Hillclimbing is not the 450RL's strongest ability & things aren't getting easier | Quarry Run Part 6

This is part 6 of 8 following my first attempt at the Bear Creek Sportsmen Quarry Run Dual Sport Rally, which is a 100-mile rally consisting of public paved and dirt roads, and rugged off-road trails through private property in and around Hancock New York.

In this video, we hit the halfway point and continue after a great lunch provided by the club, recharge on some highway transits, stop for a fuel refill going back through town, and move towards the south side of Hancock, which I was hoping would be the "back 9" of the rally, hoping we'd conquered the worst of the terrain. Boy was I wrong! When we hit the trails south of Hancock, these were the most extreme so far. The biggest challenge as of yet for me in this rally was the "Hillclimb from Hell", which is what I named it after seeing it claim at least a dozen riders before it claimed me! The 450RL is just so throttle-happy that it throws down the horsepower in a fury of high-rpm wheel spinning, which is terrible for hill climbing loose dirt and rocks. I tried to finesse my way up the first time, going slow in first gear, but once I lost momentum, it was game over. I had to pick up the super top-heavy RL on the slope of this mountain (which the GoPro made look like a parking lot), and retreat back to the bottom and rethink my approach (and catch my breath). The next run I may have done in 2nd gear and just hung on, hoping more speed would help. It did, and I made it up luckily, because I was starting to get really nervous about this challenge. Also, it's worth noting that I couldn't turn around and go back, it was do-or-die, I HAD to do it!

Catch up on my journey by watching the previous videos and see how the rally has went up to this point, and continue watching to see how it ends. You can click into my playlists and find "Broken, Battered, Defeated. My experience at the Quarry Run Rally aboard a CRF450RL", which will have all parts of the Quarry Run Rally in order., which will have all parts of the Quarry Run Rally in order.