Mike Ryan racing the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

With the encouragement of Stunt Men and Motorcycle racers Eddie Mulder and Mickey Alzola, Mike entered the Open Amateur Motorcycle Class in the 1995 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. He finished mid-pack and came back again in 1996 to place in a similar position. In both of those years, Sid Compton a semi truck racer from the Great American Truck Racing series days, raced his GATOR Truck at Pikes Peak, being the first Big Truck to ever enter and race the Hill Climb. In 1997, with the support of Shell Oil, Freightliner Trucks and Pine Branch Coal Sales, Mike entered an old GATOR truck purchased from Fred Burroughs of upstate NY. Mike shattered Sid’s record of 15:48 by 1:08 and established a new big rig record of 14:40. Since then, Mike has broken his own record 6 times, for a total of 3:10 seconds, and has had 13 class wins, making him the largest class time reduction since pre-WWII. Mike will run his truck in the 2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb for the 16th time.