This is my story of our adventures at the Big Nasty Motorcycle Hillclimb with some video and pictures (below) to look at. Hope you all enjoy.
Allen Mangum
[media]http://www.youtube.com/user/TimbersledProducts#p/a/u/0/Y_9Wr_Lq43Q[/media]
First day (Friday) we did not do any racing but did get to do some exhibition riding. The officials cut Derick Driggs and I loose on the hill for about 20 minutes while they were between classes. We rode up and down the qualifying hill a few times; we were the first bikes over the top for the day. Also did some riding between the Pro hill and qualifying hill. The hill is hard dry dirt with some old grass on it and is so steep that you can’t even stand on it without sliding down; the video footage does not do it any justice. The snow bikes could side hill back and forth on it while doing figure eights on the hill side. The crowd went crazy over that.
Second and third days we were able to do some more free-ride exhibition segments between classes and got to do some more "Nasty" climbs. We each climbed the pro race hill with ease and came down it with total control. Derick is definitely the craziest guy I know. He discovered that there was a jump on the hill side that was between the 2 racing hills. So I got the video camera out and he started to fly up the hill and hit it doing some tricks and landing them on a side hill. He also tried climbing some hills that no man has ever tried before; they did not turn out as planned…. But hey, it’s Driggs and I am not so sure that he ever has a plan! The crowd loved that; even the announcer got into it!
We also got to do a timed exhibition run on the same hill they were running the 450 pro qualifying. So we drew sticks and of course I got the short one. Driggs was all over it and poled off a 7.55 second run, which turned out to be the fastest time so far that day; the only times that were faster after that were the open pro bikes. The fastest time they had was a 6.89 second run. That gives you an idea of how well the tracks hook up and how well the back suspension floats over the bumps and ruts. The pro bikes would lose a lot of time when they went airborne off the sandstone sections of the hill and then have a hard time taking back off.
At the end of the day Saturday we ran the snow bike class, there were only 3 of us, me (Allen), Driggs and pro rider Shane Donaca on a 2Moto kit. We got 2 runs each and I ended up getting the fast time but Donaca was not far behind…. Man was that a lot of fun!
Next year we will be doing it again and hope to get a few more guys participating. I would like to get a couple pro bikes set up and go out and kick some butt. There were 11,000 spectators there this year and they now all know what a snow bike is and what they are capable of. This will also help out Ron Dillon the promoter of the Big Nasty Hillclimb to better promote the Flash Point Race that he also puts on down in McCall Idaho. I give a big shout and thank you to Ron Dillon for letting us do the exhibition riding at the 2011 Big Nasty Hillclimb….
Allen, Brett, and Derick
Derick scoping out the hill
Derick going where no bike would/could go!
Allen side hilling
A look at the pro hill
Allen topping out on the qualifying hill
Derick taking a line only he (and the Mountain Horse) could take
Allen at the start of his competition hill climb
Allen ripping up the hill
Derick topping out on the hill
Derick tearing up the big hill
Allen Mangum
[media]http://www.youtube.com/user/TimbersledProducts#p/a/u/0/Y_9Wr_Lq43Q[/media]
First day (Friday) we did not do any racing but did get to do some exhibition riding. The officials cut Derick Driggs and I loose on the hill for about 20 minutes while they were between classes. We rode up and down the qualifying hill a few times; we were the first bikes over the top for the day. Also did some riding between the Pro hill and qualifying hill. The hill is hard dry dirt with some old grass on it and is so steep that you can’t even stand on it without sliding down; the video footage does not do it any justice. The snow bikes could side hill back and forth on it while doing figure eights on the hill side. The crowd went crazy over that.
Second and third days we were able to do some more free-ride exhibition segments between classes and got to do some more "Nasty" climbs. We each climbed the pro race hill with ease and came down it with total control. Derick is definitely the craziest guy I know. He discovered that there was a jump on the hill side that was between the 2 racing hills. So I got the video camera out and he started to fly up the hill and hit it doing some tricks and landing them on a side hill. He also tried climbing some hills that no man has ever tried before; they did not turn out as planned…. But hey, it’s Driggs and I am not so sure that he ever has a plan! The crowd loved that; even the announcer got into it!
We also got to do a timed exhibition run on the same hill they were running the 450 pro qualifying. So we drew sticks and of course I got the short one. Driggs was all over it and poled off a 7.55 second run, which turned out to be the fastest time so far that day; the only times that were faster after that were the open pro bikes. The fastest time they had was a 6.89 second run. That gives you an idea of how well the tracks hook up and how well the back suspension floats over the bumps and ruts. The pro bikes would lose a lot of time when they went airborne off the sandstone sections of the hill and then have a hard time taking back off.
At the end of the day Saturday we ran the snow bike class, there were only 3 of us, me (Allen), Driggs and pro rider Shane Donaca on a 2Moto kit. We got 2 runs each and I ended up getting the fast time but Donaca was not far behind…. Man was that a lot of fun!
Next year we will be doing it again and hope to get a few more guys participating. I would like to get a couple pro bikes set up and go out and kick some butt. There were 11,000 spectators there this year and they now all know what a snow bike is and what they are capable of. This will also help out Ron Dillon the promoter of the Big Nasty Hillclimb to better promote the Flash Point Race that he also puts on down in McCall Idaho. I give a big shout and thank you to Ron Dillon for letting us do the exhibition riding at the 2011 Big Nasty Hillclimb….
Allen, Brett, and Derick
Derick scoping out the hill
Derick going where no bike would/could go!
Allen side hilling
A look at the pro hill
Allen topping out on the qualifying hill
Derick taking a line only he (and the Mountain Horse) could take
Allen at the start of his competition hill climb
Allen ripping up the hill
Derick topping out on the hill
Derick tearing up the big hill
