Well done Chris Birch!

[saffer]

You Kiwis might be interested to hear that New Zealand's Chris Birch is leading the Roof of Africa enduro with one day to go. Riding a KTM 300XCW he currently has about a 25min lead on the 2nd placed rider.

The Roof is Southern Africa's toughest race and takes place each year in the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

[cr125nz]

mint good to hear hope he does well and takes it out to be no.1

[flyingcr250]

birchy is the man. some of the places he goes, its increddible

[secondfield]

Apparently he got the headsup about that event from a south african family he randomly gave a ride to the airport while he was in Austria (visiting KTM).

The dad of the family sorted Chris the ticket there and a bike plus entry (Birchy was a bit broke at the time)..

Him and his mates go to the race every year and get pissed. He reckons they needed someone to cheer for this time.:banana:

Dont think they'll be dissapointed eh..:2thumbsup

[shafty]

Apparently he got the headsup about that event from a south african family he randomly gave a ride to the airport while he was in Austria (visiting KTM).

The dad of the family sorted Chris the ticket there and a bike plus entry (Birchy was a bit broke at the time)..

Him and his mates go to the race every year and get pissed. He reckons they needed someone to cheer for this time.:banana:

Dont think they'll be dissapointed eh..:2thumbsup

Great story!! Keep us posted. We like being posted!

[Danger]

25 mins is a big lead! Go Chris!

[saffer]

News just in.

Chris won the Roof of Africa on his KTM300 by a massive 48 minutes.

Great stuff.

You are the man.

I wish I could post some pics taken of the race on this forum.

[Dutchee]

Way to go Birchy :) Been logging on to Waitemata's website for Mon's update each day. Shame that Gerhard Foster crashed out, as that way there would've been a competition happening ;) But fantastic result and his family will be way proud of him.

[theblacksmith]

Way to go Chris - your the man!
48 minutes is an incredible lead.
Awesome!

[saffer]

After a total 15 hours 53 minutes and 36 seconds on the bike, over the three days, Chris Birch remarked: “We do not have anything like this at home. The terrain is absolutely amazing and the best off-road conditions I have seen anywhere. This race compares well with any of the top events I have competed in around the world.”



When asked how he felt, Birch replied: “Today I am exhausted, over the three days the difficulty factor stepped up drastically every day. Today was really tough with ‘Donkey-Pass’ and ‘Lucky-Pass’ sapping the last strength and energy out of your body. I am tired now but I would like to come back next year to defend my title.”



With a total of 22 overseas contestants, competing in this year’s event it truly strengthens the international status of the race. Gerhard Forster from the BMW Factory Team in Germany must have had the worst luck amongst the overseas riders when he hit a fence post ripping the ligaments in his left upper arm. Not only was he not able to start the last day, but he will have undergo surgery to have the shoulder fixed.



When asked they came across some of these amazing tracks in inaccessible countryside, Ashley Thorne, chairman of the Lesotho Off Road Association replied: “For many weekends, we put on boots and back-packs and we hiked up and down the mountains to find new routes to slow competitors down, bring the race closer to spectators and pay attention to technical riding.”



“A marking team, consisting of three riders, from Germany spent a month on the route, riding every section and day-by-day completing the stages to ensure the success that we had in the event this year,” concluded Thorne



With everyone looking forward to next year’s event, training programs will definitely be revisited and motorcycles repaired after this great event, so that the top riders can challenge ‘Birchie’ next year.

[cheese]

Wow he is bloody good! Well done!

[cave weta]

Thank you saffer and welcome to Kiwi Biker! - I hope we see more of you!

we are keen to see you photos- if you put them on photobucket, you can then copy and paste the html code into your posts here and 'voilla' there they are!

tell us more about where you ride and what type of family riding is available

great to have some international imput- ` makes us feel very important down here:sunny:


Oh .... and Chris, you are a bloody legend! we are very proud to have you on here too!!:rockon:

[cave weta]

Thank you saffer and welcome to Kiwi Biker! - I hope we see more of you!

we are keen to see you photos- if you put them on photobucket, you can then copy and paste the html code into your posts here and 'voilla' there they are!

tell us more about where you ride and what type of family riding is available

great to have some international imput- ` makes us feel very important down here:sunny:


Oh .... and Chris, you are a bloody legend! we are very proud to have you on here too!!:rockon:

[camchain]

Thanks saffer. Great fresh info all the way from SA!

Outstanding result. The Birchinator is doing some amazing and inspirational stuff. He must be so fit now he's probably near jumping out of his skin. It must be very difficult to keep the mental focus required while dealing with the organisational difficulties that must come with doing these events in different countries - on a shoe-string budget to boot!

[takitimu]

Damn nice effort from Birchy, one heck of a nice way to finish the extreme rides for the year.

[NordieBoy]

Excellent news!

Sounds like Birchy has learned to navigate now :D

[ktmmon]

Chris may have learnt to navigate but i think he's still working on how to work a cell phone hahaha ...
Very proud and a MASSIVE thanks to Mark and Team Roost KTM for all their help in getting him there ...
Just spoke to him and he says the first day was like an easy romaniacs day and the second was like a hard romaniacs day. He has had an awesome time...
He tells me I have to go next year, everyone is expecting it ... oh go on, twist my arm!!
mon

[Number One]

Sorry quite irrelevant to your topic but I keep seeing this thread in my new posts and each and everytime I have to re-read it cos on first skim it looks as if it reads..."well done Girls Biarch!

[saffer]

Here are a couple of pics

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=CB-Fri.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/CB-Fri.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=CB-Sat.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/CB-Sat.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=will-bab.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/will-bab.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=Roof13.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/Roof13.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=Roof10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/Roof10.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=Roof12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/Roof12.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=Roof14.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/Roof14.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=roof2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/roof2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/?action=view&current=roof1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k240/JonW_02/roof1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Number One]

FAR out that is insane!!!! How much do you have to be on the bike for it to still count as riding? Surely pushing your bike up a rocky mountain on foot is no fun at all?! Tough bastards them guys

[dafydd roberts]

[QUOTE=saffer;1832554]Here are a couple of pics


Thanks for the pics Chris is the man :clap:

[Gravel911]

It is great to hear of Chris’s exploits………well done Chris.

Thanks for the updates and photos “saffer”

[camchain]

Excellent photos. Wondering what's the story with those wierd and fiendish, perfectly tire shaped pockets on that rock face.

Noticed CB had a fancy monster bash guard on. Found/saved pics of same one off KtmTalk a few weeks ago, but no info on where it came from. Anyone know what species it is? Attached clearer pics:

[noobi]

possibly a South African made one, the guy i bought my bike off , who was a sa, said the only thing they do to their two strokes over there is do a re-jet and fit the mother of all bash plates, lots of rocks over there
that looks like the mother of all bash plates
so maybe try sa google?

[noobi]

found it
http://images.google.co.za/imgres?imgurl=http://husaberg.net.au/online_shop/images/sump%2520guard.jpg&imgrefurl=http://husaberg.net.au/online_shop/index.php%3Fmain_page%3Dproduct_info%26products_id %3D186&usg=__HYeKz5cvkaM1sbxrWOapHnxzbtk=&h=480&w=640&sz=83&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=cluFgf98XPZVUM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpipe%2Bguard%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

about two seconds on sa google, and im really bored:Oops:

[Assasin]

Are they covers on the swingarm of the Yam?

[takitimu]

Are they covers on the swingarm of the Yam?

Looks that way, though odd to do that & not have guards for either brake disk.

[Assasin]

Looks that way, though odd to do that & not have guards for either brake disk.

Ye I suppose if it’s a new bike you can replace the disk but if you take a chunk out of the swing arm its a little more expensive. I suppose it’s more of a damage protection thing.

[camchain]

You were on the money noobi. Nice interNet Trawling and info. Trail leads here, they do come from South Africa: http://www.hydedevelopments.co.za/

And evidently available here in NZ from an outfit based in Hamilton: http://www.offroadimports.co.nz/hyde-developments.htm

Intend to have a good dig around, lots of shiny new stuff but better get back to work now and make some money to re-align shrinking bank balance with expanding shopping list. Spent a pile on new bike already.

[chrisktm]

Hey guys, cheers for the happy thoughts.

The bash plate and guards are from Hyde industries and are bloody good. After three days of smashing the KTM against rocks it looked sweet once we took the guards off. As above Dafydd from off road imports had the gear and its well worth a look. Also check out
http://www.hyde.co.za

[krad_nz]

Congrats, definitely an inspiration.

[Reckless]

Dafydd is a member here Pm him his user name is the same. He rides the christini all wheel drive bike when he rides with us.

Mind you at $289-00 USD they are probably more expensive than a new pipe here in NZ. Couldn't find them on his site.
Ok to spend that if damaging the pipe will loose you the race but for us riding trails ????

Secondly well done Chris. That rock face wasn't riding it was an iron man challenge!!!

[warewolf]

More on advrider: Roof of Africa - short race report (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=411714)

Well done Chris!

[cave weta]

I just went in to Birchys website (http://www.birchy.co.nz)there is another nice little write up on his exploits:clap:

copied here:

Roof of Africa WIN!!
New Zealander Chris Birch powers KTM to victory in Roof of Africa

He came, saw and conquered ...



After three days of torturous Enduro riding in the race that is called the Mother of all Hard Enduro races, Chris Birch, riding a KTM 300 EXC was not only winner of the notorious Roof of Africa - he also did it by a huge margin of 48.5 minutes.

The New Zealander rode his own race from start to finish over three days and 450 tortuous kilometers in the tiny kingdom of Lesotho in the heart of southern Africa. The 2008 race was the most technically demanding in the event's 41-year history, but despite that there has rarely been so many finishers, a tribute perhaps to the increasingly popularity of Hard Enduro as an attractive offroad sport.

Birch: Tired but happy "Today I am exhausted," Birch told reporters after the finish. "Over three days the difficulty factor stepped up drastically every day…. I am tired now but I would like to come back next year to defend my title." Birch was on his KTM for a total of 15 hours 53 minutes and 36 seconds and said the race compares well with any of the top events he had competed in all around the world. Two South African riders, Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha) and Darryl Curtis (KTM) took the minor overall places and seven of the top 10 riders in the overall results were onboard KTM machines. KTM riders took all three places in the open class.

Only the toughest survive After the traditional "Round the Houses" in Lesotho's capital Maseru on the opening day, the almost 100km long "Time Trial" already eliminated many of the field. This was followed by an exhausting 180km of extreme terrain on day two that cut the remaining field in half. It was only the toughest of the original 300 starters that were still in the saddle for the final race day of 180 km with just 43 riders completing the entire program.

Overall results
1. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM
2. Jade Gutzeit, South Africa, Yamaha
3. Darryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM
4. Bartosz Oblucki, Poland, Husqvarna
5. Craig Stone, KTM

Result Open Class
1. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM
2. Louwrens Mahony, South Africa, KTM
3. Mark Fox, South Africa, KTM

This was a really great race, the course was huge fun and Lesotho is an amazingly beautiful place. I was looked after very well by the guys over there so a huge thanks to THE ROOST, Mark and Charmane, Hyde Industries, Polysport, Sherwood Liquors, Bearings And Industrial Supplies Ltd and all the other people I met in SA that made me feel so welcome

[camchain]

There are some more good photos on KTMtalk put up by one of the event organisers. Not only great event shots (I liked the pic of the WR clutch utterly destroyed on a climb) but some nice ones showing more on what the area is like as well, i.e if that big tree root moves, the root is probably made of meat not wood. His kids were giving the snake the Steve Irwin type close inspection.