Bike Week hill climb leaving Gunstock for new Canaan venue

GILFORD — The hill climb, a popular feature of Motorcycle Week run at Gunstock Mountain Resort from 1938 until 1962 and again since 1993, will be held in Canaan, the home of Ridge Runner Promotions, beginning in June 2012.

Mike Farnsworth of Ridge Runner Promotions, which has long sponsored the hill climb , said yesterday that he will bring the American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Pro Hill Climb Series to the group's 60-acre site in Canaan, where a hill has been built for "the fastest bikes on the planet." The event will be billed the "Shawn P. Farnsworth Memorial Hill Climb" after his brother, a professional hill climb rider who died in October from injuries suffered in the last race of the season at Oregonia, Ohio.

Farnsworth said that "we appreciated all the time we raced at Gunstock and are grateful to the management of the resort for supporting the sport for so many years" and explained that '"we broke our ties with Gunstock in the best interest of the sport."

Greg Goddard, general manager of Gunstock, said he only recently learned of Fransworth's decision to move the event. He acknowledged that "we were having discussions about changing some aspects of the event and I was not surprised by the decision. We had a wonderful partnership with Ridge Runners," he continued. "They were good to work with and we wish them nothing but success."

Charlie St. Clair, executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association, welcomed the change of venue. "The AMA circuit is the Olympics of hill climbing. This will be a very competitive event and I really like adding motorcycle events to the rally." He noted that Canaan is 36 miles from Laconia (to the west) and "a really nice ride."

Farnsworth said that the hill climb will not only move to a new venue but also take on a fresh character. The event will be run on a 400-foot hill, designed and built for the Pro Hill Climb Series. The last of the three tiers on the hill is a 100-foot climb with a vertical slope of 76 degrees, which the bikes take at 60 miles per hour. Instead of racing against one another, riders will race against the clock and the terrain. "These bikes are way too aggressive to run side by side," Farnsworth said, adding that the 200-pound chain driven machines pack between 200 and 300 horsepower fueled by nitrous oxide, nitrous methane and alcohol.

"We will have 70 riders, including all the best in the east competing for a minimum $13,000 purse," Farnsworth said. "It will be the best motorcycle show anyone's ever seen. We're trying to make Bike Week better for everyone."

Goddard said that "we're beginning the process of deciding what the role of Gunstock in Bike Week will be." Without ruling out staging a hill climb of its own, he said "we're still very interested in Bike Week and will consider different events."