Deano did warn me that you can learn an awful lot about yourself in 3 minutes on the Hill Climb.
My girl and I arrived as planned on the saturday and despite the nerves I managed to get set up and ready to ride. The two warm up rides were deceptively reassuring despite the gravel on the early section, and I was nervous but keen. My plan was to have a go at getting a baseline time and then look at taking thin slices off it. What I soon discovered was that without a good knowledge of the course, I wasn't going to be achieving much apart from skidmarks, on corner entries and other places. At the top I couldn't even remember the first 5 corners. So, after the first 2 runs the plan changed to focussing on memorising the layout and to hell with the times. Adrenalin seems to help with the memory of unhelpful things, not important information like " this corner opens up nicely". A chat to some of the more experienced riders like Drew, Deano, Sully and others helped me think about the ideal ways to approach some of the sections. I also found talking with Koba and Limbimtimwim about how their riding was going helped me remember parts of the course too. With these two being on 400's as well, my goal was to get in front of them on the score sheet. Alas, this was not to be. What happened to being respectful to old c#@*s?
Best speed on day 1 was probably a 3.05. Hardly going to get me a factory ride.
The rumble was cool and I got a decent enough sleep. Waking with a clear head and determined to improve my times. I managed to be in the first half dozen or so on the first run and just stuck to the basics. Trust my memory, don't scare myself on the gravel patches, less braking, more throttle and so on. I got to the top to be told that I had just done a 2.45. "That was too easy" "Shit, what was I doing yesterday?". I was suspicious about this and my suspicions were confirmed when my next run was a 2.56. There was no way there was 10 second difference between runs. The first reported time was obviously wrong. Bugger.
The rest of my day was all about trying to improve my course knowledge and chipping away at my times. Culminating in a best time of 2.54. I'm pleased and disappointed with this. Glad I gave it a lunge. Congratulations to the Koba and Limbimtimwim.
What I learned?
- This type of racing has different challenges to track racing.
- I have well honed survival instincts that get in the way of hurling myself around blind corners at max speed and decent lean angle.
- I will be back next year to learn some more.
- This event is special.
Thanks to the organisors of the Cliffhanger and the rally. Many thanks to the volunteers who work so hard so us riders can get our thrills.
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Originally Posted by Clivoris
Karma ... Justice catches up eventually !! 
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