This morning, I woke up at ten minutes to four to hop a bus with the other media folks to Pikes Peak. The trip from the hotel to the 12,000 foot summit took about an hour and a half, and it was dark as we wound along the 12 miles to the top. At times the big van struggled with the grade, but we arrived just as the sun was beginning to rise. The Hill Climb wasn’t due to start for hours, and after the van left, we were on our own. Now, this is the only event that I’ve been to where the press material includes descriptions of hypothermia, heat stroke and altitude-sickness, so you can imagine that the wait wasn’t particularly pleasant. In addition to the temperature—it was a brisk 34—and the thin air, the area is just loaded with bees, which seemed to throughly enjoy buzzing around everyone. I didn’t even think bees could survive when it’s that chilly out. Bonus fact? I’m allergic to bees. But the scenery was unquestionably gorgeous. After all, this is the very spot that inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write "America the Beautiful," which I personally think should replace the too-hard-to-sing Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem. Check out more pics from the summit after the jump.

Continue reading "Sunrise on Pikes Peak: Pretty, Unpleasant" »

Thanks to a delayed plane, I got to the hotel just as the media credentials staff was packing up. Fortunately, they were totally understanding and hooked me up with my press badge, and they also got me a spot on the media bus that’s heading up the hill tomorrow morning. The bad news? Said bus leaves at a mind-bendingly early 4:15AM. Ouch. After I found out how little sleep I’ll be getting, I walked out to see if I could find any cool rides in the parking lot, and I wasn’t disappointed. I spotted an EVO, an Audi, and a Subie, but the sickest cars were vintage machines wearing La Carrera Panamericana livery. Along with a burly ’64 Falcon and a ’54 Lincoln Capri with a gorgeous patina, there was a ’54 Corvette and ’54 Oldsmobile Super 88. I actually got to talk with the Super 88′s driver, Doug Mocket, and his crew chief Oscar Casilla, and they filled me in on some of the car’s details. The motor is a modern Chevy 350 mated to a Jericho racing gearbox, and the sheet metal is riding on the chassis from an ’80s Camaro, so it’s an "Olds en Nombre Solemente," or "Olds in Name Only." Apparently the car has been bashed up pretty badly a few times, so it seems fitting that the under the driver and co-driver names painted on the doors, their blood types are listed. Let’s hope nobody needs to use that info. I’ll try to get the scoop on the rest of the cars tomorrow, for now, check out a bunch of pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Pikes Peak Hill Climb: Parking Lot Heavy Metal" »

There are a lot of videos of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb floating around on the web, but the Peugeot-produced Climb Dance is the best one I found. The combination of perspectives—I love the overhead shots—gives you a real sense of how difficult and treacherous this twisty 12.4 mile course is. Just watch the driver’s hands as he wrestles the car through the turns! I’m getting ready to head to the airport right now, but I’ll be in Colorado Springs by early afternoon. Stay tuned for full coverage from America’s Mountain!

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to hop a plane to Colorado Springs to cover the famous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, and I’m super stoked. The stats on this race are insane: 11 different classes, 12.42 miles of pavement and gravel, 156 turns, and an elevation change of almost 5000 feet. Everything from motorcycles to big rigs—yup, big rigs—competes in this event, and teams come from all over the world to challenge "America’s Mountain." The current course record of 10:01 was set last year by Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima in a hyper-modified Suzuki XL7, and the big question is whether anyone will break the ten minute mark during Sunday’s race. Of course, the previous record of 10.04 stood for an impressive 13 years, so there’s no guarantee that anyone is going to take the title away from ‘Monster’ anytime soon. And while the competition is sure to be awesome, since the race is held on National Forrest Service property, the scenery will be amazing. Just check out the gorgeous photo below! Stay tuned, I’ll start posting updates just as soon as I can.