Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128168
B3rd Annual Miller Lite Great American Hillclimb Brave men, braver machines vfe for the Montana State ('ship this year, the Unlimited bikes were pretty much anything goes, but with safety requirements. They are allowed fuel. For the first time, though, the Unlimited classes were allowed only rubber paddle tires. In other words, steel additions to the tire (like spikes, bolts and chained-on steel paddles) are no longer legal. Many riders were already struggling with setup due to the new rules, and then Mother Nature threw a more rad· ical curve with a gully-washer thunder storm late Saturday that ended any hopes of a second run in the Open Rubber class. The storm left Sunday's Unlimited classes with more traction than normal in some places, and virtually no traction on the harder clay sections, so the hill was a major challenge. How tough? The 600cc Rubber Tire class saw only winner Robie Peterson and second-placed Ryan Dicks go over the top. Two clay cliffs in the center of the hill were followed by an off-camber section. After a brief rain in the morning, the center section was impossible, so the riders never had a shot at the top, though it dried up for the later runs. STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREL KRAMER BIWNGS, MT, JULY 27·28 xtraordinary weather conditions and a major rules change for the Unlimited classes made an alreadyintimidating climb tougher than normal at one of the most important hillclimbs in the country. For the first time in the memories of current club members, there were four different winners in the four major classes. As unusual as events proved to be, at the end of the two days the "shootout" for the Montana State Championship once again came down to a yet another bare-knuckle brawl between multi-time champs. Montana's Dusty Beer and Colorado's Travis Whitlock battled to within two-tenths of a second, with Beer taking the championship and collecting $1000 to make his weekend total $4550. Beer made a larger dent in the $35,000 purse than any other rider! The BMC divides up roughly $33,000 between the four money classes: 600cc Rubber Tire, Open Rubber Tire, 700cc Unlimited, and Open Unlimited. The rest of the purse goes to the Shootout, the first rider over (Robie Peterson), and the Senior class. Naturally, most of the 600cc Rubber Tire bikes are pretty ordinary 500cc-class motocross bikes that are slightly modified. All Rubber Tireclass bikes are limited to gasoline and 66 inches total wheelbase. Until 44 AUGUST 21.2002' .. U .. I (Above) Mel Kimball lays tracks on top of the cliff at the Great American Hillcllmb In Billings, Montana. Kimball won the O·700cc Unlimited class. (Right) King of the hill: Dusty Beer rode to a win in the Open Unlimited class and also claimed the Championship Shootout. II! 0.""5 Peterson struggled early, saying, "I only went 160 feet on the first run. I thought the hill would be sticky, and I ran too much air pressure. I was so mad at myself that I attacked it the second run, and I had five pounds in the rear tire." The 700cc Unlimited class is the only one that tackles the wall-like ledge near the top of the hill. It's approximately like climbing a gnarly 250-foot hill just to get the chance to ride up the side of your garage. The bikes that got on top of the ledge in '01 left a step on top that confounded all of the '02 riders except veteran climber Mel Kimball. You see, the cliff isn't the end of the line. There are still 40 more feet left, and they are tough to walk up! That said, even Kimball's winning run wasn't without trouble. "My ride was piss-poor at the bottom," Kimball said. "I really didn't