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Pikes Peak (originally Pike's Peak) is a mountain in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, 10 miles (16 km) west of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in El Paso County in the United States of America.
There are several ways to ascend the mountain. The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway is a cog railroad operating from Manitou Springs to the summit year-round, conditions permitting. Automobiles can be driven to the summit via the Pikes Peak Highway, a 19 mile (31 km) road that starts a few miles up Ute Pass at Cascade. This road, which was unpaved after the halfway point, was made famous worldwide by the short film Climb Dance featuring Ari Vatanen racing his Peugeot automobile up the steep, twisty slopes as part of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race. The road has a series of switchbacks, treacherous at high speed, called "The W's" for their shape on the side of the mountain. The road is maintained by the city of Colorado Springs as a toll road.
Here is the movie:
Climb Dance (High Quality) - YouTube
A project to pave the remainder of the road is scheduled to be completed by 2012. The project is in response to a suit by the Sierra Club over damage caused by the gravel and sediment that is constantly washed off the road into the alpine environment.[7][8] The road remains open during construction. As of September 11, 2011, only 0.7 miles of the road remains unpaved.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19.99 km (12.42 mi) over 156 turns, climbing 1,439 meters (4,721 ft) from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway at 2,862 meters (9,390 ft) on grades averaging 7% over historically both gravel and paved sections, however as of August 2011, the highway is fully paved and as a result all subsequent runnings will be on tarmac from start to finish.
The race is on the FIA International Events Calendar and has featured competition from United States rally sanctioning body SCCA ProRally in 2004 and Rally America in 2005. It has taken place since 1916 and is currently contested by a variety of classes of Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles and Quads. There are often numerous new classes tried and discarded year-to-year. On average there are 150 competitors.
The mountain is also the site of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon foot races on Barr Trail.
In fact here is a video of the Multistrada at the Pike Climb:
Ducati Multistrada Pikes Peak video - YouTube
The MTS won the Pike Climb two years in a row (2010-2011) and setting a new time record for the motorcycles category. Ducati even came out with a Pike peak edition to celebrate the victory: Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak - Ducati
Here si one road that is on the bucket list!
There are several ways to ascend the mountain. The Manitou and Pike's Peak Railway is a cog railroad operating from Manitou Springs to the summit year-round, conditions permitting. Automobiles can be driven to the summit via the Pikes Peak Highway, a 19 mile (31 km) road that starts a few miles up Ute Pass at Cascade. This road, which was unpaved after the halfway point, was made famous worldwide by the short film Climb Dance featuring Ari Vatanen racing his Peugeot automobile up the steep, twisty slopes as part of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race. The road has a series of switchbacks, treacherous at high speed, called "The W's" for their shape on the side of the mountain. The road is maintained by the city of Colorado Springs as a toll road.
Here is the movie:
Climb Dance (High Quality) - YouTube
A project to pave the remainder of the road is scheduled to be completed by 2012. The project is in response to a suit by the Sierra Club over damage caused by the gravel and sediment that is constantly washed off the road into the alpine environment.[7][8] The road remains open during construction. As of September 11, 2011, only 0.7 miles of the road remains unpaved.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), also known as The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19.99 km (12.42 mi) over 156 turns, climbing 1,439 meters (4,721 ft) from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway at 2,862 meters (9,390 ft) on grades averaging 7% over historically both gravel and paved sections, however as of August 2011, the highway is fully paved and as a result all subsequent runnings will be on tarmac from start to finish.
The race is on the FIA International Events Calendar and has featured competition from United States rally sanctioning body SCCA ProRally in 2004 and Rally America in 2005. It has taken place since 1916 and is currently contested by a variety of classes of Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles and Quads. There are often numerous new classes tried and discarded year-to-year. On average there are 150 competitors.
The mountain is also the site of the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon foot races on Barr Trail.
In fact here is a video of the Multistrada at the Pike Climb:
Ducati Multistrada Pikes Peak video - YouTube
The MTS won the Pike Climb two years in a row (2010-2011) and setting a new time record for the motorcycles category. Ducati even came out with a Pike peak edition to celebrate the victory: Ducati Multistrada 1200 S Pikes Peak - Ducati
Here si one road that is on the bucket list!
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