VOL. 53 ISSUE 28 JULY 19, 2016 P99
held my line, held my breath, and hoped.
Luckily, unlike a deer, they didn't startle. Didn't
even move. By sheer dumb luck, I missed them
by about three inches, cranked over in fourth gear
on the side of a mountain.
I completed the rest of the run, coasted over
the finish line, and screamed in my helmet. The
crash lost me about 23 seconds, and I lost the
race by 15. I'd never been so mad, never felt such
THANK YOU!
This project could not have been possible without
a great many partners, all of whom displayed the
enthusiasm and drive to see this thing to the end
like real racers.
KTM North America is one such company. They
said yes to absolutely everything we asked, and
pushed us to better ourselves at every given oppor-
tunity. Without them, there was no Pikes Peak 2016,
and I am forever grateful to Tom Moen for his help
and friendship prior, during and after the event.
Pirelli Tire North America supplied tons of tires for
us to burn through, and gave us information at every
turn. The rubber was absolutely outstanding, and
even though the grip wasn't quite there on race day,
it was nothing to do with Pirelli, simply the conditions
of racing a motorcycle on a frozen mountain.
Heath Cofran at Alpinestars was another who
moved mountains to get me in that incredible
custom KTM-branded race suit. Wearing that suit
for the first time was a special moment, and I was
stoked to be representing the brand at Pikes Peak.
SP Gadgets supplied a heap of GoPro acces-
sories for the films that dotted our Facebook page,
Drive Systems in Huntington Beach did great
work for us in getting some gearing fast-tracked to
Colorado Springs, Airtech Streamlining supplied
a one-off belly pan and LITPro helped us at the
last minute with a GPS training device that helped
shave precious seconds from the run.
Apex Sports in Colorado Springs deserve special
mention. Erik Peat, a man who didn't know me at all
prior to race week, helped out at any given opportu-
nity, including getting up at 1:30 a.m. to help me for
the first two days of practice. Thanks mate.
And thank you as well to all the crew from Next
Moto Champion who came along and compiled the
fantastic feature video on the event—the work you
guys do is outstanding.
To everyone that helped out, thank you so much
for being a part of the journey of Pikes Peak 2016.
