WTF

CONGRATS to both Thierry and Doug who got to the top!   Thierry landed 2nd in the Vintage Race Car class with a time of 13:41, and Doug a respectable 8th (15:13) even after a small spinout on the lower section of the mountain in the dirt. Congrats to everyone for a great hill climb! I will post race day stories later. Full 2010 PPIHC results posted on the PPIHC website. (Click on the below graphics to enlarge.)

With the race cars parked on Manitou Avenue outside the motel, I love the people that stop by to see them, touch them, ask questions and tell us about the Mustang they had in high school. John even got some kids to help him wash the Bag O'Nails! Falcon Caliente. Bob Hill and his wife stopped by to say hello. The young man in the black shirt is being deployed to Afghanistan in September; Todd shook his hand and thanked him.  He just bought a sweet 1969 Mustang Fastback and showed us pictures.   Gunter shops for jets for his "new" '53 Studebaker. The view of Pikes Peak from our hotel room. Donner, Thierry and Kelly at sunset. K & Doug. Gunter & Barbara's '53 Studebaker, up in the air, Mats Hammerlund-style. Thierry, Doug and Geezer on their way to Fan Fest. Geezer gets the Denver Bronco cheerleaders to sign a poster for Rene (well, he says it's for Rene). Kristin & dee in front of their pick (RED BULL!) for the 2010 P...

Days 2 and 3 of practice on the hill went very well!  Thierry ended up in 2nd place in the vintage class, just 3 seconds behind Keith Davidson.  The cars ran well and the drivers were smiling.  The weather was gorgeous, even balmy up at altitude and Doug and Thierry made plenty of runs on the bottom section yesterday morning and the middle section (the W's) this morning.   Thierry and the Bag O'Nails practice racing the top section on Day 1. Doug on Practice Day 1. Geezer washing windows at almost 13,000 feet. The lineup of racers on Practice Day 2 on the bottom section: John takes a nap with a view of Pikes after getting up at 3am. Angelica and hubby, Keith. Geezer, John and Krisitn on Practice Day 2. Donner Billingsly, Thierry's navigator. On Practice Day 3 we brought our campstove and on the back of the trailer we cooked up eggs, Canadian bacon, and steak folded into corn tortillas - a nice change from cold granola bars and handfuls of nuts. ...

On Monday about half of the Mustangs To Go drivers and crew arrived in Manitou Springs, CO - Todd and Kristin from Minnesota, Geezer from Zacatecas, Mexico and Thierry from Belgium.  Brian Glass headed back to Minnesota after driving one of the trucks and trailers 1,000 miles and helping Todd with maintenance on the Gypsy Wind.   Lots of logistics to coordinate. A little house party at El Ranchito after Todd and Brian arrived on Sunday night. A perfect way to celebrate my dear friend Sarah's last night in Colorado after a 10-day visit from Australia. Kristin re-enacts the bear that stood up and looked in her window on her birthday a few evenings ago - spooky! Todd says goodbye to Sarah on Monday morning with a grubby farmer hand on her face. Brian and Todd changing rear end gears at Broken Arrow.   Brian drove the Gypsy Wind trailer to Manitou and then headed back to Minnesota for a fishing trip "up North." The Bag O'Nails and Gypsy Wind passed Te...