Conquering the Iron Giant

Book excerpt: Graham Jarvis has been at the top of off-road motorcycling for the best part of twenty-five years and has competed in hundreds of competitions and races all over the world, from TV's Junior Kickstart in the early 1990s to the fabled and ridiculously perilous Erzberg Rodeo, which Graham has won a record-equalling five times and is one of motorsport's most feared events. Having excelled at Trials and Enduro, Graham then moved into the high-octane world of Hard Enduro, one of the most exhilarating sports on two wheels. Since then, he has all but dominated the sport and has won Hard Enduro's five major events - the Erzberg Rodeo, the Red Bull Sea to Sky, the Red Bull Romaniacs, the Tough One and Hell's Gate - on no fewer than thirty occasions, making him one of motorsport's most successful athletes. In Conquering the Iron Giant, Graham will take us from his early years in Canterbury, where he started pulling wheelies from the age of four on a bike that his dad had rescued from the tip, to competing against up to 1,800 riders in races where dozens are often airlifted to hospital, and only three or four finish . . . with Graham usually at the head of the field. It is a story of dedication, skill and, above all, an extreme passion for off-road motorcycling.