~ Colorado’s “Race to the Clouds” celebrates 100 years ~
Colorado Springs--Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) – otherwise known as “Race to the Clouds” – is a big deal in the world of racing. The annual invitational, always held the last Sunday in June, is considered one of racing’s most dangerous courses. Calling it a “hill climb” is a superb example of cowboy understatement.
The winner’s purse is not particularly inspiring, but the prestige value and bragging rights to the title “King of the Mountain” for the fastest time are incalculable. This year’s 100th birthday celebration drew contenders from 13 nations and territories – and also me, the mother of competitor #38. I was there as “support crew” for my son Tony Brakohiapa. I have attended many racing events over Tony’s extensive professional driving career, but absolutely nothing matched this cliff-hanger, literally and figuratively.
Second oldest race in America
In 1915, Rocky Mountain entrepreneur and venture capitalist Spencer Penrose bankrolled the construction of the then-called “Pikes Peak Highway” at a cost of $500,000. The far-sighted Penrose saw it as a tourist attraction. It soon became – and has remained – one of the state’s most visited tourist attractions, at 5.9 million guests annually. Pike’s Peak or Bust was the slogan of the 19th-century Colorado gold rush, and today’s tourists have the same enthusiasm for what is now a National Park.
At the first race in 1916, the winning time for the Penrose Trophy was over 20 minutes on the gravel track. The track is now completely paved, and faster surfaces mean faster times: 2016’s winner clocked 08:51.445, the second fastest time ever. Excitement is guaranteed. One 2012 spectator counted “eight red flags, three life-flight helicopter trips, five ambulance trips, over a dozen driver visits to the hospital, and at least one injured spectator.” (Check PPIHC at Youtube.com for exciting videos of 2016 and previous years’ more sobering footage.)
More about uniqueness
This is not racing around an oval track, fighting other drivers for position. This race is against the mountain, the clock, and Mother Nature. Contenders are released one at a time from the start at 9,390 ft. They finish at the peak’s 14,115-ft summit, 12.42 miles later, after 156 turns with 10% incline-grades (up and down). The course is truly death-defying. Another exciting feature of the race is the diversity of cars and motorcycles allowed, even including quad bikes. Motorcycles are especially vulnerable because of deep run-off trenches on the course’s mountain side and on the other side, only “wild blue yonder.”
How it works
Competitors are divided into three groups for three practice days on three (obvious) sections: bottom, middle and summit. What does surprise is that there is no opportunity to do the entire course in one attempt. Time trial results are posted and determine race day line-up. This year’s numbers one and two from practice times turned out to finish first and second in the final race.
Practice starts incredibly early because race officials and teams must be off the mountain by 9:00am when the park’s public toll gates open. The only exception is race day. Tony and I leave our motel at 2:45am to make our way in the pickup truck through a strange, dark city of Colorado Springs to rendezvous with the four crew members at the race shop.
They load the Mustang into the trailer and attach trailer to pickup. Thirty minutes later, we arrive at the Park entrance and join the slow-moving queue to our assigned spot at “Devil’s Playground.” Aptly named, it is the final staging area for runs up the last third of the course.
As we ascend, Tony starts quickly reciting in a low voice the entire course, naming every curve, its camber angles, whether it is inside or outside, etc. It was all painted in his mind. For months, he had studied at home on a driving simulator. Mother is very impressed.
A pause for a poetic moment
There was an unexpected benefit that practice day near the summit – sunrise. What an experience to be at this altitude and watch the sun come up as the moon still hangs on, reluctant to give way. Pike’s Peak is not in a range of mountains, so its silhouette stands out majestically as it gradually reveals itself. The air is crisp and cold enough to show our breathes on exhalation. No wonder the mountain inspired Katharine Lee Bates in 1893 to write the poem “Pikes Peak” which became the lyrics to the famous patriotic song “America, the Beautiful.”
Are we having fun yet?
Once out of the trailer, the mustang puts on what I called its “booties;” these are the tire warmers. New to me, I find these red blankets very cute. Their job, in about two hours, is to get the tires to 160 °F, which vastly improves their gripping power on the cold asphalt. Folks are dressed in down-filled parkas and stamp their feet to keep warm. Voices are subdued and tired. Some teams worked through the night in the garage.
Since the cars go up one at a time, all divers must wait at the summit before returning to Devil’s Playground for another run. If one competitor stalls or can’t move, all others lose precious practice time. We were lucky and got to make about five runs before we had to get off the mountain and back to the garage for the usual debrief on car performance – and, for the first time that day, some food. The remainder of the afternoon was spent examining under the hood, under the chassis, and under elsewhere. Ain’t international racing glamorous?
Altitude takes its toll
Both drivers and their gas-guzzlers need oxygen for combustion to take place. At the summit, the partial pressure of oxygen is only about 60% of that at sea level. This seriously affects mechanical and physiological performances. Some drivers actually use oxygen masks. I found my own internal combustion engine huffing and puffing as I made my way around “Devil’s Playground” to take pictures.
Enter electric vehicles, which don’t need oxygen. PPIHC organizers boast they “recognize the future of electric technology in the automotive industry and Pikes Peak as the ultimate proving ground to test and display its capabilities.” Thus, they recently introduced a new electronic car division with prompt positive results. Last year’s “King” title went to the electric car division, which this year took second place. (And yes, there was even a solar-powered vehicle!)
Fantastic local involvement
The race not only requires drivers who are still breathing after five minutes, but crews and fans must also be hardy. PPIHC fans are devoted and a breed apart. International or not, the race is definitely owned by locals, who give the event a charming “down-home” flavour. Colorado Springs residents have years of Pike’s Peak race experience and are involved at every level, from race officials to shop mechanics. Local garages provide services, housing and well-informed advice – often unsolicited, but always well-meaning.
Fans have their favourite position on the mountain and get there very early on race day or even the night before. Many bring a tent, sleeping bags and barbecue to camp overnight with family and friends. This adds to a home-grown atmosphere, with plenty of “insider-information” trading. Once in position at a designated viewing area, fans can only descend the mountain when the entire race is over. This also means crews, fans and mothers are not at the finish line. Since the track is cleared from the summit down. It can be a very long day.
There is no national live coverage, as spectacular as that would be from a helicopter. Not surprisingly, there is now an “app for that” to be purchased for live race results, but cell phone coverage is limited.
Surprise, surprise
Did I mention Mother Nature’s performance: snow storms in July? When a blizzard struck suddenly last year, only the lower half was raced. This year, snow was only at the summit. When the race was over and the whole parade came down the mountain in mid-afternoon, there were exuberant snow ball fights in the parking lots, with people scooping plenty of the white slush from race car fenders and wheel wells. It was comic relief.
France wins 2016
The French may have sold Pike’s Peak to the US in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, but the French owned the mountain that Sunday morning.
This year’s “King of the Mountain” was 38-year-old Frenchman Romain Dumas, who also won in 2014. Dumas’ luck almost ran out during the second practice when his 2016 Norma M20 RD Limited failed. His team shared a garage with Tony and we knew they had worked for 30 hours straight and missed final practice runs.
It was an incredible effort by the French team coming only seven days after Dumas won France’s famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race (also for the second time). What’s next for Dumas? “Right now, I just want to go home to my family,” he told an interviewer.
As for Tony, after spectacular intervals at over 125mph, #38 overheated from the effort, and slowed to 40mph to finish 33rd with a very respectable time of 11:02.379 – intact and ready to do it again next year. Mom is definitely onboard for that!
Contributed by Suzanne Nielsen
