top of page

Pike's Peak International Hill Climb, June 23-29th, 2014

1. The view of Pike's Peak from downtown Colorado Springs at Fan Fest

At the point Friday, June 20th came around, I had been planning this event for about 8 months. Pike's Peak International Hill Climb is unlike any other race I've ever done, and as such, it required a lot more attention to details that I normally either take for granted, or don't ever even consider. This is such a huge event, it's not as easy as rolling up to the track, setting up your pit area, and camping out for the weekend like a normal road race event. This event is an entire week long... you have to consider things like where to stay (because pulling a 25ft toy hauler more than halfway across the US just wasn't an option I wanted to consider), who can be part of your crew (because you just can't do everything yourself for this event), where your crew will stay, logistics of getting to the events, how you're going to fund the trip (let's face it, this event cost me nearly 5x what a normal weekend road race event costs), etc. When competing in an event like this for the first time, no matter how well you plan, you never can think of everything. Although I think I did a really good job planning everything I'd need and where I'd need to be, I still learned a lot while I was there and will take that knowledge with me for the next time.

 

I started packing the truck a few days before we left, and when Friday rolled around, Denise, Canoli, and myself sped out of the DC metro area with southern IL in our sights. 

2. Truck is packed to the gills, inside and out

Since I had a truck bed full of expensive equipment/gear, I didn't want to risk staying at a hotel and having it all stolen, so I was determined to make it to my parents' house Friday night. Since we left DC around noon, that meant it was going to be a late night, but after getting through the DC traffic, the rest of the trip was pretty easy and we made it to their house by 2 or so in the morning. Saturday was a pretty easy day, as we decided to only drive as far as Kansas City and stay with my cousin, Aaron Price, then drive the final leg from KC to Colorado Springs on Sunday. For the last 40 miles or so, all we could do is stare at Pike's Peak as we approached Colorado Springs. Its presence demanded respect as it ominously glared back at us. This was my first time laying eyes on the mountain, and to say I was intimidated would be an understatement. 

3. Our first view of Pike's Peak from Highway 24

After being accepted to race in the 92nd PPIHC, I waited perhaps a little longer than I should have to find a place to stay during the event. I got extremely lucky, however, and was able to find a cabin at the base of Pike's Peak, literally a couple of blocks away from Pike's Peak Highway. This made getting to the mountain in the morning so much easier than it could have been, and I'll be renting this place again in years to come.

4. The view from our cabin, we stayed right on the base of Pike's Peak

After rolling in Sunday and getting unpacked, it was time to prepare for Monday, which had me register and go through tech inspection in the morning. After registering at the Hotel Elegante, I walked back to my truck and was headed over to the arena where Technical Inspection was taking place, and I just happened to glance up and see Guy Martin. I promptly turned my truck off, walked over, and saw him working on his Martek motorcycle with a GSXR1100 turbocharged engine, so I had to ask him what he thought of the bike. After explaining that it handled very well, but just had too much power, I decided to get out of his hair and get on my way to tech. As I pulled in to the parking lot where tech was, I was kind of overwhelmed at what I saw. There were race vehicles (cars, bikes, etc) all over, which I expected. What I didn't expect was the unreal volume of spectators that had come out just to get a glance at the vehicles. This was my first impression that I was a tiny fish in a huge ocean. 

5. Line of cars at tech inspection with crew and spectators huddling around them

After registering and inspecting my bike, I went back to the cabin and grabbed some food, and then got my wife and in-laws in a car to make a run up to the top of the mountain. After all, practice days require me to be in place by 3:30 am each day, and I didn't want my first trip up the mountain to be in my big truck in the pitch black of night.

 

As we made our way up the mountain, you could tell that the sky was angry and it was going to storm. What I didn't expect was for the rangers to close down the road above Glen Cove due to large amounts of snow. 

6. Driving up the mountain on Monday, notice the snowballs on the windshield

7. A shot from the cabin at Glen Cove before they opened the road back up. 

We hung out at Glen Cove, used the restrooms and checked out the souvenir shop for a while, but we couldn't waste much more time. We had just decided that I needed to get back down the mountain because I had rider meetings that I had to make... waiting for the road to be reopened would just delay me even more and make me late. As we got in the car to make our way back down, the road was opened back up, and we were about the 4th car allowed through the gate. We made it to the top, and by this point I was thoroughly freaked out by what I was getting into. 

8. Dave, Dianne, Denise and I at the peak

9. Me at the peak, 14,110 feet

No amount of video watching or video game playing will ever prepare you for what Pike's Peak really is. It's a cold, angry, unforgiving beast who is just waiting for someone to come along and swallow them up. The road is unlike anything I've ever driven, it demands respect, it demands that you pay attention to the task at hand and nothing else.

 

After a brief visit at the top of the mountain, I needed to get rolling back down the mountain so I could make it to my meetings, so we headed back down in low gear so as to take it easy on the brakes on the car. As I came back through Glen Cove, I was greeted by a ranger who checked our brake temperature. He seemed delighted that I had been easy on them... after all, it wasn't race day.

10. Brake Check at Glen Cove

After my meetings, I came back to the cabin and ate with the crew that was already there (Dave and Dianne Fornoff, Denise Telger, and Ernie Miller). Soon after eating, we called it a night due to the early morning we had  ahead of us.

 

Motorcycles practiced at the top section on Tuesday morning, so that meant we needed to be there extra early to get through the gate before the cars. Ernie and I rolled out of the cabin by 3 am, and Dave, Dianne, and Denise followed shortly after. 

11. A look down to Colorado Springs from Devils Playground

After I parked in the pits at Devil's Playground, we started to set up, but unfortunately Ernie developed altitude sickness right away, so he was forced to seek help which left me by myself until the rest of my crew arrived. I'm extremely grateful that they were planning on coming anyways, because I don't know that I could have handled everything by myself at that altitude, I could feel I was getting fatigued much sooner than normal. Setting up the pits in the pitch black was extremely tricky, but I had luckily packed some rope lights that would help us see.

 

As the sun came up, the beauty of the mountain began to show itself... I can assure you that if you haven't seen a sunrise from Pike's Peak, you've never really seen a sunrise. It was the most beautiful, terrifying thing I've ever seen. 

12. Sunrise from Devil's Playground

With the sun rising meant that it was time for practice. The temperature on the mountain was frigid, nearly freezing at that time in the morning. Luckily I had planned ahead and gotten some Moto-D cold weather gear for under my race suit, because I certainly needed it. At first light it was cold, but calm and serene. No more than 30 minutes later, however, it seemed like the mountain was angry we were there... the wind picked up and clouds rolled in. It's incredible just how quickly things change up on the mountain.

 

Our first pass up the mountain was an escorted one, control riders took all of us up the mountain at once so we could take a look at the course and make mental notes of anything that we saw that we wanted to avoid when we were up to speed. They escorted us back down the mountain and from then on every pass was done in 30 second intervals so as to keep competitors away from each other so we could focus on learning the course.

13. The first time the motorcycles roll onto the pavement for our sighting lap

My first pass up by myself may have been the most terrifying thing I've ever done. I had spent months learning the course, but when I was actually on the course, it seemed like the mountain was completely different than what I had learned. Nothing looked familiar, everything looked the same to me. There were a couple of turns towards the top that stood out and that I could recognize, but even those were hard to figure out because there were no reference points... how do you differentiate one rock from another when you're going 80 mph?

14. My first pass up the mountain by myself

After everyone had made it safely up the mountain, the control riders rode up and escorted us back down the mountain. I rolled into the pits where Denise and Dave were waiting for me. They put the bike on the stands and put tire warmers on while I chilled out and tried to go over the run in my mind. 

15. Denise and I after my first run

I made one more pass up the mountain, and had picked up my pace a little from the previous run. I was starting to relate the real turns to the videos and video games I had studied, so I was able to pick up the pace and start putting things together. I came down from the top after all of the riders had made it up, put the bike on the stands, and warmers on the tires, and I had decided to skip a run and rest a little before making the last run of the morning. Dave had moved his car close to the road, so I jumped in the car to warm up and relax for a bit. 

16. An image of me as I line up to make another pass on the top section

After nearly falling asleep, I popped up and saw that not everyone had made their run yet, so I decided I would make this run after all, rather than skip it. Dave jumped out of the car, tore the warmers off and shut off the generator, and off I went up the mountain. Like I mentioned, during prior runs I had a hard time figuring out where I was. During this run, my mind was the most clear it had been all morning and I was putting together a really good run up the mountain. I knew what was coming before I got there, and was able to anticipate some of the bumps before hitting them. I truly felt like things were turning around, until I got to the second to last corner, Cog Cut. I came into this turn a little too fast because I missed my braking reference point, and did my best to scrub speed before tipping in to the turn. The mountain had other plans, though. I haven't figured out what I hit, but the combination of cold tires, dirty road, rough pavement, and inexperience on the mountain resulted in me tucking the front and flying off the road, down into a rock bed 15-20 feet down. This kind of crash is the worst because it all happened too fast for me to really understand what happened. The front end didn't give me any warning, it simply let go and body slammed me to the ground. The bike and I slid momentarily, but were quickly launched off the road and fell into the rock bed below. I got up and knew I needed to get to the road for help, but from where I was, I had no idea where the road was. I started stumbling towards the railroad tracks you see in the picture 17 below, but quickly realized that's not where I need to go. I turned around and saw the road above, and I couldn't believe that I had to climb back up that far. After a disorienting climb back up to the road, I was able to flag down the control riders as they passed, and they called down for help. 

17. This image shows where the bike landed wth the railroad in the background. I ended up right next to the bike

18. Such a terrifying place to crash, but it resulted in some really cool pictures

For as extreme as this crash was, I was lucky to have been relatively unhurt. I broke my cuboid bone in my right foot, and beat up my right ribs and shoulder, but I'm in excellent shape considering I crashed on the most dangerous race course in the nation. Unfortunately, my attempt at tackling the mountain course would end that day. Looking at the bike in pictures, the bike looks like it faired about as good as I did in this nasty crash. Unfortunately, when the bike landed where it did, it shoved a boulder through the crank case of the engine, which pretty much ended my hopes of racing right there. I had brought a spare engine with me, but because I was a rookie to Pike's Peak, I had to have the bike back together by the next morning to practice on the middle section, otherwise they wouldn't let me race. Having beaten myself up pretty badly, I was in no mood to tackle swapping motors with a broken foot and hurt ribs and shoulder. I conceded defeat by the mountain for now...

19. I wasn't planning to drink at all until after the race. After crashing... it just seemed like a good idea

Wednesday was a rough day at first. I couldn't walk from the pain in my foot... and I couldn't sit up in bed from the pain in my ribs. I literally rolled out of bed and had Denise help me get from the bed to the living room where everyone was. Jon and Jessi Scheeler had gotten to the cabin on Tuesday afternoon, and since both of them work in the medical field, they looked at me a little, told me I had probably broken my foot, and told me to cycle my foot in and out of an ice bath for 20 minutes or so. This was literally more painful than the crash itself, and I would have probably punched Jon in the throat for making me do it if only I could have caught him. However, while I was doing that, Jon was on the phone finding me a boot and crutches, so we loaded up in the truck and went to the medical supply store to get what I needed. Obviously having good people in your crew is a must for an event of this caliber. However, I wanted Jon there because he's good with tools, he's good with understanding riding, and he generally knows how this sport works. I did not, however, ask him there because of his medical background. Looking back on it now, I'm really glad that he and Jessi were there to help, and I would encourage everyone to try to find similar people for their crew.

20. Denise, Myself, Dianne, Jessi, Jon, and Ernie sitting down for dinner on Tuesday night

21. Denise, Jessi, Jon and I as we left to go to the medical supply store

On Wednesday evening, Johnny Martin's in downtown Colorado Springs, held a racer reception in his showroom. They had race bikes and cars set up for display, and they also had cars for sale that they restored there in the shop. The place is truly unique and it was really cool to hang out with some of the racers and organizers and just kick back and shoot the breeze. 

22. Eric Telger Racing Crew with Lincoln Floyd, the Director of Development for PPIHC

Thursday was another laid back day for me since I was still pretty sore from the crash. However, an addition to the Penrose Heritage Museum was added to include history about the Pike's Peak International Hill Climb. Pike's Peak Hill Climb Experience at the Penrose Heritage Museum was open early to competitors, and I thought since we're here, we should definitely check it out. While we were there, we met the curator of the  museum and he gave us all kinds of cool info about the history of the event. 

23. Denise and I after signing the banner they had on display

Friday was one of the coolest days of the event. Along with the normal practices taking place, Colorado Springs hosted Fan Fest in the downtown streets. There were a lot of competitors present with their machinery on display, there were tons of vendors, and about every hour or so, Red Bull freestyle motocross riders would perform in the streets. The place was packed with nearly 40,000 people swarming the streets. 

24. A couple new fans, Luke and Brady Gazarek and I.

For normal road race events, this kind of event is just unheard of. Nowhere can you go to get this kind of exposure for yourself and for your sponsors. I met so many wonderful fans, media personnel, and competitors in this one event, I was truly overwhelmed. I took hundreds of pictures with children sitting on my bike, and I couldn't even guess how many autographs I signed. 

25. One of my new fans trying out the bike as others take a look at the bike and gear

26. I couldn't even guess how many of these pictures I took, but every one of them was fun to take

27. Signing some autographs for a few new fans

28. Steve Alexander came by to check out the bike. He raced on his Aprilia Supermoto, completing his run in 11:45

29. Jon showing Steve the damage that was done to the engine

30. Tons of fans gathering around to ask questions and check out the bike

31. Without these Sidi boots, I can't imagine how my foot would have ended up. You can see the brace beneath the ankle was destroyed

32. My beautiful wife Denise and I at Fan Fest

33. Eric Telger Racing's display with Pike's Peak in the background

34. More fans checking out the bike

Since my bike had crashed only on the left side, I was able to display the right side of the bike as if nothing had happened. Many people never even realized the damage to the other side of the bike, because there was really hardly any damage to be seen. I got a ton of compliments on the bike, many even after they found out it had crashed. I have to hand it to Pop Shadow Decals for really making the bike stick out in a crowd. I gave them some direction on what I wanted to see, and Tea went to work creating the masterpiece that everyone saw. I got a lot of compliments on the GoPro wraps as well as the banner. I shouldn't even mention it because her work speaks for itself, but she really did a wonderful job for me this year.

35. The crew at Fan Fest

36. Clint Fix, an old college buddy, and his wife Kaitlyn came to check out Fan Fest. It was great to catch up with him

After about 6 hours of hanging out with the fans, the crew and I called it a night, packed up, and headed back to the cabin. Saturday would again be a pretty easy day since I wouldn't be racing on Sunday, so we decided to try to clean up the cabin and get stuff together to make packing easier.

 

Sunday was incredible, the weather was as perfect as you could hope for at such a venue, it was in the 90's at the start line, and was clear all the way to the top. Racers had complained about some heavy wind gusts at the top, but I'd take that over sleet and storms any day. The crew hung out around the start line most of the morning mainly because I didn't want to walk too far, but also because I wanted to hang around there and learn as much as I could about the race. If I'm able to fund another go at this race in the future, this knowledge will help me plan for the event. I think I would have been in pretty good shape this year, but I did pick up some tips, so I'll make note of that and use it when I need to.

 

In the history of the entire event (from 1916 to last year) only 4 competitors have lost their lives on the mountain. On Sunday, we lost our fifth, Bobby Goodin. Bobby crossed the finish line at the top of the mountain and lost control. There are a number of accounts on what happened, I don't know what to believe, but I extend my deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

 

After watching the motorcycle program, the crew and I decided it was time to head back. There was a lot of packing to be done, and we all had a big trip home to start on Monday, so rest was extremely important. As we walked out, we ran into Robert and Danyella Prilika, whom we had met at the racers reception and also ran into them at Fan Fest. 

37. The Eric Telger Racing Crew with the Robert Prilika Motorsports folks

Robert qualified first in his class in his Porsche, but unfortunately he crashed on Friday, ultimately doing too much damage to his car to be able to fix before the race. Ironically, he crashed in the same turn that I crashed in, but instead of going down off the road, he crashed coming out of the turn and ran up onto some rocks. 

38. This is how Robert's PPIHC ended, on the same turn that ended my run

It was great to meet them, and hopefully we'll both be more successful in our next attempt.

 

To say that I'm thankful for everyone's help this year would be an understatement. 2014 hasn't been very kind to Eric Telger Racing, but we'll continue to push through the hard times to find the good ones. Between the motor issues and crashing at Pike's Peak, 2014 hasn't been as successful as I had hoped, but I have gotten a ton of support from a lot of great people and companies to help us show up to give it our best shot. First of all, my wife Denise is tremendous. Along with planning the biggest event I've ever competed in, we also decided to move across the country and start a new life. It's been hard at times, but she helps me through and we keep moving forward. I'd also like to thank her parents, Dave and Dianne, for a ton of help this year, especially during this event. Dave helped a lot during practice when Ernie wasn't able to, and he was extremely helpful in getting me and the bike off the mountain after the crash. Dianne took a ton of pictures as usual, and normally that would bug me to death. But for an event like this, those pictures came in very handy and I'm really happy she was there taking them. I also want to thank everyone who contributed financially so far this year. Your contributions go way farther than you could imagine.

 

Although Ernie Miller got sick on the mountain, his presence at the cabin just helped lighten the mood. He helped load up for the practice day, and he helped unload after the crash. Ernie has a lot of experience in this sport, and I hope that he'll be able to help next time I give it a go. Jon and Jessi Scheeler rolled in Tuesday and were extremely helpful with giving me advice, helping cook, and Jon especially played a huge role with Fan Fest. He was an excellent ambassador when I wasn't able to give every person the attention they hoped for.

 

Each and every one of my sponsors this year has been instrumental in getting me to the events and setting me up to succeed. I have to take the blame for my problems this year, some out of my control, and some were very much in my control and I just failed to deliver. But with that failure comes knowledge and experience, which I will take with me every time I throw a leg over a bike.

 

I'd like to thank Fairfax Cycles in Fairfax, VA for helping me while I was in a bind. Although they're not exactly a sponsor, they were able to get my bike on the dyno the day I called them after swapping motors, and they were also able to help me run some tests on the backup motor. 

 

David Grey from Sportbike Tire Service helped me so much this year getting my new R6 figured out and gave me the best tires available to race on. Tea Palella from Pop Shadow Decals did an incredible job for me on my bike and banner. When the organizers asked for larger numbers on the side of the bike, she dropped what she was doing to send me larger numbers. Her customer service is second to absolutely no one, and your only limitation is your own imagination. Shoei helmets provided me with the BEST helmet on the market. That helmet saved my noggin from some nasty rocks, and for that I'm extremely grateful. Adrenaline Truck Performance helped me get from the DC metro area all the way to CO, without their knowledge and experience, my truck wouldn't be running the way it is. Moto-D Racing's tire warmers , undersuits and socks performed flawlessly like always. Thank you to the rest of my sponsors; Spiegler Performance Parts for the awesome brakes, Silkolene for the oil (although I left most of it up on the mountain), Vortex Racing, Nice Raxx, Core Nutritionals, and The Motorcycle Factory Inc. These sponsors are not only supporting me and my racing career, they're supporting the sport itself and for that I can't thank them enough. Please support those companies that go out of their way to support me and the sport.

 

It will take a few months for me to get myself and the bike back together, but I'm looking forward to jumping back on the horse that bucked me off so hard, and fighting back to be successful. Until then, stay tuned on Facebook for updates on myself and the progress of the bike!

PayPal ButtonPayPal Button
  • Wix Facebook page

Would you like to help support Eric Telger Racing?



Racing requires skill, courage, dedication, hard work, a little luck, and a lot of money. I am an amateur privateer racer, which means I pay for all of this out of my own pocket. Being a professional racer is certainly a dream of mine, but at this time, I must pay my own way.



You can help me chase the next championship by donating through the below link. All donations, no matter how large or small, will make a difference, and are truly appreciated.

 

bottom of page