Today was the first official day of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb’s Race Week. Tech Inspection opened at 8:00am. By 9:00 we were there with the team and had the bikes unloaded. The first step is for the riders to complete registration. The PPIHC is an invitation only event, so by its very nature some of the steps have already been completed by now. Both Greg and Carlin have submitted an updated rider resume and also passed a fairly rigorous medical exam. For the medical the Doctors are asked to give special attention to the rider’s physical conditioning as the race is very demanding on the riders – not only is it composed of 156 completely different turns, but it rises from 9,000ft to finish at over 14,000ft. Most people have difficulty breathing while just walking at that altitude. It’s amazing to consider an athletic effort at that level, much less one that involves navigating a large and fairly heavy motorcycle around a tight winding race course.
Once the riders completed registration, we moved to Motorcycle Tech. Although our team has taken many motorcycles thru Tech Inspection, it is always a bit unsettling to think that we might have missed a tech bulletin or rule modification. But happily today was one of the good days and the bikes all rolled through with ease. The Inspectors had quite a list of things to check, but one of my favorite things is the safety wire – it adds just the right dash to a motorcycle, and can even be a little elegant. Some people claim that you can tell quite a bit about a person’s character by the way he or she does safety wire, and I think there is some truth in that.
The rider gear is also a part of the Tech Inspection. Both Greg and Carlin wear Full Ducati Corse leathers, so a quick approval from the Inspectors on that item. Their helmets also have to be inspected – this is Carlin’s new Bell Helmet for this year – very nice!
And speaking of something new – take a look at our new bike livery! In celebration of the 90th running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb we changed up the team Multistradas to a brand new look!
I am actually a day late in posting this as the day passed too quickly and I broke team curfew last night before I had a chance to finish it. Call time this morning (Wednesday, August 8) was 2:45am. But more about today will come next!