Team curfew is 9:00pm. It is now 8:50pm so I only have 10 minutes to tell you about today. I will make it short and sweet. With lots of good photos.
Devils Playground is at 12,780 ft. At that height the view looks like one from a jetliner. Which I suppose makes a lot a sense. But it is a spectacular place to watch the sunrise. The name comes from the way that lightning jumps on the huge rocks in the boulder field during thunderstorms – so probably it is not a good place to hang out and watch storms. Anyway, we pitted there today and the practice sessions were from the Devils Playground to the Summit and Finish Line. It is a FANTASTIC place to watch the Pikes Peak race from – with a sweeping view that covers several loops of the course.
We did the usual early get up – we left the parking lot at 3:00am today. And drove through the dark to the pit. There were no course notes in the riders meeting – the course is not perfect – it has some heaves and some rough spots, but nothing out of the ordinary for this race. Riders who come to conquer Pikes Peak have to be able to roll with the changes. Again today the ambulance was called up the course, and there was another rider with broken bones who won’t be in the field on Sunday. Pikes Peak doesn’t give speed easily.
Despite the challenges, riders really like this section – it has fewer of the super tight corners than the lower sections, and more sweepers. It is fun to ride and easier to get into a nice rhythm.
We worked on suspension settings today and by the end of the session both Greg and Carlin seemed to be feeling the love from their bikes. They were the fastest motorcycles on the mountain, but there are two riders on Ducati Street Fighters who look like they are planning to give us a run for the summit on race day. More on that later – I am 3 minutes past curfew and have to get to bed.
Tomorrow should be another epic day on the mountain – it is QUALIFYING day!!!