89th PPIHC RACE DAY

this legendary race is for early risers ! on race day, Steph Oldschool and i made it to the pits for 3.50am. there was already a 3 miles line of spectators waiting at the toll gate. 

Coffee time with Joe Blackwell, Glenn Cox and Stephane Lascols. Glenn is a fast racer from New Mexico, he'll finish 4th later today in the 1200cc class with his KTM Superduke.

FAN FEST

it's a tradition, Fan Fest the night of the last practice day. 40 000 people meet in the streets of Colorado Springs to eat, drink, watch historic racing vehicles on display and some fmx air shows. we didn't spent too long on location, woke up at 2.00 am, werent ready to party, and reached a good sleep very early.

"Steph Oldschool" is wacked, so am i

GO PRO

Go Pros are great, and conveniant, but all the accessories are crap. so many vibrations on my bike climbing the hill, that GoPros clamps broke twice, and i was lucky on raceday, some cool peeps gave me my GoPro back when i was coming down after racing. well it sure isn't perfect yet, but they sell so much of those that i'm sure they'll improve soon some better clamping systems. otherwise, i do have some ideas....

at least you can check what it is when all riders are going down the hill after each practice run. most of us just coast watching the view. crusing in the middle of 150 bikes at 14000ft is something for sure.

WICH FUEL ?

after riding the practice with high octane, i went back to pump gas to compare. of course the altitude in Colorado Springs isn't the same, so we drained, put again some 112, drained again tried different fuel cocktails. Damn the bike felt so fast in the city compare to the mountain.

PPIHC PRACTICE DAY 3

Last day of Pratcice. Top section. the pits take place on "Devil's Playground". breathtaking when the sun comes up. it's a bit cold at 4.00 am.

a morning in heaven. long fast curves full speed chest on the tank. great sensations. the end of the top section was a lil less fun for me as it was long straight uphills, i felt like i could ad cranks & pedals to my bike like a ol fashioned moped, she was battling so hard and couldn't get higher rpm's.

after Practice, Stephane who walked for hours in the mountain to find good spots and i were exhausted, everybody was left before we realised. and we just stayed a bit chillin with Travis 747 and his cool dog "Baja".

Driving the Boogie Van down the mountain was sketchy. after half way we had to stop for 45mn to let the brakes cool down, the ranger measured 480°f !

TRAVIS NEWBOLD #747

                                                               Travis and his dog Baja.
                                                                  check his blog Here

THE LONE DUCK

couple hours and few burritos later, Stephane and i were making it to The Lone Duck Campground. the Lone Duck is the closest campground near the race, the owner is a motorcycle enthusiast, and a bunch of racers meet there every year for years. after practice it's mechanic time and everybody work on anybody's bike. they do it all there, change tires, cams etc...anything. the vibe is ubercool and positive.

after manyconfigurations, we decided to check the air filter. it was dead. there wasn't any at the local store Apex, so Joe decided to build one out of 2. because the TR6C offers only a very limited room.

it was a good effort, but didn't work well, the room is so tiny, the carb would suck the foam that was too close. so i decided to take it off and to ride naked. no air filter. it did actually work well.

some of the fastest guys stay the entire week at The Lone Duck, like the Lee brothers or Travis Newbold. i've read about Travis few months back on the Sideblog, and was happy to meet. we instantly got along, this guy is a supafast and nice motherfucker. wor ! we ended up staying at the Lone Duck sleepin in the Boogie Van for the rest of the trip.

Jimi Heyder came all the way from Vermont with his Airstream, we was fast on his 250 RM.

MEET JOE BLACKWELL

i ran few runs with vintage class racer Joe Blackwell from Ohio. he saw i was battling with carburation and offered me some help "i got tons of jets we'll make your bike maybe run a little better..."

ROAD RACER or SUPERMOTO ?

many different riding styles meet at the PPIHC. it's just up to you, but during raceday those tight turns were invaded by small rocks and gravels, i was moe confident with my leg out.

DEVIL S PLAYGROUND

the beginning of the top section offers big fast curves. that's something.

RIDERS MEETING

Every morning at 5.00 am before practice starts, there is a riders meeting to warn all riders of the dangers of the mountain, and remind everybody the safety procedures. it ends with a prayor because one of the racer's a priest, and a fast one. well i believe in my own church, the Church of Coolness, but this won't hurt me, and right before hitting the mountain W's, it helps getting more confidence.

THE CARS

Pikes Peak is more known for cars, the race started back in 1916. this looks way more sketchy and risky driving a car than riding a motorcycle. unfortunately i didn't get to see much the cars, as we were practicing separatly, but i could hear the agressive sounds emanning from the supercharged engines. here are few photos by Stephane Oldschool.

THE DUCATI BOYS

in the 1200cc and plus class, it was faster than fast. Alexander Smith, Marck Cernicky, Roger Carlin Dunne, Greg Tracy where destroying chronos in the mountain reaching sometimes 140 mph !

JOE KOPP TRIUMPH

Legendary Racer Joe Kopp was racing this strange but interesting Triumph on the exhibition class.

PIKES PEAK OR BUST

RECON

PPIHC PRACTICE DAY 2

Day #2, we practice on the middle section while the cars are on top or bottom section. i thought i was more confident in the dirt, but i actually did love the asphalt section. the only prob is that i'm the only one to race a 60's stock engine and gearing, and it misses some hp for sure. 

Bill Brokaw, organiser, and Trial National hero back in the 60's and 70's, i'd like to know more of his racing stories in Europe back in the days.

MARCO BELLI

Marco Belli is Italian and Europpean FlatTrack Champion !

and a very cool guy. he came racing Pikes peak for the 3rd time this year,

but not alone, he came with 4 other Italian racers, and he impressed the crowd on his

Zaeta and his fast & stylish riding skills. so good to meet him on top of the mountain.

HAPPY

1st RUN

we practice section by section. day#1 : Bottom section. first run i lose a piece of my kickstart due to high vibrations, second run i get off on "Engineers corner" straight into the trees 3 meters down ! i'll have to finish the week with a bended bar and a broken front brake lever...but no more crashes on the programm for the rest of the week.

PPIHC PRACTICE DAY 1

Practice starts at 5.30am till 9.30am. riders have to be in the pits at 4 am ! it's damn early but when the sun
comes up on the mountain it's just unreal.