FEATURE
PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB – PART II
P94
I hardly slept the night before,
maybe two hours of real sleep,
tops. I woke at 12:00 a.m. and
got to the track at 1:30 a.m.,
joined the conga line of cars
at the mountain's entry, and,
with KTM's Tom Moen, my wife,
Annabelle, my parents who had
made the trip out from Australia
and Jon, Danielle and Patrick
from Next Moto Champion,
waited to be escorted to the pits.
I'd purchased a blow-up mat-
tress to sleep on in the back of
the U-Haul but it only served as
a place for me to think about
the race horizontally, rather than
gain any extra sleep.
The bike was ready. New
Pirelli SC1 slick tires, a quick rag
clean and a fresh tank of gas;
that was all that was needed.
Turnkey race bike. The best kind
of race bike.
By 6:30 a.m., it was pande-
monium in the Pikes Peak pits.
The paddock was full of racers,
spectators, machines and of-
ficials, turning what was a sleepy
little mountain into the world's
most bustling racetrack. The
whole scene felt surreal.
At 7:00 a.m., there's a bus
that leaves the pits to take a few
of the racers' personal belong-
ings (wallets, phones, change of
pants, etc.) to the Summit. And I
totally forgot about it. Rushing to
get my bag to the waiting bus, I
twice ran the length of pit lane at
9000-foot elevation, only to find
the bus driver decided to leave
and my belongings were stuck
in the paddock. The running ab-
solutely knackered me. I felt like
I'd just sprinted two miles, and
oddly I became a touch nervous.
It took over an hour to bring
my heart rate down to a normal
level, me sucking on oxygen and
backing down water, just trying
to feel normal again.
Tom was his usual chilled-out
self. I suspect this man would
be calm in the presence of a
warzone, and his easy influence
was thoroughly welcomed. He
was looking after the bike, and
that was the main thing.
GRID UP
For 2016, the organizers created
the Ducati Hot Grid, a section
where the 20 riders waiting to
take the flag could pit with tire
warmers and chairs, rather than
wait in the paddock with dirt and
mud on their tires. Wheeling the
The KTM was
absolutely on
point for the
whole race,
and looked the
business, too.
