Well, Pikes Peak just got lame

[tecknojoe]

The fucked that legendary race right in the anus by paving the remaining dirt parts this year. Next year is all pavement. Why would anyone cheer for that? Dirt is what makes that race even more complicated and exciting. I for one, am pissed. But I guess environmentalist weiners fought for this more than anything. hippies

http://www.gazette.com/sports/peak-1...pikes-day.html


here's a cool picture before you have to read words




"
Pikes Peak hill climb could expand to 2-day race


December 20, 2011 1:33 PM

DANIEL CHACÓN
THE GAZETTE
PPI Hill Climb 2011:
Ticket sales revenue: $148,461 (all-time high)
Merchandise sales: $25,779
Spectators: 6,013
Downtown fan fest: More than 36,000 fans
Media: 172 media credentials from 14 countries
HQ hotel (Crowne Plaza): 416 room nights

When the final stretch of the Pikes Peak Highway was paved at the end of September, it wasn't just environmentalists who cheered.
The racing community cheered, too.
And organizers of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the annual race to the summit, say there's so much interest in testing man and machine against the twisting, nearly 13-mile course they're considering making the Race to the Clouds a two-day event in 2013.

“Imagine that?” Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said Monday.

“Five, 10 years ago, word on the street was that the Hill Climb was going to go away. Now it’s become something that’s attracting worldwide interest,” said Bach, who rode in the 2011 pace car with Hollywood heartthrob Paul Walker at the wheel.

Tom Osborne, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb board chairman and CEO of the Colorado Springs Sports Corp., said organizers considered scheduling a two-day race in 2012. But the race committee determined that 2013 is a more “viable option,” he said.

“We’re so late in the game here that it’s better to reduce the number of riders and drivers (in the 2012 race) through a qualifying rather than trying to jump through the logistics" of expanding the race to a second day, Osborne said.

At this time last year, organizers had identified 46 racers for the annual July competition. About 170 racers have expressed interest so far this year, Osborne said.

“The interest is astronomical compared to last year,” he said.

As a result, the race committee decided to cap the number of entrants and move up the entry deadline from June to Jan. 31.

“At end of January, we’ll determine if we need to have qualifying in order to reduce the field so that we have a safe number, or a manageable number, on the hill on July 8,” Osborne said.

“Let’s say 250 sign up. Maybe we take 80 percent of each class to get down to that magic number of maybe 160, 170 vehicles on the mountain on race day,” he added.

The race, scheduled for July 8, includes practice runs July 4-6. If racer interest continues to increase, the qualifying times would occur on those days, Osborne said.

If the race expands to two days, it's unlikely it would be held around the Fourth of July, a major revenue generator for the U.S. Forest Service, Osborne said.

Paving of the Pikes Peak Highway, a $15 million project that began 10 years ago, generated much of the increased interest, he said. Manufacturers can send a wider array of vehicles to the race now.

“Now they can bring in their manufactured cars and cars that are two inches above the ground,” Osborne added. “We’re seeing all kinds of unique new cars."

Osborne said the race, which is the second-oldest motor sports race in America, is a boon to the region.

“The international and national press is going to be terrific,” he said. “It’s just great exposure for the city of Colorado Springs as well as the economic impact."

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/peak...#ixzz1hNDjbTqA"

[Mother Goose]

On the other side of it, we will now get to see some of our local racers take on the hill. Plus, with the PPIR MRA round the week before, we'll get some of the regular Hill Climb people racing with us to tune their bikes for the hill. Looks like it's an all around good thing to me.

At least the hippies didn't try and shut down the race altogether.

[tecknojoe]

On the other side of it, we will now get to see some of our local racers take on the hill. Plus, with the PPIR MRA round the week before, we'll get some of the regular Hill Climb people racing with us to tune their bikes for the hill. Looks like it's an all around good thing to me.

At least the hippies didn't try and shut down the race altogether.

Very good point. I'd love to see some foreign faces out there that weekend.

I just liked the challenge of finding a bike that was fast on pavement but could still handle dirt enough not to crash.

Still a very cool race, and it's awesome that it's close to (what is now) home.

[Mother Goose]

For sure. And I plan on making it for the first time next year to take some pictures. Going to rent some fun lenses for this one.

[tecknojoe]

I'll be down there for sure

BTW, did the MRA purposely schedule the PPIR races the weekend before this to benefit from possibly more entries?

if so, cookies for the ones that thought of that

[brennahm]

Great idea to pave it...except that now there will be many more deaths as road race heroes throw themselves off the mtn. I give it 3 more years tops.

[Mother Goose]

BTW, did the MRA purposely schedule the PPIR races the weekend before this to benefit from possibly more entries?

[tecknojoe]

Great idea to pave it...except that now there will be many more deaths as road race heroes throw themselves off the mtn. I give it 3 more years tops.

supermoto-ers calling road racers "idiots"



i keed

[Clovis]

I for one support our new pavement overlords.

In all seriousness while it might be disappointing for the PPIR, I personally appreciate a good paving as going up on the dirt (on the motorcycle) made me nervous.

I'm kind of a pussy.

[Zanatos]

Last time I went up Pikes Peak, it was raining buckets. Even in my 4Runner, once we got to the dirt, my passengers were asking me to turn back. Huge gullies full of mud and fast-flowing water were forming everywhere, and driving on the gloppy mess was like driving on Crisco with tires coated with wax paper. However, being the callous a-hole that I am, I continued on to the summit where the Gods or demons rewarded me and my nervous friends with clear skies and sunshine.

The worst part about the road being paved is that my passengers will no longer have the opportunity to experience near-death and see their lives flash before their eyes.

[Clovis]

If you ain't dying, you ain't living!

[Bueller]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Z3veKrSjI

[JonnyD]

This one was always one of my favorites:

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

I personally liked the dirt better, but now there might be an opportunity to see some really high $ cars on this race. I'm thinking (hoping) Lamborghini etc, plus streetbikes! Definitely going to be there to see it this year!

[asp_125]

With enough prize money and competition, racers will always race, paved or not. From a driver's standpoint, it will just require different equipment and setup. As a spectator & photographer I will miss taking pictures of the Subaru rally cars sideways spewing dirt as they claw their way up the mountain. But paving will simply mean the rally cars use a tarmac setup, and might attract the drifting crowd who otherwise might not enter. I'm glad that I had the chance to see the race in its gravel form, and look forward to seeing it in its paved form. One thing for sure, the new hill records will have an asterisk after them as you can't compare last year's 9:51 on gravel with anything else to come.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Was it really the enviro-weinies that got the road paved, or the CDOT for tourist safety reasons?

Don't those enviro-weinie hippes have an OWS protest to go squat at or something?

As for the race, the accidents will actually be orse because the speeds will be higher so you'll fly off the road (and cliff) much faster. I regret not seeing at least one of the dirt races, for sure.

[asp_125]

Enviro-weenies were claiming the erosion was silting up the creeks and rightly so. As anyone who've been up there before the paving know, the crumbling granite and roadbed material is really loose and deep, no doubt washing into the streams. I was a fan of the gravel because in winter it's not as prone to black ice as the pavement will be; even more dangerous IMO.

Sure cars will fly off the road, isn't that what fans are there to see?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rVdS8Qnvb8

[The GECCO]

One thing for sure, the new hill records will have an asterisk after them as you can't compare last year's 9:51 on gravel with anything else to come.

Really, every record for the past ten years should have an asterisk. The course is 12.42 miles long and they've been paving a couple miles or so every summer so the course has changed every year.

During the 2011 race there was 2.6 miles of gravel remaining, the rest was paved. That last 2.6 miles was finished in September.

Was it really the enviro-weinies that got the road paved, or the CDOT for tourist safety reasons?

In 2000 the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs (who owns the road) claiming that the thousands of tons of gravel being hauled up every year to maintain the road was eroding back down the hill and clogging streams, smothering plants, etc. In 2002 the case was settled and the main term of the settlement was that the city had 10 years to either pave the entire road or shut it down.

[UglyDogRacing]

MRA is not racing at PPIR the week before the hill climb. We will be at Pueblo.

[tecknojoe]

I agree with the reason they paved. I've heard about the erosion in the past. As a motorsport fan, I'm not cheering as they claim in the article I posted above. From the racing point of view, I think most will agree that it's unfortunate to loose the last bit of dirt.

Sucks but o well, let the race live on.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

In 2000 the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs (who owns the road) claiming that the thousands of tons of gravel being hauled up every year to maintain the road was eroding back down the hill and clogging streams, smothering plants, etc. In 2002 the case was settled and the main term of the settlement was that the city had 10 years to either pave the entire road or shut it down.

Ahhh crap. Couldn't they just STFU and go join the OWS clowns so they could get the nightsticking they deserve?

Thanks for the info!

[asp_125]

I miss standing on the outside of turns being choked with dust.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBqFgzNKRJw

[Ghost]

In 2000 the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs (who owns the road) claiming that the thousands of tons of gravel being hauled up every year to maintain the road was eroding back down the hill and clogging streams, smothering plants, etc. In 2002 the case was settled and the main term of the settlement was that the city had 10 years to either pave the entire road or shut it down.

While this is true, I think that the tourism aspect wasn't hurt by the paving. Watching RVs struggle in the mud was amusing to me, but probably not endearing to the RV owner or its passengers.

I, for one, will miss the dirt. The race course was changing every year, as more and more got paved, and every year I cringed a bit more.

To me, the challenge of the race was the transitions from paved to dirt and back--and that required a balanced setup and a very skilled rider/driver.

And, personally, I will miss camping out at DPG (which they also got rid of) and choking on the dirt and dust as the amazingly motley assortment of vehicles went by--my favorite, of course, being The Monster. I miss driving up in the rain and mud in my STI and playing "The Oh Shit Game" with my passengers until we hit the very top...

For me, a lot of the "magic" is gone now that the whole course is paved. The race will still be great--it's the closest thing we've got to the Isle of Man TT, but it's not as great as it was. And that, to me, sucks.

[The GECCO]

I agree with the reason they paved. I've heard about the erosion in the past. As a motorsport fan, I'm not cheering as they claim in the article I posted above.

I am, I've been waiting patiently for the whole thing to be paved and I'm already entered to run the R1 in next years race!

[tecknojoe]

I am, I've been waiting patiently for the whole thing to be paved and I'm already entered to run the R1 in next years race!

awesome. I'd love to enter one year just to do it. Need to shed some shittiness first