Ducati.. Pikes Peak..

[LivinLOS]

 

[johnnysneds]

Here's a video of Greg Tracy's sub 10 minute run on his Multistrada. The motorcycle record is now held by Carlin Dunne 9:52:819. Rhys Millen has the course record on four wheels 9:46:164.
The course is now completely sealed now so we should see Superbikes and open wheeled class cars next year smashing the records.

Greg Tracy's under 10:00 race run at Pikes Peak! - YouTube

And here's what happens when you get it wrong...ouch!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WisYeUAdeUA


Classic video with Ari Vatanen - Peugeot 405 T16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn_VP1GHPJA


And here's an awesome tilt shift video of the event

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lZpDqNVTHo&feature=watch_response

(unable to embed video so link above)

 

[DrGMIA]

Wow! Woke up to this. Great start to a cold day.

Back when I was young(er) and dumber (maybe), I entered this race, two years apart. Then it was all dirt, and the Start was made up of two rows, five in each row. If you were not in front, all you saw (rode through) was dust for the first 2-3 miles. The "trick" was to memorize the curves, when to toss it sideways, and hope no one was down in front of you. One guy I knew did the road in his truck with a tape recorder some months before the race, then drove across the country with the tape playing "SHIFT," "Throw it sideways....."

Crazy.

I entered a 1,000 cc BMW GS in the "Open" class the first year. Guy on a Honda tossed it away in front of me going into a 180 degree curve. I went wide to avoid him/bike, got into the BB's and went down....in front of 33,000,000 viewers that ESPN day, and they would replay that clip in the museum all year 'round. Broke my arm in the get-off but managed to pick up the downed Bavarian behemoth, use the button to get it started, and finished. Great day...just to have finished, and passed one of my friends on a Honda XR650 that was following me when I went down. When I passed him about a mile from the top (finish), he later told me he "was mildly surprised."

Great fun, but expensive. Entry was about $1,000.00, plus complete physical, pro license renewal, and bike, eating/sleeping, etc. Figure back then $2,500.00 just to run up the mountain, not counting time off from work, gear, etc.

Next year I entered my 1936 Indian Sport Scout in their new class (they'd outlawed anything over 750 cc in the "Open Class" that year), Vintage, limited to 750 cc, pre-'74 I think. The organizers did not know what to do with my Indian - too old. So they made me qualify, against the BSA's, Triumphs, etc. Thanks to Joe Lucas, I qualified 10th, finished 6th, on a '36 750 cc hand shifter, foot clutch bike.

At one breakfast two of the Unser's (King's of the mountain back then) asked about the Indian: "We saw no speedo, no tach, so how do your know when to shift?" ESPN was filming when I answered, "You know it's time to shift when your balls are rattling so much your vision blurs." (The Indian has no rear shocks and one front spring).

Back then there were no guard rails on the curves and we called them "blue sky curves," because all you saw (if you were foolish enough to look up and not ahead) was blue sky as you went through them.

The 1936 Indian was more fun than the BMW because as the beemer got higher it was running out of air and I could not adjust the carbs, just downshift and it would breath like a 1/2 lung smoker. On the Indian I could reach down with my left hand, turn the running screw in a click tighter as we got higher. Today, on a modern motorcycle, the manual spark advance (what's that?) would slam shut - not so on the Indian - no spring on throttle or spark advance.

One film guy that patched together clips of the '36 Indian going up the mountain said I looked like was dancing over the motorcycle.

Now the whole 12.5 miles is paved, a whole different "Race To The Clouds."

My best time was 16 minutes. These guys knocking down 10 minutes is impressive.

Now a small "step back in time:" Back in the 50's-60's there was a group of crazed adventure riders who would try (and sometimes succeed) topping the mountain on New Years Day. That was when "men was men," according to some of the older guys I interviewed for a piece I did for a magazine.

The "Race To The Clouds" went through several name changes over the years, once having been called the "Pikes Peak Hill Climb." Some of the changes had to do with sponsors, others liability. Motorcycles were banned from the race for several years due to deaths: guys crashed, those behind them hit them -back then it was a mass start in each class.

Thanks LivinLOS for the wake-up this AM. As I looked through the clips I wondered it I could scramble on that play ground again. I concluded it'd not be the money...but then the tired and broken bones said, "Sure was fun when it was fun."

Went back into old records and found this from 1995:

MOTORCYCLE - VINTAGE

Scott Dunlavey Lafayette, CA 1972 Yamaha 10:26.7 Eddie Mulder Canyon Country, CA 1967 Triumph 10:35.6 James Sinclair Parker, CO 1966 Rickman,Mettise 11:33.8 Timothy Wolf Arvada, CO Triumph 12:02.9 Charles Wallace Dallas, TX 1972 Honda 13:01.7 Gregory Frazier Englewood, CO 1936 Indian 14:08.1 Ron Melton El Sobrante, CA 1969 Triumph DNF Gary Davis Woodland Hills, CO 1969 Triumph DNF

 

[alexuk]

Here's a video of Carlin Dunne a few years ago in his mountain biking days
[video=youtube_share;KCbZmjyWnaA]http://youtu.be/KCbZmjyWnaA[/video]

 

[bigntall]

Awesome video Alex. That is some sweet freeriding footage, and that gap jump is done just by grabbing the gonads and going. Scarey as hell.

 

[KTMphil]

Fantastic video Alex