I've never even heard of this until this morning, have you guys? I'm not certain I have the required balls to do this, but I do like how close it is, much easier than trying to go to the Isle of Man. https://pedrospeak.com/ It can't be as competitive as Isle of Man, because the overall 22 winner rode his Multistrada down from San Diego, won the race, put his saddlebags back on and rode home. However the all time track record holder is Mark Miller and I have read about him for years and know he is fast.
How can I help to make this happen? This is down by Meling ranch. I think its similar to the La Carrera Panamera race run for years by Clement Salvadori. I first heard about it as a young dude living in Dana Point in 1984. I wanted to do it soooooo bad on my RZ350 but I was broke-ass. (Its been a long time and my memory on this is def a bit foggy)
Do you want to do that hillclimb, or the Baja Tourist Cup street circuit race? https://www.bajatouristcup.com/the-circuit-el-circuito
I saw thread title and thought it was the part of LA where I lived for a few years. Hillclimb past the Korean bell!
I'm glad to see the rulebook for San Pedro and BITC finally makes sense and they seem to continue improving safety of the event. In prior years OEM suspension was mandated in most classes for some reason.
I love the idea of these types of events, but I can't see any reason to participate. The origins of street events were out of necessity as dedicated circuits didn't exist. Dedicated circuits exist. This is adding risk to risk. I could understanding riding up that road; not racing up it.
It's like every other public road race, you don't want to crash there, but not really any worse than the rest, IMO.
I've never been, but I've talked a fair amount to the promoter... and to be blunt, talking to the promoter actually sealed my decision to not go. The guy has passion for days and absolutely cares about developing the races, but the BITC in particular is being run without sufficient safety measures (imo, obviously) in place... and he did not react very well to my concerns or suggestions. There are no corner workers and the promoter cannot guarantee road closure. They don't even have a closure order for practice - only for races - and even with the closure order, there are infinite places that some local who doesn't know about the track, or a dog, or a cow, can enter the road. Without corner workers even simply observing (let alone guarding, like at TT), you won't have flags to warn you either. The Hillclimb is run by the same people, but it's more established (so locals are more aware of it) and it's also a much more-isolated road, so the dangers of track intrusion are much less. AFAIK there are still no CW's however, so if something happens you are depending on the next competitor to see you and communicate the problem to an official. It's a bit of an unfortunate catch-22, really: The race can't really grow quickly without bigger-name riders entering and drawing a crowd, but it's not mature enough to draw them yet. Overall, I think either the SPMHC or BITC would be a very cool experience. But, they sound to me like more of a spirited poker run than a proper race... the hillclimb guys take it pretty seriously, but they're in cars (and Miller on his bike had talent+cojones from beyond). So, I decided not to go, because I knew that I'd want to take it as seriously as I took the TT and that would require a risk level far beyond what I was willing to accept.
I thought of you when I posted this. You and Tigert are the only guys I've met that have the balls to do real roads racing. It is interesting to me, but I don't believe I'm willing to take the risk on a bike. Based on what you wrote, this one seems to be too much risk, for even guys like yourself that know what you are doing. I have some talent, but realistically am not practiced and competent enough to do a real roads race. Granted at my age, the kids are raised and gone and mama probably has enough with my life insurance that she would be okay if I bought the farm. However, I still have some fun things to do, would like to see Tyler get married, would like to see my grand kids, if/when they come, etc. @motion Thanks for the encouragement, but I would be much more likely to drag my 6 decade old ass to a road race track with you, versus a dangerous real roads race. In reality, the last time I rode any kind of motorcycle was fathers day about 4 years ago, on a KX65 mini out at Perris kart track, with Tyler and some other friends. The last time I rode on the street was probably 7 years ago. The last time I road raced a motorcycle, on a big track, was 91-92 timeframe, so going back to a real track, on a real bike, would make much more sense and be far safer. So.......Richard, lets change that! When are you buying a 2nd Kramer, so I can go kick your ass? I will cover crash damage. Remember........, I still think I'm 25, until I look in the mirror. Just like in my head, I still think I can kick your butt on the track.
This San Pedro Hillclimb looks completely badass. I dreamed of going back in the late 20-teens, as I had a SuperMoto at the time that seemed right for the job. I just couldn't make the schedule work. Kudos to anyone who decides to go, brings a sponsor, puts it on their channel, and helps the sport grow! -T