their own sports scientists together with Dr. Prößler and Vihang Iskande from Health and Performance Space, they are building their own 'Spartonesque' warriors in preparation for the 2023 Australian Hard Enduro season.

It ain't about "how much you can bench bro?"; it's how you bench bro. Ben Walling: committed.

WRD, in collaboration with HPS, are creating Australia's first sports specific assessment, exercise rehab, strength and conditioning program specifically designed for Hard Enduro riders. And this collective has put together an incredible training regime for the WRD team that includes Darren Rudling, Neil Price, Wade Ibrahim, Ben Walling and Jakob Petrig.

Here is a 'soldier's five' on how it works:

Each rider does an athletic screen which investigates stability, mobility and strength and how that is compromised by any imbalances usually caused by historic injury.

From the screen, corrective exercises are mapped out. That prevents the potential for new-to-be-built muscle mass and muscle memory to lock old problems into the body.

Once WRD know the body is balanced, the riders are then free to enter the strength building phase that is specifically designed to suit each of them individually.

The simplest exercise unlocks the most complex conditions. Jakob Petrig focussing on form.

But to really understand where they are going, in terms of rider development and fitness, it is important to define where they are at now; a starting point for their developmental trajectory, if you like.

And more important still is to have some benchmark for comparison! Some measure by which one can truly appreciate the extent of their....Spartoness (yes, I made that word up).

It is all very well to say that Darren Rudling's heart rate is 'X' and he can do 'Y' for however long. But how does that compare to the average non-Spartonite? Someone like you or me that never quite seems to find the time to make it to the gym, cross-train, or hone their bike fitness?

Mowing insane slopes rather than riding them; this approximates the average WHES wannabe's efforts at cross training.

For those in the little-known WHES 'No Class' category, squats usually look like this.

Fortunately for you, the readers, the Raptor was able to provide some data from his ride at the Toodyay Terror 2.0, which may help you to understand exactly where these WRD lads are at.

I am sure that he is not afraid to admit that both he and Rieju rider Sam Rogers puked their innards outwards minutes after they crossed the finish line at TT2. But if you have a look at the data below you will very quickly see why. In the four hours on the bike Darren burned 3,315 calories!!!!! A marathon runner burns an average of only 2600 calories running 42 kms in 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Burning it up. That is a lot of riding in the red zone.

Darren's heart rate during the four hours of Toodyay Terror 2.0. An average of 168 beats per minute!!

As good as those comparisons are, for me it is still like comparing apples with oranges.

How can you relate the two? A Gold Class HE rider vs. a marathon runner.

Wanting a comparison that was a little more tangible, I took it upon myself to gather some task specific data.

As a career scientist, I can safely say data collection has never been so much fun. Nor has it ever been so taxing.

So, the other day I rolled out my own 300.

I have a 2018 Beta Factory 300. It is far more bike than I will ever be capable of riding well, but it is mine, and I love it, and I ride it as best I can. I actually chose it because it matched my 2015 Beta Evo Factory 300 Trials bike; there I said it out loud. Please don't judge me!

I dusted the bike off, jumped on it and did some basic laps of a farm property in Brigadoon just to warm up.

Then I found myself a bit of a gnarly slope that was littered with loose coffee rock, fallen logs, deep leaf litter and fairly loamy soil. With a myriad of options to ride up, and no one to judge me, I went at it.

I rode to the top, then circled and picked my way back down. I rode to the top again and picked my way back down. I rinsed and repeated the process about 12 - 15 times.

I can't remember exactly how many times I did it, but my intentions were simple and true.

I rode, bottom to top, without stopping as many times as I could until I could not hang onto the bike any longer.

I found my limits and my max was less than the Raptor's average.

Sadly, it only took about 20 minutes for me to fatigue. After only 20 minutes I could not physically control the clutch or hold onto the bars to keep the bike going in the direction I wanted it to. I dumped it. Picked it up. Dumped it again. And then I called it quits.

You can see the results below.

Running to a maximum heart rate equal only to Darren's 'AVERAGE' I was exhausted after only 20 minutes of hill climbs.

The take home message here is clear!

Even before Darren Rudling had commenced his intense training regime with WRD his level of fitness was more than 12 x better than what mine is. That is, he can ride harder than I can for 12 times longer than the time it takes me to gas out! That is beyond exceptional!

And THAT is just the beginning, because the training program has only just begun.

In Sparta, being a soldier was considered a great honor, and all men were required to train at Sparta’s special military school, the agoge. During this training, Spartan men learned not only how to fight but also how to trust in and work with one another as an elite unit.

When I see the Gold Class pack taunting the starting gate at a WHES event I have often thought of the 300.

I am wondering whether those in the engine room at WRD have been thinking the exact same thing.

I am certain that, like King Leonidas, for some time now they have been plotting a means by which they will quietly create a small of army of extraordinary warriors which they will then send out to decimate the masses in the east.

Let the carnage begin!

Do you see a strange resemblance or is that just me.