Sean Finley | December 27, 2023
The best hard enduro racer from North America, Trystan Hart, talks about getting his first EnduroCross Championship, training for hard enduro, and taking on the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship
By Sean Finley | Photography by Brandon Krause, Ryan McCasland, Future7Media, Red Bull Content Pool
Trystan Hart earned the nickname “The Robot” due to his relentless and methodical domination of the AMA U.S. Hard Enduro Championship over the past three years. He has won nearly every U.S. Hard Enduro race he has entered during that time, and in 2023, he also competed in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in addition to the six-round AMA EnduroCross Championship. This led to a globetrotting travel schedule that is not ideal for an athlete competing in demanding endurance race events that are up to six hours long and, in some cases, cover multiple days. Despite all of that, the 26-year-old Canadian took his third consecutive AMA Hard Enduro Championship, his first AMA EnduroCross Championship and finished third in the FIM Hard Enduro Championship in 2023.
Hart’s amazing success in hard enduro and EnduroCross has one notable difference in background from all the other top riders in his discipline: he was not a trials rider who transitioned to hard enduro. Mani Lettenbichler, Cody Webb, Billy Bolt, Colton Haaker, Jonny Walker, Taddy Blazusiak, Graham Jarvis, and most of the other top hard enduro racers were top trials competitors before they took on hard enduro or EnduroCross. Perhaps more surprisingly, Hart was not a top motocross or off-road racer before he and his older brother decided to travel to the U.S. to race some EnduroCross events. But somehow, natural talent, determination, and a lot of riding tough terrain in Canada provided the base for Hart to become one of the top hard enduro and EnduroCross racers in the world.
We caught up with Hart right after he took his first AMA EnduroCross Championship, which he said was “about 10 years in the making,” to discuss his multi-championship season and the background that led to that success.
EnduroCross Champion Trystan Hart (center) went up against stiff competition in this year’s series, which included defending champ Jonny Walker (left) and former champ Colton Haaker.
When did you first come to the U.S. from Canada to race EnduroCross events?
My first one was 2012, so 11 years ago. I was 15. I only did like two EnduroCross races that year, and I didn’t even make the amateur night show. 2013, I only did maybe one or two again and was barely making the amateur night shows. In 2014, I made my first pro main in Boise.
What part of Canada are you from?
Western Canada. The major city closest to me is Calgary, or we live a little bit closer to Banff, the national park. Most people know Banff. That’s an hour from us.
It sounds like you are from a pretty remote and small town?
Yeah. It’s only 3000-5000 people. I never even say the name of it, but it’s called Invermere. But it was such a crazy schedule this year. I’ve only been home maybe 15 to 20 days.
Where are you based mostly, or do you even have a home base when you’re in the U.S.? Are you down near KTM in Temecula, or are you all over the place?
To be honest, this year I’ve been telling people my home base is the airport, the airplane, a hotel, and our rental car. That’s where you can find me these days. During EnduroCross, I usually stay in the Temecula area because they’ve got the test track, or San Diego because we have a track there, too. So, during EnduroCross I stay there. Then during hard enduro, I’m usually just traveling everywhere.
Hart says winning this year’s EnduroCross Championship, his first, was 10 years in the making.
I’m pretty sure your first year on factory KTM was the 2020 EnduroCross series?
Yeah. 2020, I was riding for the RPM KTM team, and halfway through the year, KTM called me up for some of the hard enduros, and I officially joined the KTM team for the 2020 EnduroCross series.
“This year, I’ve been telling people my home base is the airport, the airplane, a hotel, and our rental car.
Which other teams did you race for before the FMF KTM Factory Racing team?
I was SRT for ’17, which was the first year I ever got an EnduroCross podium, so that was a pretty big year for me. Then ’18, I raced for SRT Husky. That was the year I beat Cody Webb straight up at the Costa Mesa [California] EnduroCross, which was a pretty massive deal for me. Then, the next race was at Reno and that’s when I broke my wrist and missed half of the 2019 season.
When you first showed up at those EnduroCross events, your brother was racing too, right?
Yeah, Wyatt. He came to one this year for the first time since probably 2017.
Does he ride or race still?
He doesn’t race anymore, but we still ride every so often. He actually is pretty good about riding once a week, pretty much all summer long. He still likes to ride. There was a ride we did earlier this year, and he was beating me on a couple of hill climbs. He doesn’t let me forget it.
Is he older or younger than you?
He’s two years older than me, so that played a pretty big role in me becoming the rider I am because he is naturally talented, so he was just good, but a little bit older. He was always just a little bit better than me which just drove me nuts and pushed me to get better.
Not only did Hart have to battle deep racing fields but also a brutal travel schedule.
You took your first EnduroCross Pro Championship this year. You were very close last year and entered the final race in the points lead but had an off night and lost the title to Jonny Walker, but this year was the opposite.
Yeah. I actually had a pretty big points lead last year—I think it was 18 or 20 points with two to go, and that’s when I flew to Spain to do a hard enduro, and I came back, and I got sick for the rest of the series. It all just kind of went downhill. Between that, not riding, getting sick and then the pressure, I just cracked under the pressure at the last race. Kind of similar to what Johnny did this year. He had a massive points lead after the first two races, and it just dwindled. That’s really what happened to me last year.
Yeah, so you flipped it. You came in not in the points lead and managed to flip it. That’s got to be cool for you.
Yeah. Honestly, I wasn’t fully expecting to win. I knew I had a good chance, but even if I won the final race in Reno, he had to finish third for me to win [the championship]. So, there was just a little bit of doubt in my mind because I knew even if I did everything I could, there was a chance I wasn’t going to get the championship. So, it’s just hard to believe you’re really going to be champion when there’s a dark cloud looming in the sky like that.
Hart is one of the few top hard enduro racers who does not have a background in trials riding.
This is your first EnduroCross Championship, but in North America, you’ve dominated outdoor hard enduro events for at least the last three years, and then a couple of years before that, I know you were battling with Cody, as you mentioned, all the time. Cody Webb was kind of the strong guy to beat at that point, and you finally managed to start beating him. Was it in 2019 or so that you beat him a couple of times, and then in 2020, you pretty much just seemed to go on a run?
2020 was when I made a big step. 2019 wasn’t a great year. There were only three races, so Cody didn’t even race that year [due to an injury]. 2019 I didn’t have a great year, but 2020, as soon as I got on the factory bike, I just had a whole new confidence. I won two EnduroCross races that year and showed a ton of speed, but I was crashing a lot. I think every other moto I was crashing. I stayed up until 1 a.m. last night, and I watched five years of EnduroCross, just seeing all the adversity I’ve come through before getting the championship this year.
“It’s just hard to believe you’re really going to be champion when there’s a dark cloud looming in the sky like that.”
Then on the outdoor events, like I said, you seemed to really make a run on the outdoors. Do you think that success at the outdoor events comes easier for you?
Yeah. I’m not a super-talented rider, I would say. I’m not the flashiest guy. Like Jonny [Walker], he won every [EnduroCross] hot lap this year. He’s got that speed that I don’t really have. But what comes naturally to me is fitness. Back in the day when they [EnduroCross] were 15-minute mains, it just came down to fitness, so that really suited me. So just when I was doing good, they swapped to the three, six-minute race format where fitness isn’t such a big deal and it’s more about sprinting those first couple laps. So, just when I was getting my foot in the door, they swapped the format, and it made it really difficult those first two years. It was super rewarding for me to win it like this because sprinting is just so difficult for me. So, the three-hour races are pretty natural for me because I can go for a long time at a steady pace. But sprinting was just always super tricky. I somewhat figured it out these last couple of years.
Hart and the factory KTM team appear to be a match made in heaven.
What kind of training do you do for those outdoor events? How do you train for being on the bike for three, four, or five hours in some of these events? Do you go out and ride in the woods? Do you have anybody that rides with you? How do you prepare for those kinds of events?
I used to do a lot more than I do now. I still go on massive hikes and big ski touring in the winter, but now I rest more than I used to. I used to definitely do way too much exercise and burn myself out. Now, we have a trainer through KTM, so we’re a bit smarter about that. But I still run a lot. I’m just always outside doing some type of exercise because I like enjoying the outdoors and being in the mountains doing whatever. I just find that really fun. Definitely one of my favorite things for sure is getting with some buddies, and we’ll go out in the mountains on our dirt bikes and just go find the gnarliest stuff, things that people wouldn’t think you could get a dirt bike up. I just find it super fun dragging my buddies up some gnarly stuff and having some laughs along the way.
Is that mostly in Canada, or do you have some guys here in the U.S.? Where is that taking place?
Honestly, wherever. If there’s a race coming up in North Carolina, I’ll go there, and we’ll stay and ride with some buddies. But in California, we do it, too. Pretty much all over, Canada, USA. I was going to Italy before some of the World hard enduros this year and doing some riding there. Really, just all over the world. Pretty cool to ride your dirt bike everywhere.
Hart enjoys competing indoors and out and switches back and forth between a two-stroke and a four-stroke.
You’ve dominated the U.S. hard enduros and 2023 was your first year racing the full FIM Hard Enduro World Championship. How did that come about? Was that something that you pushed for with KTM, or was it something that they wanted to do?
Red Bull was really the driver behind that. They really wanted me there. I wanted to be there, too. KTM was nice enough to make that happen. So, between all three of us, I raced it this year. It’s tough because this year there were six weekends back-to-back where one was the USA, then Europe, USA, Europe, USA, Europe. I just went into full zombie mode those six races because it was just like, ride the bike, get on an airplane, go to a hotel, ride the bike, and then do it all over again. It was pretty tough with the travel schedule this year. I actually missed the last one in Getzen [Germany]. I didn’t even go to that just because I really wanted this EnduroCross Championship, so I’m glad that all worked out. It was a bummer not to be there. I still got third in the championship, which is not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s still pretty good.
I think racing against those top guys, you ended up winning the 2020 Red Bull Tennessee Knockout event. That was against Cody Webb. That was also a big one for you. Then you came back the next year and got third when it was an FIM Hard Enduro event. Mani was second and Mario Roman was third that year. I remember you saying that was a bigger deal than winning it the year before because you were up against those World Championship-level guys. Then you came back the following year and ended up winning with Billy Bolt and Mani Lettenbichler on the podium with you. So, describe how that progression has felt for you.
Really, 2020 TKO is pretty much what started it all. That was a really big deal because at that point, everyone in the world had come over and tried to beat Cody [Webb] and no one had beaten him. I think he’s got six wins there. Jarvis, Jonny, everyone had come at that point and tried to beat him and no one was able to do it. Then I got on the factory bike and I beat him. That was a massive deal for me because, like I said, no one had done it. I was the first guy to knock him off the TKO rock. From that point on, I’ve had a massive trajectory upwards and never looked back.
You’ve had two thirds in a row now at Erzberg. Second at Romaniacs this year. It’s kind of difficult, for you to take on the World Championship rounds on tracks that are relatively new for you. Do you feel like Romania and these other courses, now that you’ve raced on them a couple of times, that maybe you can race with Mani, Billy and the other top riders?
That’s the question right now. It’s super frustrating for me. I go to Europe with bikes identical to what I race here, and I show up there, and it’s just not the same. I’m not the same person. I just don’t have the same confidence that I have when I’m over here. When we come to TKO, I think I make it look pretty easy, and I’m pretty relaxed, and I win. This year, I won pretty easily. I got a massive gap and just kind of chilled out till the finish. I go to Europe, and I honestly just can’t repeat that yet. So definitely, the track plays a big part, plus the travel. Those guys all know those races so well because they’ve been doing them so many times. I’m not going to use that as an excuse, but I honestly can’t figure that out yet. It’s just a different feeling, and I just can’t quite seem to break through. I feel like I’m right there, I’ve just got to punch through the ice and get that same feeling, and I think I can repeat what I do over here.
Hart wants a number-one trophy from the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship to go along with his U.S. titles.
One interesting thing I’ve noticed with EnduroCross these last two years is some of the top riders are racing two-strokes again. For the last five or six years, all the top riders, other than Jonny [Walker] have raced four-strokes. Now, this year, Cody Webb switched to a two-stroke and Cooper Abbott decided to switch to a two-stroke after the first race. So, you’re racing with a bunch more two-strokes, even indoors now. You race the KTM 350 four-stroke. Do you think they’re equal between the two types of bikes?
“It’s super frustrating for me. I go to Europe with bikes identical to what I race here, and I show up there, and it’s just not the same. I’m not the same person.”
It’s funny you say that because after the first race, when Cody and Jonny pretty much shocked everyone, the two-stroke was looking pretty good, and it was definitely in the back of my mind. The two-stroke is definitely better in certain situations, and the four-stroke is better in some situations. I think in the European series, the two-stroke might be a little bit better just because the tracks are so tough. When I showed up to the race this week at the last round in Reno, and I saw the plastic pipes, I’m like, that’s definitely a two-stroke section. I just knew Cody and Jonny were going to be really good in them and they were. The two-stroke, when it’s super technical, is a lot less tiring because the bike rides lighter, so the four-stroke tires you out, and you get arm pump easier. Then if you get arm pump, it’s going to be hard to ride the way you should be riding. So, it just all depends on the track. But generally speaking, for the AMA series, usually they’re a little bit faster with some jumps, so I prefer the four-stroke.
You ride the two-stroke for all the hard enduro events; is it hard for you to transition between the two bikes? Does that play in at all or make you think that maybe it might make sense to switch to be on one bike?
Yeah, I’ve thought about it. For me, switching to the four-stroke is actually really easy. Maybe not even a full day of riding, I’m good to go. Going back to the two-stroke is a bit… it’s not even so much the engine. It’s more the suspension because EnduroCross suspension is quite stiff. When I went to Hixpania, which was after the first race last year, the suspension was so soft. You have to ride completely different. The forks just collapse. So, when I went over to Spain for that, it took me like two days just to get the feeling on the forks because they’re so soft. You bottom out just going off a two-foot drop almost, where EnduroCross we were doing that garbage container drop at the final [Reno]. We were falling from the sky like 20 or 30 feet to a flat landing. So, the suspension is the biggest difference for me, and that takes a little bit of adjustment.
It sounds like the suspension is different because of the obstacles, almost like supercross versus motocross? Is your suspension stiffer because of the obstacles for the indoor events?
Yeah. It’s pretty similar to compare it to supercross versus motocross. They run a really stiff setup in Supercross, and motocross it’s a little bit softer just because you need a little better feel through the bumps, which is pretty much like hard enduro. We have a lot of gnarly situations, and the bike has got to mold over the terrain.
Hart battles one of the world’s best hard enduro racers, Manuel Lettenbichler, en route to this year’s Tennessee Knockout victory.
You raced in three different championships this year and you won the U.S. Hard Enduro Championship and the EnduroCross Championship. You got third in the FIM Hard Enduro Championship. Will you do all three of those championships again next year?
It’s still up in the air. I’m actually at the Red Bull APC [Athlete Performance Center] right now in Santa Monica. Going to get some recovery in. Then I’m doing our team photo shoot for a week, and then I’m going on vacation with my girlfriend to New Zealand and Australia for almost a month. I’m actually not going to be riding for a bit now, just to try and recover from doing three series. Two of them are hard enduros where they’re all four or five hours. Romaniacs is a 25-hour race. So, it’s a lot. After you include all the travel in, too, it’s definitely a lot for one person. So, I’m going to take some time and think about it. I definitely want to do it, but I also don’t want to be done racing at 27 years old and doing three series is just a lot. So, we’ll see.
You’ve been on KTM now for a couple years. I know your girlfriend and your parents are at a lot of events, even with the travel from Canada making it a little bit difficult. That probably helps keep you going as well. Can you talk about that a little bit?
Yeah. I would say that everyone at the races would probably like to be in my situation. I don’t think anyone has the support system I have. Everyone at KTM, there are so many people from KTM. Antti [Kallonen, Director of Off-Road Racing for KTM] was there, Timmy [Tim Weigand, FMF KTM Factory Racing Team Manager] was there. Our technician was there. My mechanic is always there for me. Plus, my parents were at almost every race. My girlfriend was at two or three of them. All my sisters, my brother, they all showed up at the EnduroCross final. So, my support system, in my opinion, is for sure helpful.
Any other last words you want to share?
One thing that I’m really proud of and that besides Billy [Bolt] not being here [for EnduroCross], I was able to beat the best EnduroCross racers at a high level. Jonny, I think he’s at his peak. Cody seems back to his peak this year. Haaker has kind of been up and down, but I think he was strong again this year. So, to beat everyone while they’re riding near their peak, that’s something I really wanted to do. So, besides Billy not being here, I think I beat everyone in the world when they were at their best.
All those guys you just mentioned have a trials background. You came up a completely different way. I think you raced motocross as a kid. Was it mostly motocross and then some off-road riding? You’re the only guy at the top level that doesn’t have a trials background.
I raced motocross from 4 to 7, then I broke my femur and we didn’t really ride bikes again until 12 or 14. Then we went to some EnduroCross races, and most of the guys had a trials background. Taddy [Blazusiak] was winning everything at that point. Cody and Colton came on next, and they all came from trials. I never expected to be good or be a champion because I don’t have a trials background. I just kind of wanted to do it and see how far I could go. There’s no one really winning that didn’t do trials first. Wade Young won Romaniacs and a couple other big races [and does not have a trials background], but generally speaking, if you don’t come from a trials background, you don’t win in this sport. So, I kind of rewrote the script on that. I hope it helps some other kids who are in my situation chase their dreams. It shows if you want it bad enough, it’s possible.CN
