Jordan Brandt, a professional dirt bike racer from Boulder Creek, is gearing up to take his craft abroad for the fourth time at the International Six Days Enduro in Mexico, where he will be one of 30 chosen to represent the United States.
Brandt said the race, which will be Nov. 1 through 6, is one of the toughest in the world.
He would know.
At last year’s race in Portugal, the 31-year-old off-road addict raced the entire six days with a broken wrist. Then, three days into the race, his bike crashed into a rock, and he broke a few ribs.
He still finished the race — and won a gold medal.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said.
Touted as the Olympics of off-road dirt bike racing, the ISDE started in England in 1913 and is held at destinations all over the world. The six-day, 1,250-mile race has attracted riders from more than 30 countries and is the International Motorcycling Federation’s longest-running event.
“I’ve been racing as much as I can to stay in shape for it,” Brandt said.
Racers ride for about six hours a day during the six-day race. If a competitor’s bike gets damaged, the rider is eliminated, Brandt said.
“More than half of the riders don’t manage to finish, due to injury and bike damage,” Brandt said.
Every rider who finishes the race receives a bronze medal. Gold medals are given to the top 10 percent within the first racer’s completion time.
Brandt’s days as a riding junkie started when his father, who was also a rider, got him onto a bike at 2 years old. Brandt rode every weekend until high school, when he took a break from dirt bikes and devoted himself to BMX racing for a decade.
Brandt races weekends with the Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Club, where he’s been a member for seven years.
By day, he works as a union pipe fitter in Scotts Valley, installing fire-suppression sprinklers.
A fundraiser in Santa Cruz on Oct. 23 will help pay Brandt’s way to next month’s race.
Brandt has raced at the ISDE in New Zealand in 2006, Chile in 2007 and Portugal in 2009.
“I’m going to do better this year,” Brandt said. “That’s the goal.”
