This weekend I entered the Alpine in the VSCCA's 52nd running of the
Mt. Equinox Hillclimb. The hillclimb is one of the oldest
continually running events in the US. The event is unique since it is
typically restricted to pre-1960 cars. Fortunately, last week I was
given special dispensation and allowed to run. The course is really
beautiful located in northern Vermont. There were a few Sunbeam
owners who stopped by watch the climb. Dana and Marlene Freeman
driving their Tiger attended as spectators as well as a few others.
Below are links to a map of the course and photos from last year (note,
you may have to cut and paste the entire link manually versus just
clicking on it)
http://www.vscca.org/LargeImage.cfm?
fileName=mte01001.jpg&categoryID=30&ImageNumber=1 (Map)
http://www.vscca.org/display.cfm?CategoryID=67 (Last years event)
Overall, the long course is 5.3 miles and features a number of hairpin
turns. The most challenging corner is Crusoe's turn (Jack Crusoe was
a driver from New England) which is a decreasing radius turn. The
road has started to really show signs of deteriorating in certain
sections - even featuring a pothole or two.
The Alpine ran well and once I started to get the feel for the coarse I
managed to drop my times. I was amazed at the chunks of time that
were dropped during the first 3 runs (managed a 6:09 on third and
finial run of Saturday). Due to the number blind corners and sections
where the road disappears you initially find yourself lifting. After
the second run I had pretty much figured out that you could keep your
foot planted until you entered Crusoe's turn . The scariest section
had to be just before Old house where you dive down into a blind turn
flat out in 4th. The road gets rough in this section so braking
becomes difficult.
Key to doing well is making the hairpin turn at the mid-point as you
enter the upper course. If you can carry your speed then you have a
really clean shot at the "saddle" . This section is about a mile long
with a majority of it flanked by drop offs on both sides. Even though
there are kinks in the road it can all be treated as straight-aways.
Visually, there are a few areas where you loose sight of the road but
you just have to trust that if you hit the apex you will be lined up
for the run without lifting. I was pulling 5000-5500 in fourth
during this section. I wish I could have utilized 4th overdrive but
it didn't seem like it was helping on one run where I tried it.
I ended the weekend with a 6.03 which was within a couple of tenths of
Earl Tucker's MGA. Earl's car was a good bench mark since he has run
the course for a few years and has disc brakes and a close ratio
gearbox. I am pretty sure the MGA is a good bit lighter than the
Alpine. Earl squeezed in a seventh run after he and the club
newsletter editor, Jim Donick, talked the chief stewart into letting
them both try to break their personal best times when I was packing up.
Unfortunately, Jim, in his Caddilac-Allard, didn't break 5:00 but
Earl just got below 6:00 by a tenth.
Next year I hope to be under 6 minutes if the VSCCA allows me to run
again. BTW< the website which the links take you to should have
photos from this years event within a few days.
Steve
|