Nevada’s Zane Roberts stood on the third step of the Pro podium at the Cherry Creek AMA National Hare and Hound in Jericho, Utah on May 13, 2023 – finishing the 83-mile race in just under two-and-a-half hours – his fifth-straight race weekend in a row.
“I can’t say I actually felt great after the finish of this one,” Roberts said Monday. “I think the combination of long and intense races paired with a lot of travel has finally caught up with me. Just didn’t have a whole lot in the tank this weekend.”
The hare and hounds feature two separate and distinct loops of increasing difficulty – this weekend, 38 fast miles across the desert, followed by 48 miles of technical single track, including 13 miles of Little Sahara Sand Dunes coming into the finish.
“I really enjoyed the sand dune sections of this race as I thought those were pretty fun and had a good flow,” Roberts said. “The pine tree sections in the mountains were relentless, though. That was probably the longest second loop I’ve ever ridden, time wise.”
For the bomb run-style start, his strategy is always finding the fastest and smoothest line away from everyone else.
“Typically most of the main fast guys will line up on the main line, and I prefer to not have to battle them for it,” he said. “Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. It worked decently this time as I came out about fifth.”
Running the KLIM Viper Pro Off-Road Goggle with tear offs, Roberts said he was able to make it through the whole race without having to swap goggles – a challenging feat with serious silt and dust plus on and off rain all day.
“Vision was a little tough this race, for sure,” he added. “I was burning through tear offs pretty quickly and definitely had to be conscious of not getting rid of tear offs sooner than I needed to.”
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We caught up with KLIM’s 6-foot-5 athlete, who was bumped to second place after the results became official, to find out how he fuels his body for hours-long races, what he likes about the XC Lite Off-Road Motorcycle Gear and how he’s liking his fourth year riding for Factory Beta. We also asked what happened on April 29 at the 52nd annual Virginia City Grand Prix in Virginia City, Nevada, where he captured the Open Pro overall win by over 16 minutes.
The legendary event – a race he grew up going to every year – began in 1971 and is one of the most unique off-road motorcycle races in the West with more than 1,000 racers competing in 27 different classes over two days. By those numbers, it’s the biggest race Roberts competes in with thousands of spectators coming out to watch the four-hour, 124-mile race, which he led from just after the start, coming in off the first of six laps with a five-minute lead: “It was pretty smooth sailing all day,” he said.
KLIM: How did the Virginia City GP compare to the series you usually run – the AMA West Hare Scrambles and the AMA National Hare & Hound?
ZR: Most of the races I do are two- to maybe three-hour maximum, so it was a little tough to pace something that's that long. Especially because it's a four-hour minimum. So if you came in at 3:59, you’re going for another 40-minute loop. Fortunately, it didn't end up being that way. And I only went for four hours and 15 minutes.
KLIM: And it was six loops?
ZR: Yes, six 21-mile loops.
KLIM: How does the terrain compare to what you’re used to?
ZR: It's actually quite a bit different on either of them, I would say. It's mostly really rocky two-track roads and and it's a lot of elevation gain up and down, because the Virginia City is on the side of a mountain basically, so nothing too crazy, technical or too fast, either. It's just kind of a consistent, rocky road kind of thing. Whereas the hare scrambles and hare and hounds both have more of a mix of single track and roads. The hare scrambles, most of them are in the woods. The hare and hounds are all desert. So the Virginia City GP is kind of its own thing. But I kind of grew up on a lot of stuff like that.
KLIM: The Garmin data you posted shows over 26,000 feet in elevation gain.
ZR: That’s basically Mount Everest right there. I don't think a single one of those roads isn’t going up or down on the mountain. So you're just constantly gaining and losing elevation. And then very rarely flat around there.
KLIM: And your average speed was 29 miles an hour?
ZR: Pretty much everything I do is 35 mph unless it’s a really tight woods race. So it actually isn't too fast. It's a little slower than a lot of stuff that I do, but it's just kind of a middle speed on constantly rocky roads.
KLIM: Let’s talk about these 2,800 calories. How did you manage that?
ZR: Pretty much every race I just swap the Camelbak at every pit. I drank probably a gallon of water during that race and took in probably 3,000 milligrams of sodium and probably 200 grams of sugar just in the Camelbaks so that was kind of the plan – every two laps, I would just swap Camelbaks, so I didn't take any food or anything. Basically every hour and a half or so, I would just be swapping Camelbak so I put down three of those Camelbaks every two laps. That was just kind of a strategy. That's basically what I do for Vegas to Reno or anything longer. I'm just gonna keep swapping even more packs. And if it gets really long, I’ll start taking some gels and stuff like that. The big thing for me is just making sure I get enough electrolytes and enough salt in. I do have a tendency to start cramping probably three hours into something. So I probably drink a lot more than most people do, and I'm more diligent about even if I don't want to drink, I'll just force myself to get it down.
KLIM: And how’s everything going with Beta? You’ve been with them since 2019?
ZR: Yes, this is probably the best the team’s ever been with the bike, the suspension, just everything being consistent every weekend, mechanics, management, everything is really coming together the last couple of years. So I’m really happy with everything.
KLIM: So far in 2023, you’ve had a bunch of Pro podiums in the other series you're competing in?
ZR: It's been a little up and down. I haven't won nearly as much stuff as I would like to, but I’ve kind of always been in there on the podium. Unfortunately, I did have one DNF due to a very minor and frustrating mechanical, but it's been decent but my season really kind of just started taking off the last couple of weeks. We're really just kind of in it now. And I like that I can actually kind of build on each weekend. Just hoping to keep building some momentum and finish this last few four or five races through the spring strong and click off a couple wins.
KLIM: In terms of the two series, can you explain how they are different and which one do you prefer?
ZR: The hare and hounds are typically two individual loops, you're not repeating laps at all, it's fresh terrain, and it's typically more desert-based. So the first loop is usually really fast – you might average 40 to 50 miles an hour on the first loop sometimes – and then the second loop will be more technical desert. So rocky or single track in the mountains or something, and those might average 25 miles an hour.
And then the west hare scrambles are more woods-based, and they're repeating laps, the same 50-mile course or whatever, and they'll just keep repeating it over and over again, so it’s kind of tough to go back and forth and try and beat some of the best guys in the woods out there and then beat the best guys in the desert. Because one weekend you might be averaging 25 mph, and the next weekend you're averaging 45, so that can be a little tough to change bike setup wise, skill wise and knowing what to work on. But I really like both series for their own reasons. I probably tend to say I liked the hare scrambles a little bit more just because I like repeating laps and kind of getting in a flow like when I know what's coming for me to get in the flow and kind of predict things.
KLIM: You kind of have to be good at a lot of things though to manage both of those series?
ZR: Yes, I feel like being an off-road racer these days, you got to be a jack of all trades and be good at desert, be good at motocross, be good at technical stuff in the woods.
KLIM: How do you focus on your fitness during the week?
ZR: The entire Beta team actually works with a company here in the Reno-Sparks area called Regulus Performance, so I have a coach and we’ll get together and discuss how I'm feeling and then plan out what days we're going to work out, and how we're going to train depending on you know, if I'm on a back-to-back weekend, I may only be in the gym one day that week. If I have a few weeks in between races, I may be in the gym three days that week. So we do quite a bit more strength training than is common in motorcycle racing. We don't spend a whole lot of time on road bikes and stuff like that. We kind of try and cover all of our bases and be a little bit more athletic in general than I would say most motorcycle racers are. When we don't have races every weekend, we’re doing strength training two to three days a week, and we'll even touch on it once in between in a back-to-back race week.
KLIM: I saw one of your Instagram stories - you can jump pretty high, too!
ZR: It's getting better. I'd say the typical motocrosser is not too explosive, but it's something we've worked on quite a bit. It's taken a couple of years to build up some of the power.
KLIM: That’s awesome. How’s the KLIM gear been holding up? You’re really one of the only guys out there putting it to the test in these three- to four-hour races.
ZR: I've always been really happy with everything with KLIM. The XC Lite now is so light as far as when it's warm and stuff, you might as well not even be wearing anything. I'm really happy with it. I'm very very adamant with the team that I do not want to go to a team gear sponsor unless it's KLIM because I very much like being part of KLIM and how things are actually kind of tailored toward what they're used for. The XC Lite is going to be more performance-based. The XC Lite jersey, you might as well not even be wearing that, it's that cool.
KLIM: Do you think the four hours on the bike in Virginia City helped you train for these races?
ZR: It was actually kind of an internal battle going into the last couple of laps, I had a pretty sizable lead so it was like, ‘All right, do I just cruise and manage this thing? Or do I want to use this as a training exercise and really, really push the last hour and a half or whatever and really kind of see what I got?’
I decided that four hours plus is already enough load on the body so I was like, ‘Well, we'll just kind of manage this thing to the end,’ because when you're on back-to-back weekends, it can be pretty hard to get turned around and recovered and do any training during the week and then go to the next round, so I definitely didn’t send it as hard as I could.
KLIM: Awesome. We are definitely looking forward to following you and the rest of your race seasons. Anything else you want to say?
ZR: It's been really cool to have you guys tracking all the KLIM athletes and keeping up on what we're doing and cool just to have some more exposure through the race recaps. People commented and told me that it's cool to be able to go and read up on stuff and look at all the athletes, so I think it's awesome what you're doing, and I know I at least appreciate it, so I hope everyone else as well.
KLIM: Thank you! We'll keep up the good work and you do the same. We're proud of you over here.
ZR: Thank you very much. I'll do my best!
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