CONGRATULATIONS: Conser, Hester, Applehans, Sorensen!

[Sprtbkbabe]

The MRA was well, well represented by you guys at 'The Race To The Clouds'!

=D> =D> =D>

Since this was the first year that the road was paved to the top, it was awesome to see roadracing represented by our own!

Practicing at 4am last week couldn't have been fun. Nor, the wind and snow at the top on raceday :shock:

CONGRATS ALL THE WAY!!!

[KFinn]

Congrats! Looks like they took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in their class?

http://www.usacracing.com/ppihc/ts/2012

[d_mob]

What a killer day on the mountain! The guys did REALLY well. All of them. We watched from Engineer Turn, which is a switchback hard left and the first turn that the pilots have to get (very) hard on the binders.

The motos were first and Marty put on a good show and seemed much quicker than the larger sumo bikes in his class, despite the fact that his bike probably had three horsepower. Some of the supermoto guys were absolutely flying (Cesmat no exception). I saw two guys back it in harder than I've EVER seen anyone to save themselves from flying off the edge. One guy on a KTM did fly off the edge and as he was sliding, kept the bike running. He came to a rest and then dirtbiked it back up the hill, jumped onto the course and kept on racing! He got quite the round of applause.

Actually Glenn, Mike and Carl got 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in their class. The UTV that won was a one-of-a-kind Baja 1000 racer and they stuck it in the exhibition (misfit) class. It was clearly a 'cheater' in the class and doesn't count.

I have Carl's video footage and am processing/editing it as we speak. I'm sure he won't mind if I post, which I'll do once complete.

Congratulations again boys! You put on quite a show. First time for sport bikes in a race that has been around 90 years! Finished fast, safe and did the MRA proud.

Here are a few screenshots from Hot Carl's footage (click on image for larger res)...

Fish providing support (if you can call it that)...
http://s12.postimage.org/vumji4lc9/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_12_44_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/vumji4lc9/)

Chris providing support (again, not sure if support is the right term)...
http://s7.postimage.org/zc9ouqesn/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_12_59_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/zc9ouqesn/)

Sam Roberts and me taking pics from Engineer Curve...
http://s11.postimage.org/671gsdmz3/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_14_50_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/671gsdmz3/)

Look @ all the spectators up on the hill...
http://s8.postimage.org/74ckptcr5/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_04_06_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/74ckptcr5/)

Just a little sketch on the way up... :shock:
http://s10.postimage.org/s1cxotw39/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_07_26_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/s1cxotw39/)

Glenn and Mike celebrate life at the top...
http://s10.postimage.org/ucazt06ut/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_10_21_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/ucazt06ut/)

Hot Carl mid-run...
http://s14.postimage.org/y8emwit59/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_18_25_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/y8emwit59/)

Shakin' hands, high-fivin' and kissin' babies on the way down...
http://s9.postimage.org/py73uvyij/Screen_shot_2012_08_13_at_5_16_40_PM.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/py73uvyij/)

PS... Hope to see more MRA folks spectating/supporting next year!

PPS... Here are the two big car crashes from the race this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEUrEPPABbY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpQtPhRDDs4

[The GECCO]

Thanks, everyone. It was quite an experience...words simply can't do it justice.


Congrats! Looks like they took 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in their class?


Actually Glenn, Mike and Carl got 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in their class. The UTV that won was a one-of-a-kind Baja 1000 racer and they stuck it in the exhibition (misfit) class. It was clearly a 'cheater' in the class and doesn't count.

Yeah, the RZR side-by-side thing really belonged in the cars unlimited class, even according to the guy driving it, but you go where they tell you. Not to take anything away from him, it was a seriously cool machine and he drove the wheels off of it!

Here's some more stats:

Marty finished 8th out of 11 in his class on a bike that was at a significant mechanical disadvantage.

Carl finished 4th in class, was the 16th fastest motorcycle (out of 80+ total entries) and finished 27th overall (about 170 entries total).

Mike finished 3rd in class, was the 12th fastest motorcycle, and 22nd overall.

I finished 2nd in class, 4th fastest motorcycle, 14th overall.

I also have video and will be posting it somewhere as soon as I can render it in a smaller version (the file is about 825 meg right now, but the quality is awesome LoL).

This is easily the biggest crowd any of us has ever raced in front of, probably 40k spectators, which was a big part of the experience. Coming down the mountain I probably high-fived 1000-2000 people, a couple of them damn near knocked me off the bike! Their enthusiasm for the race was incredible.

I actually remember very little of the run itself....I remember taking off...two turns later at the first (light) braking zone the lever came back to the bar :shock: and I had to play with the adjuster some. I had switched wheels (new tires) the night before and apparently hadn't fully bedded the pads to the new rotors. A few turns later when everything was fully warmed up I had to turn the adjuster back...then I got back to business. I remember seeing a bunch of gravel in the line at the end of the picnic ground straight and nearly going off as I over-reacted trying to avoid it. I remember going towards the brake check station at Glen Cove (one of the places that's between the practice sections so we never see it at speed until the race) at 110+ and thinking "Holy Sh!t that's narrow!". I remember getting lost in the "W's" section and thinking I was heading towards a corner that was slower than where I actually was, which I guess is better than the other way around, but it cost me some time. The next thing I really remember is coming into "Olympic", about 300 yards from the finish, and thinking "Oh My God, I made it!!"

It was horribly expensive (about $1200 total in practice and entry fees for what amounted to a 5 lap race at HPR), very physically demanding (getting up at 2:00 am to practice three days in a row, in addition to the rapid and repeated elevation changes, makes for some killer headaches no matter how much water you drink), not to mention...well....incredibly dangerous.

It was also more fun than I have *EVER* had on a motorcycle and I would do it ten times a year if they'd let us. Mike and I are already planning our program for next year :D

[Clarkie]

Very cool all of you! 8)

It is something a lot of us will never try let alone succeed at. You guys should all be proud of what you have done, not for the MRA, not your friends or family, but for yourselves =D> =D> =D>

[The GECCO]

Thanks, Aaron!

At the bottom of this page http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...?article=49327 is a press release we sent to RRW.

Can't wait till next year!

[d_mob]

Here is Hot Carl's run up the mountain... Enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/47544939

[MadVlad]

That was just a sweet day, great job out there guys. You make the two wheel community damn proud!

[Fastt Racing]

That looked awesome, and you guys did Really well. Great job. Hope to get up there with you guys next year. Mobster is cranking out some sweet videos too.

[marty]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. It was quite the experience and I am still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. A big thanks too to everyone from the MRA who came to spectate and to Fish and Chris for pitting for me and Carl. I don't think anyone could run this race on there own, the logistics of moving gear around are just too much

I had a blast doing the event but the racer in me wished I had pushed just a little more. :lol: I will be the first to admit my nerves got me when I saw all those people, I'm pretty sure I forgot everything and every marker almost immediately! LOL

On race day there is no warm up lap so you have to be able to focus and just run your race. The good thing is that no one gets a warm up lap, we all have to run the same race. It was strange with a one way race not getting to try a turn again on the next lap, you just have to put your head down and get ready for the next turn because you are already there! I don't think I could have caught 7th place but I wish I could have had a little cleaner run, staying on the gas better and feathering the clutch better. Overall though I think it was a good pass and I had a better time with the smallest motor in the event than a lot of bikes and cars with plenty of HP to spare.

For all those 2 smoke guys out there, you should get a kick out of me trying my best not to stall the 125 in the switch backs about half way through the video as well as a rolling stall on the 2nd to last turn. I will definitely need a clutch and maybe a new basket after this race! Mike should have a video of almost corn holing me coming out of the next to last switch back up top on a practice run!

I usually run 16/38ish with a stock tranny at HPR. For this race I ran two sizes lower tranny gears 1st - 4th with a stock 5th and 6th and 14/41 sprockets and I still could have used shorter gears for how tight those turns are. I topped out in 6th a few times so I think this setup will be a good start for me if I can run it next year. Jetting is a joke at best. The air changed on race day from the rest of the week and I wished I had run a little leaner too (damn 2 smokes! ). :lol:

All in all, this was definitely a big check on the bucket list and I can always say I was the first guy to summit Pikes Peak in a RS125!

My run starts at about 3:30 on this video. The guy who flew off the edge up top tossed it in the left kink around 13:15, it looks just like the left sweeper at 12:40

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5GmheHpvOI&feature=youtu.be

[marty]

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4725/imagemdg.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/imagemdg.jpg/)

[The GECCO]

Video of my run up the hill

How to get to the summit in 11:02 (http://youtu.be/WD7OMuAF9wM)

[Electroman]

I snapped a few images with my crummy cell phone of Mike and Carl at the first turn. (This is the same turn the Dallenbach car crashed). (I wasn't there to get Martin. Glen was to fast.) :D

Congratulations to Glen, Carl, Martin and Mike. I was very impressed with your performance!

Mike at Turn 1.
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx152/Electroman1/Mike-A-2.jpg

Carl at Turn one.
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx152/Electroman1/Carl-s-2.jpg

[oldtimer]

So awesome, congrats to all of you! :)

[peteremsley]

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/4725/imagemdg.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/imagemdg.jpg/)


^^^ best race pic of the year right there!