Ryder Leblond Interview | King of the Motos
Story: Noel Flatters | Editor - Enduro.Media & Superfine Media
Johnson Valley, California | 2024-01-22
Ryder LeBlond (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing), Johnson Valley OHV, California.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
Ryder LeBlond is a rising star in the Hard Enduro world. Coming into his second year with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team he’s been building a reputation as a fast, sendy pro who’s fully committed to making his way to the top of the sport. We sat down with Ryder in Hammer Town USA at the 2024 King of the Motos / Round 1 of the US Hard Enduro Series to get his thoughts coming into the first race of the year, and talk a bit about his upcoming season.
Enduro.Media: So we're coming into the 24 season. I know you had a short off-season after the Endurocross series. What was that, like six, seven weeks ago you were racing the finale in Reno?
Ryder LeBlond: Yeah, we had, like, no time to do anything really. Like, as soon as the season ended for Endurocross, we had to jump right back on to the two stroke. We pretty much had a maybe a week or two off the bike, just kind of chill and get recover and all that. But after a little bit it was all good.
Did you make it back home to Pennsylvania?
Yeah, yeah, went back to Pennsylvania and was there for all of December till Christmas and then came back out west the beginning of January this month. So I've been out here in Southern California for two weeks.
Ryder LeBlond on the start line at the 2024 King of the Motos.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
So I guess we'll start off talking about King of the Motos. You've been here before, obviously. Tell us about how that's gone for you?
Yeah, this is year two for me. I learned a lot more after last year. Last year, I was just blind going out there in the desert. Like, even though we had a GPS and stuff I still had no clue what was going on. Couldn't tell you what mountain was which! But now we're out here again and I feel a lot more comfortable. I feel like I can read the desert a lot better.
Bike prep in the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team pits before the King of the Motos qualifying race.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
Being a Pennsylvania guy, desert is probably not your first choice!
Definitely. The toughest part for me here is the desert. It's way different. There's not trees. It's tough to read. Everything kind of looks the same, but it's starting to get all pieced together for me now, so it's good.
So physically, how are you feeling coming into the year?
Physically, I'm great. We're healthy, had a good off season. I've been fortunate the last couple of years to have healthy, long off seasons where I can get right back to it pretty quick. So fortunate for that. And yeah, I'm excited to get back to it and see, see where we're at.
So what's the big story for you, personally, coming into the weekend for Round 1 of the US Hard Enduro Series?
I mean, I don't know for sure. Everyone's been kind of quiet this winter. This winter, I feel like I know some of the boys (editor: Trystan Hart, Will Riordan, Spenser Wilton) have been in Canada riding trials. I've been down here just kind of doing my thing. So we don't really know where we're all at till the racing starts, I think.
So when you're down here in California you're based out of the KTM Group USA facilities?
Yeah, yeah. I always come here, especially right in the beginning of the season one to get away from the cold and to to get closer to the factory. We can bust a lot of parts in training, so it's nice to be able to go in there, be like, ‘Hey, I need this, I need that.’ so that we can get right back to it and get training again.
Ryder comes into the finish of the Qualifying race at the 2024 King of the Motos, finishing P3 behind Cody Webb (FactoryOne Sherco) and Trystan Hart (Red Bull FMF KTM Factory Racing).
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
So the bike. Any changes to the bike this year?
Yeah! So obviously we're on the new frame this year, new bike, everything's new and I love it. It's a good change. I've only ever been on the old 300 since like 2019, so it's a good change. I'm having fun with it, testing some things and getting it all dialled in.
What does the 2024 season look like for you right now?
So this year we're mainly focusing on the Premiere rounds of the US Hard Enduro Series and then obviously switching over to Endurocross. Those are the two main things we're doing, plus maybe a couple of little off races here and there if I get the chance.
Any plans to go to Europe for any of the FIM Hard Enduro Championship rounds? I mean, obviously, TKO (ed. Tennessee Knockout) will be on the schedule. Any plans for Erzberg or Romaniacs or anything like that?
Yeah. I mean, Erzberg is kind of always on the schedule. I definitely want to get back over there and redeem myself after last year. I think about my result over there almost every day.
Tell us a little bit about what happened.
Honestly, I had a bad weekend and it just happened to be over there. It was kind of not me had some issues with traveling and flying and hurt my hand pretty bad. When we were practicing out there before the race, I was just not mentally in the right space, but looking forward to get back out there and I actually have some pretty big goals for there this year.
So what would that look like in terms of goals?
I mean, this whole season I have pretty big goals for myself and yeah, just been working hard this winter and I really want to get those goals.
Are you willing to talk about those here? I mean, obviously you're going to hope to put it on the box as much as you can.
Wins. Wins are the goal.
Ryder LeBlond sends it over the finish line jump at Round 5 of the 2023 AMA Endurocross Series in Redmond, Oregon.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
I look at you as a rider, and the first time I saw you ride in person was the Prologue at Red Bull Outliers last summer. And you right there with Jonny (Walker), Mani (Lettenbichler) and Billy (Bolt). You were battling up near the front every heat, and you were so sendy out there. I was like ‘Whoa!’ Here was this young guy coming out of relatively nowhere, and it was incredible. And, you know, looking back at last season, I'm like, okay, well, it all makes sense now, where that Outliers ride came from. And then again, in Endurocross you were just sending it. There were a lot of races in that series where you were right up there but just had some bad luck that would drop you back. I think that you finished 5th overall, if I remember correctly?
Yeah. Just got to play yourself a good position to those races. It’s just kind of chaos with 16 riders out on track. There’s a lot going on out there, it’s not always in your control.
What would be three words you’d use to describe yourself as a professional Hard Enduro rider?
Obsessed. I'm really obsessed with racing dirt bikes in general. Like, no matter what, every day I'm like watching YouTube if I'm not riding. I'm obsessed with it. I'd also say dedicated. It's my life for sure. I feel like that's maybe kind of the same thing with being obsessed, but I really enjoy [riding and training] and I wouldn’t rather be doing anything else. Fun is another word, too. I enjoy everything about it!
‘Fun’ is an interesting one. I mean, that's one of the cool things about North American Enduro is that guys that are up at the front end are kind of a gang-gang.
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Yeah. It's a small group of us, and I feel like we're all pretty close. And obviously when we're racing, it's a rivalry. But when we're not racing, like we're all just riding over there today, warming up, practicing. So it's cool!
So your big goal for the weekend here at King of the Motos?
A big goal… Definitely don't want to put an exact result to it, but definitely winning's always the goal! But there's a lot that goes into it before that. Like just try to stay focused andjust not do anything dumb! I know I can be up there and do it. The bike feels really good, better than ever. I feel better than ever. Didn't change too much over the winter, but changed the right things. So I think we're in a good spot, you know?
So the races here are going to be a little bit longer than least year. Mentally, does that change things up for you? Like how you strategize for this, or… ?
I mean, we’ve got to think about tires and all that kind of stuff, but as far as fitness and all of that, I think we're all capable of going to three or four or 5 hours no matter what, at a pretty high pace. And the weather looks amazing, so that’s something we don’t have to worry about.
When you're out there racing a big race like this, are you, you know, how do you approach the course. Like are you segmenting it up like a lot or are you just, just in the moment?
No matter what, I just try to stay in the moment. So it's I feel like is pretty important to not think about, who's behind me? Who's in front of me? What's coming up? What did I just do? Like, just stay focused and hit each mark.
So that's interesting. You're just worried about yourself, racing yourself, your own race. Obviously you're going to get input about where other guys are on the course and such... but actually, like, just you in your own race out there?
Yeah, for sure. I mean, we're I'm out there alone a lot. Everyone else is out there kind of by themselves. It's not too often you're with people battling. So it's definitely a battle between you and yourself pretty much for the most part. Like you and your mind. That's like all that there is for 99% of the race.
Ryder had to overcome some adversity right off the start after getting caught in a bottleneck coming up Chocolate Thunder and ending up dead last among the pros. He was able to put on a charge and bridge up to the leaders within a few kilometres, though.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
There's pretty much a 100% guarantee that you're going to have moments of big adversity out there. How do you react to that stuff out on course?
Yeah. For most of it, you don't see other riders either. So you come to a gnarly section. You're like, so did I make it through there faster even if I cleaned it? Maybe they had a better line. There's so much that you can think about. But just can’t think about that. You just have to block it off.
#513 Ryder LeBlond coming into the finish of Lap 1 in the lead group with #2 Cody Webb, #1 Trystan Hart, and #39 Will Riordan (GasGas USA Factory Racing) at the 2024 King of the Motos.
Image © Noel Flatters / Enduro.Media
Just be like, How am I going to get from A to B as fast as I can?
Yeah. Just know that in the end, if you're that just push hard and stay committed, you're going to be up there front!
Right on. We’re looking forward to seeing how you do this weekend! And good luck with the 2024 season, too!
Thank you!
