by Alex Aebersold

What’s your name? 

Alex Aebersold

How old are you?

20

Where are you from?

Floyds knobs, indiana 

When did you get into the sport of hard enduro and when did you ride a dirt bike for the first time?

I rode my first dirt bike when i was 10 and my first hard enduro was tko 4 years ago

What bike do you ride?

2019 husqvarna TE250i

What team do you ride in (if any)

none

How many hard enduro races have you entered (roughly, doesn’t have to be 100% accurate)?

7

If possible, what would you characterize yourself as? Beginner, weekend warrior, ambitious amateur, semi-pro or pro? 

ambitious amateur 

What race are you going to talk about and what year did you do it?

saddleback extreme 2021 

What was the race format like – how many days, hours or races did you have to do to finish/win the race?  

1 race 3 hours long 

What excited you the most about this race? Was it the terrain, the grip, the camaraderie, the organisation, the weather, your own performance or something entirely different?

The difficulty of the track, it really pushed my limit of what my body and skill level could do in a race 

What kind of tires/mousse/tubeless/tube did you use and why? More importantly – would you recommend your setup or did you learn that something else would have been better?

I ran a kenda Knarly with a tubeless system and had plenty of traction through out the race, i would 100% recommend this set up for the rear tire 

Was there anything bike setup-wise that you discovered to work great and that you’d like to share?

How tough did you find the track physically and mentally?

This was the hardest track i have ever raced in, it pushed me physically and mentally to my limit 

Was the track easy to follow (markings or GPS) and was the difficulty level of the track what you expected, easier or harder?

The track was easy to follow and the track was a bit harder than i thought it was going to be. 

Where did you stay during the race, was it a good choice and would you do it again? (camping, hotel, private etc.)

since i live about a hour away from saddleback I stayed home the night of the race and got up early and drove to the race 

What result did you get and are you happy with it?

2nd in silver class 16-34, I am very happy on how i placed 

Did you feel like you got a good value for your money at this race?

yes

What would be your best piece of advice, to a person who is considering entering this race for the first time?

make sure you have a gummy tire and wear a camel back 

What (if anything) would you like to see changed in the event to improve it?

Finally, would you do this race again and recommend it to other riders?

I will be returning to the next saddleback extreme next year and i would recommend it to anyone wanting to try out a hard enduro