On yer Pike

Sir,

I found October’s article on Pike’s Peak very interesting. When in Colorado last year I drove my rented Oldsmobile Regency sedately to the summit and marvelled at the skill and nerve of those who annually race up this hill with its unprotected edges. I then visited the Pike’s Peak Museum where the very first car to ascend the hill, many years before the highway was opened, was exhibited. It was described on an accompanying notice as follows: “First auto to conquer 14,110 ft Pike’s Peak was this two cylinder 5 1/2hp 1900 Locomobile Steamer.” That climb to the summit took 11 1/2 hours on August 12 1901 . The return trip, in three hours, was undertaken mostly in the dark with only dim lamps to light the way. The route was a long-abandoned carriage road so bad that even horse-drawn vehicles could not use it.

My wife found the drive most alarming and expressed the wish that Mr Pike had never discovered it!

Stanley Sedgwick, Cobham, Surrey.