Passes & Canyons Blog

Jeremiah Owsley (left) and Dave Hennessy with the Suzuki sidecar rig they’ll be racing tomorrow.

“I think Dave is just gonna put a major piece of whoop-ass on John, mainly because of his experience and the loose gravel on that top section. Dave is an old MX sidecar racer with a lot of dirt skills. John is a street racer without dirt skills. Plus, Dave’s bike is more powerful.”

That’s the pre-race prognostication from Key Kyler, the mechanic supporting both sidecar racing teams competing in the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which runs tomorrow.

The veterans
Dave Hennessy, running a 1000cc Suzuki “motard style” rig with his passenger, Jeremiah Owsley, is a veteran of the course. John Wood, running a Wasp rig with a 750cc Yamaha engine with his passenger, Giorgina Gottlieb, is in the rider’s seat for the first time on this bike. He was the passenger on the rig last year.

With such uneven competitors, beating the other guy is nobody’s main focus.

“We’re going against the records of previous sidecars,” says Dave. “We hope to improve so we’re in the hunt for the record. John and Giorgina are in a slightly different class. If they beat me, good for them. Still, I hope they don’t. We have an advantage over them.”

In Jeremiah’s mind there is no question who will come in first tomorrow, and he is focused on the record.

“I think we’ll beat last year no problem,” he says.

The rookies
For John and Giorgina the challenge is simply to finish the race. They didn’t do so well in the first day of practice.

“Somebody put a ditch in the raceline,” says John. “I’m a roadracer and tried to use a roadracing line, dive to outside to apex, but there was no traction out there. Still, I thought I had it till the last 30 feet.”

It was a bit of a rough landing but the bike was back together for the next day’s practice.

“The passenger was back together, too,” adds Giorgina.

Practice on the mountain is divided into three sections, with each group of racers working a different section each day. Some parts of the road are paved and some are not. On the second day it was a paved section.

“I was back in my element, and we were able to work on technique,” says John. “Every time we went out we got faster. I was trying to ride smooth and let the fast come, and that had tremendous results.”

This is Giorgina’s first race ever so for her there is a great deal to learn.

“Every time we go out I’m learning a lot. It’s fun. Now it’s a matter of making transitions smoother. You lean left for left, right for right. It makes more sense the more I do it. When you turn left you want weight on the left side, either the back for traction or the front for steering. Turning right you want to keep the chair down for traction. My job is traction control.”

In sidecar racing, the job of the passenger, or monkey, is to shift their weight to add traction to whichever tire needs it at the moment. Rough movement from one position to another can make it harder on the driver to maintain control, thus the need for smooth transitions.

The race
On Sunday the sidecars are scheduled to run second in the back half of the program. The first half is the vintage cars, stock cars, open wheel, unlimited and others. The second half is exhibition powersports, sidecars, quads, and motorcycles. Racing starts at 9 a.m., which means everyone will be up by 3 a.m. to get to the mountain and settled in. Once racing starts there is no traffic on the road except for the racers. As racers reach the top they remain up there until racing is completed and they come back down in three groups.

Why do they do it?

“I ask myself that each morning at 3 a.m.,” says Dave. “When you get to the top it feels pretty amazing.”

Rick Litt, a friend of Dave’s for more than 30 years, adds, “His main motivation is he just loves racing.”

For John, this year is all about learning the track so he’ll be ready to come back with his roadracing sidecar when the road to the top is fully paved, in 2012. This year, “As long as I don’t make a fool of myself it’s OK. I just want to see the top.”

And then there is the coming down. In a somewhat new tradition at the Pikes Peak, as the racers come down the mountain, spectators all along the route stand with their hands outstretched to high-five them. For the racers it’s a pretty emotional affair.

“From what I hear, it’s moving,” says Giorgina. “The fandom for this race is amazing. The people who actually watch are passionate about it.”

Many of those fans camp on the mountain the night before in order to get a great view of the race. It is the only night each year when camping is allowed on Pikes Peak.

Today, Saturday, is a day of rest for the racers. Tomorrow is the big day.

Biker Quote for Today

If I could marry my motorcycle, I’d roll her right up to the altar. — Flip Wilson