Some riders dream about tackling the toughest hard enduro rally on the planet. Ian Wilson, the 65-year-old founder of Roadskin, just went and did it and rewrote the history books while he was at it.
Ian has become the first person ever to officially finish the Red Bull Romaniacs on a Ducati. Not a lightweight enduro machine built for the job, but a Ducati DesertX Rally, a proper heavyweight adventure bike. Four brutal days. 650 kilometres of unforgiving Carpathian mountain terrain. One broken petrol tank. And a whole lot of grit.
Grab a brew and settle in, because this is a cracking story about what happens when experience, stubbornness and properly tested kit all come together.
The toughest rally on Earth
If you follow off-road racing, you'll already know the reputation. Red Bull Romaniacs is widely regarded as the hardest hard enduro event in the world. Since it began, it's chewed up and spat out riders far younger and far fitter than most of us.
We're talking near-vertical climbs, rocky ravines, swollen river crossings and mountain weather that turns on a sixpence. One minute you're baking in blazing sunshine, the next you're wrestling your bike through a mudslide that used to be a dirt track.
The event runs across five days in Romania's Carpathian Mountains. It kicks off with a spectator-friendly Prolog stage in Sibiu, an obstacle course that sets the starting order. From day two, it's all off-road, upwards of 400 miles of forests, boulder fields, river crossings and mountain passes, with cumulative climbing that stacks up to roughly four Mount Everests on top of one another.
Ian rode it wearing race number 1203, competing in the newly introduced Adventure Lite class. And here's the kicker: no one had ever finished this rally on a Ducati adventure bike. Until now.
Stripping 18kg from a heavyweight
Here's where it gets clever. The Ducati DesertX Rally is a wonderful machine, but it's not a purpose-built enduro weapon. Straight out of the crate, it tips the scales at 211kg. On the kind of terrain Romaniacs throws at you, every single kilo works against you.
So in the weeks before the race, Ian got busy. He stripped the bike down from 211kg to 193kg and 18kg saving — with a proper mechanical overhaul:
- New wheels to cut rotating weight
- Upgraded suspension to soak up the punishment
- Lighter callipers for sharper, lighter braking
- A carbon-fibre fuel tank to shave off precious grams
Eighteen kilos might not sound like much until you're hauling a bike up a rocky climb for the hundredth time in a day. Every gram saved was a gram he didn't have to fight.
"Completing Romaniacs at 65 is a dream come true, but doing it on the DesertX Rally makes it unforgettable," Ian said. "Defying the elements on a heavyweight adventure bike in this terrain was a massive physical and mechanical challenge. It serves as the ultimate real-world test for both the machinery and Roadskin's protective gear."
The fall, the broken tank, and a very long night
No Romaniacs story worth telling comes without drama, and Ian's had plenty.
Partway up a mountain trail, he was nudged off course and took a heavy fall. The damage? A broken petrol tank the kind of setback that ends most people's rally right there on the mountainside.
But Ian isn't most people. With the help of some officials, he made it two hours back down to the finish on foot, completing the GPS declaration he needed to secure his place in the next stage. Let that sink in for a second. A 65-year-old, battered and bruised, pushing and lifting the stricken bike over fallen trees for 5 km, taking two hours to descend a mountain to keep his race alive.
Then came the long night. Replacing the carbon tank with the original. Carrying out essential repairs. Getting the bike back into fighting shape for the next day's punishment. By morning, the Ducati was ready to roll again.
Nicky: the unsung hero
Behind every gruelling stage was Nicky Wilson, Ian's wife and business partner, working as his support crew. She met him at service points throughout each day with food, hydration and encouragement, then sent him straight back out into the mountains.
Anyone who's ridden long distances knows how much a friendly face at the checkpoint matters when you're running on empty. Ian and Nicky built Roadskin together, and that same partnership carried him across the Carpathians. It's the beating heart of everything the brand stands for.
Not his first rodeo
This wasn't Ian's first crack at Romaniacs, either. He'd completed the rally 12 years ago in the Bronze class and picked up a broken collarbone along the way. True to form, he still refers to that injury as his "badge of honour."
Returning to Romania for a third time, now at 65, and finishing on a bike nobody had ever conquered the course on before? That's a chapter of the rally's history that won't be forgotten in a hurry.
The ultimate test for real-world gear
For Roadskin, this is about far more than a finish line photo. Ian didn't just ride Romaniacs; he wore his own prototype armoured base layers and gloves through four days of falls, extreme weather and relentless terrain that no test lab could ever recreate.
That's the whole point. We've always believed protective kit should perform in the worst conditions imaginable, not just on the daily commute. Sustained physical exertion, heavy crashes, and rain Roadskin's armoured jackets, jeans, hoodies and gloves came through it all.
It's a philosophy Ian lives by, on and off the bike: serious protection, without giving up comfort or style. Our range is built to AA and AAA CE ratings under EN17092, and it's trusted by thousands of riders, with a 4.9 out of 5 rating across more than 6,600 reviews and counting.
One more mile
Ian Wilson's Romaniacs finish is proof of something we bang on about a lot: age is just a number, preparation pays off, and the right gear lets you ride with confidence when it matters most.
If a 65-year-old can strip down a Ducati, take a heavy fall, walk while pushing his bike for two hours off a mountain and still cross the line in the world's hardest enduro, what's stopping you from chasing your own adventure?
Whatever your next ride looks like, whether it's the school run, a coastal blast, or a rally of your own, kit yourself out with gear that's been tested where it counts.
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Ian's Return to the Red Bull Romaniacs