My Pikes Peak adventure (HDR inside)
Over the past few years, I've been keeping in touch with a guy I knew in high school who now lives in the Denver area. We were chatting on Facebook about a year ago, and he mentioned that he went to go see the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. I can't remember where or when I first heard of the event, but I was immediately intrigued and I've wanted to go ever since. Suddenly, the thought of going to it had become a realistic possibility.
So when this summer rolled around, I started gathering information. I looked up the race dates, ticket costs, checked my work schedule, then dropped him a line to see if he was planning on going again and if he'd be willing to put me up for the weekend. Having a free place to stay and a friend to go to the race with was all the motivation I needed to buy my tickets. The plane tickets were about $300 round-trip and the race was $40, so I snatched them up without a second's hesitation. Had I booked sooner, the flights probably would have been even cheaper.
As the event drew nearer, we both started to get worried because of all the wildfires in the Colorado Springs area; there was no certainty as to whether or not the event would be cancelled or postponed. Finally, on July 1st, I heard the official news that the event had been postponed and they would announce the new date in the weeks to come. Oh, and the tickets are non-refundable. Crap.
Throughout the following week, I checked the PPIHC website religiously. As soon as they posted the new date, I called both airlines (I had to take two different airlines to find flights that worked with my schedule) and tried to talk my way into free ticket changes. In both cases, it worked! Through some miracle, I was able to convince both airlines to change my flights without a change fee (mostly by being polite, friendly, direct, and joking around with the ladies on the other side of the phone). Now I just had to clear it with work and I'd be on my way to one of the most spectacular racing events in the world!
...
Fast forward to August 12th, 2012, and I am already in Denver, sound asleep on my buddy's couch. At precisely 3:47 AM, my alarm goes off. I'm not quite sure why I set it to 3:47 and not 3:45, but I have reason to believe that the alcohol I consumed the night before may have had something to do with it. As I was stumbling to bed around midnight, I was probably thinking those extra two minutes of sleep would be highly beneficial for the long day to come.
We hit the road at about 4:30 AM and arrived at the base of the mountain around 6:30 AM. Stop and go traffic was inevitable leading up to the entry gate, and the smell of clutch could be smelled everywhere as people attempted to leverage the incline with two feet. Finally, after about 45 minutes, we handed over our tickets and were set free to scale the mountain.
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The scenery leading up to Pikes Peak is picturesque, to say the least. I have never been to Colorado before and I knew it was going to be beautiful, but I really had no idea just HOW beautiful it is out there. My pictures really don't do justice.
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There is only one road that leads up to Pikes Peak, so everything related to the race is stationed off to the side of the road. Spectators drive through the pits and the starting gate, then follow the same exact course that the racers take as they try to find a place to watch from. Spectators MUST stay until the end of the race, because after the race begins, nobody (except emergency vehicles) is allowed down the mountain.
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The road is absolutely awesome. I wish I would have been the one driving. This year was the first year that the entire course was paved, also.
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Racing began at promptly at 9 AM, and so did the drinking.
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We decided to stick below the treeline so we wouldn't get absolutely fried by the sun. As you can see, the race extends beyond the treeline, meaning there's not enough oxygen at that altitude for trees to grow. These spectators are pretty close to the finish line:
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More racing:
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Our fun was interrupted as we heard a series of screams and yells from behind us. We rushed up the hill and through the trees to see the aftermath of a crash. Here are the remains of Jeremy Foley's Evo VIII:
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Luckily, both he and his navigator survived. Here you can see people rushing down the side of the mountain to help out any way they can:
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We were playing a game called "chug a beer every time someone crashes"... we decided to shotgun these ones:
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Here's the switchback we were watching for most of the day:
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The incline is crazy... drivers gain about 7000 ft of elevation over the 13-mile course:
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Random chipmunk:
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There were 4 crashes this year... a new record. Every time someone crashes, the entire race shuts down. Any drivers below the crash that were already en route are forced to restart. Every crash results in 30-60 minutes of downtime. Someone got bored and stacked some rocks:
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After Foley's crash, there was a long amount of downtime. We brought most of our supplies back to the car, then hiked to another place to watch. There was rain, hail, thunder, and lightning. Eventually someone else crashed and the race stopped once again.
It was now about 6:00 PM and there were a lot of cars that hadn't gotten a chance to compete yet. They decided to move the finish line down the mountain so that they could squeeze everyone in. We decided to go back to the car so we could warm up/sleep.
The race finally ended at about 8:00 PM. The process of getting down the mountain was slow and painful and took us about two hours in total. I was truly shocked at how many people don't know how to drive in the mountains. It seemed as though nobody knew how to engine brake. The amount of brake dust in the air from people riding their brakes was making us sick to our stomachs.
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...
Finally, at about 10 PM, we were off the mountain, breathing fresh air, and on our way home.
This event was unlike anything I've ever seen before in my entire life. I recommend to all of you that you check it out at least once in your lifetime if you have the opportunity; it's something you'll never forget. I will definitely be going back again someday. The only way I really know how to describe it is "surreal".
