14, 110 feet in 10 minutes....The Race for the Clouds.....

Yesterday saw the 86th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. A truly unique event, to be sure! Pikes Peak is a 14, 110 foot mountain (as the local meteorologists call it, the 14, 110 ft Thunderstorm Generator) that is a big tourist attraction. It is where Katherine Lee Bates wrote "America The Beautiful." It has a road from the base to the summit, and at night we can see the light from the summit house....well, most of the time. Bear in mind the mountain is about 40 miles away from us, and we see it from a similar view that it's namesake saw it. Interesting that Zebulon Pike thought he could walk from Pueblo to the summit and back in two days...he only made it partway up, probably not even on the mountain but nearby Mt. Rosa, and it took several days. Common knowledge to those who live here.

Each year in July is the annual running of the race I already named (PPIHC). I am the farthest thing from a racing fan that you can find, but I am so intrigued by this particular event that it's stupid. I have yet to score tickets, but hope to at some point. Yesterday I decided I could sit outside with a radio set to the simulcast and watch the Peak with the strong binoculars I bought my husband a few years ago. Turned out to be a great thing! You can see the final approximate mile of road from the house, and it is something to watch cars, trucks, motorcycles (some with sidecars), 4-wheelers, and semi-trucks take that final hairpin turn on the still-unpaved portion of summit road.

In most races, rain is a very bad thing. In this race, it is your friend. Most years there are thunderstorms, rain, hail, snow (yes, snow), and high winds. The start line is usually around 90 degrees, the summit around 50 degrees. Not this year. It has been so dry that the summit reached right to the 90 degree mark (holy crap!) and the dirt portion of the road was "like driving on ice." There were a record 14 stoppages of the race, a number people who actually somehow managed to finish the race with blown tires (in one case the car had 3 blown!), 3 people taken via Flight For Life and at least one person via ambulance to the hospital. Lots of injuries. Thankfully, no life threatening stuff. Sadly, one broken back. This person was in a car that flew off the road and broke a 40-foot Fir tree off at the base! But she is said to be in good spirits and doing well, so that's great news.

You have to realize that this road usually takes about 45 minutes, or so, to drive up. It is STEEP, narrow, has a ton of switchbacks & hairpin turns, and, if I remember correctly, posted at 20 mph at max. On race day the average person does it in approximately 11:30 mins. The record was set by "Monster" Tajima last summer of 10:01 and change. He ran it this year in 10:18 and was thrilled. The average speed on the very short straight sections is 130 mph, the turns average 80 mph. It is INSANE!!!!! Yet, in 86 runnings, there have only been a handful of deaths and yesterday was the most injuries they've seen. Amazing...

Bear with me, I have no clue how to get video clips from Youtube on here, so it's links. They're all from yesterday, except the first one. Monster's record run from last year that gives a decent example of the track. This is the actual road that is used daily for tourism. Those who wish to spend more and actually enjoy the view can take the COG Railway. The most adventurous of us choose to hike (still on my agenda)....the trails, not the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zaf3DsTaviw (Monster's record run last year)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBORqaWvC0U (Brandye Connolly's crash, you can hear the tires blowing out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Nr6zg1-nw (one of the semi's)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xALKtiKfhQ (A crash into the ditch at 16-mile...notice the snow)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Cs0tp7DuE (A good example of the speed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxZz5NCJSoY (same driver, dirt portion....narrow!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR8RgdzlvDY (one of the classic cars, and a shot of Flight For Life heading for Brandye Connolly)