AMA Pro Hillclimb - 2013

Last year they moved the hill climb to Wednesday of Bike Week here in NH.  In 2012 there may have been 1000 people watching.  This year,

rain and all, it was more like 3000 people so the crowd is growing.  I walked around for a few minutes to check out some of the bikes that parked near where I parked.   Some were pretty sharp.   

The gates opened at 9AM and I arrived around 10:40AM.  I recognized some of the riders and their motorcycles.  I took a couple pictures around the trailers.   

The Yamaha bikes from Dr. Bob were lined up and looked good.  The Triumph bikes from Libhart Bros. Racing were lined up and looked good also.  You don't realize how tall and long some of these bikes are until you're close to them.  The crews working on the bikes were friendly and answered many questions.

The hill was a bit different than previous years.  First jump, over a bit ditch to the landing, second jump ended up almost vertical so it was more like climbing to the top, then full throttle up the hill to the third jump, landing on the final hill to the finish line.

I headed up the hill as the action was about to begin.  There are 3 classes of racing; Pro Sport 450, Unlimited, and Extreme.  The fastest time wins … turns out it was a 7.61 second run in the Unlimited class from John Koester.

It rained quite a bit the night before with passing showers much of the day.  It appeared to be difficult to keep the bikes on a straight path up the hill.  The soil on the landing of the last hill was soft.  As the dirt was pushed around rocks were uncovered which created another hazard.  What each rider uncovers the next in line has to deal with until the round is complete.   

Quite a few riders lost control on their final landing but were lucky enough to cross the finish line while cracking up.  

 
Throughout the afternoon a few riders went down hard but no one was taken away in an ambulance which was good.  #9 with the Mohawk helmet is easy to spot.  He is an aggressive rider and does well.  I have some good photos him.  

When I was near the finish line he had a good run but crashed crossing the finish line and broke a chain.  It was put back together but the chain came off on the next 2 runs.  Alignment, bent sprocket, chain tensioner or roller, not quite sure … You can see in this picture the chain is already off the rear sprocket after taking off from the first jump.  He took 3rd place in the Unlimited All Star Challenge Shootout.

I moved around a bit trying to get a better angle for pictures.  At one point I was half way up the finish line landing hill pretty close to the finish line.  I found a stable rock to stand on next to a tree I could use for protection.  I was sprayed several times by dirt and rocks.  The paddle tires or chains on the back of these bikes combined with big horsepower can really tear things up.

Some of the riders got big air.  Big air causes a big landing.  Many bikes completely bottom out so much so that a rider’s feet get knocked off the foot pegs.  Trying to regain control at that point is a challenge. 

I know the hill climb is much harder than these riders make it look.  Their skilled riding creates this deception.  Speed, big air, hard landings, acceleration, soft dirt, and rocks is a formula for a potential wild ride.  Some made it … some didn’t …

It’s definitely worth checking out.   Now which pictures do I post???

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