Just when you thought the island’s most brutal hill climb cycling races were done and over with – like last month’s Sea To Stars 48-mile race up to the summit of Mauna Kea and Kaloko’s Pedal Till Ya Puke 6-Mile
Just when you thought the island’s most brutal hill climb cycling races were done and over with – like last month’s Sea To Stars 48-mile race up to the summit of Mauna Kea and Kaloko’s Pedal Till Ya Puke 6-Mile climb on Kaloko Drive – came yet another torturous climb for cycling enthusiasts.
On Saturday, the Hawaii Cycling Club hosted the Mauna Loa Training Time Trial, a 17-mile climb that began from the Mauna Loa Access road and finished above the clouds at the Mauna Loa Observatory – at a whopping 11,000 feet in elevation.
As one of the largest volcanoes in the world, Mauna Loa stands 13,679 feet above sea level, just 120 feet shy of its sister, Mauna Kea. Although it may not be the tallest volcano, it is the longest — as its name implies — and covers half of the Big Island with it’s gentle, shallow slopes.
What lacked in the number of participants on Saturday was more than made up in the quality of the field – 13 racers and 5 untimed participants who showed up and began the race on an individual time trial format, on 1-minute intervals.
Alan Eriksson proved to be the fastest of the day, easily winning over the field with his time of 1 hour, 26 minutes and 58 seconds. Eriksson’s time was a few minutes shy of Penn Henderson’s 2013 course record time of 1:21:47.
The race for second turned out to be an exciting duel between Ben Torres and Kona’s top female cyclist, Tawnie McDonald.
McDonald began her dominance among the women’s cycling field this season by winning the first two individual time trials of the year, The Prologue and Kua Bay, followed by a victory at Sea To Stars just last month.
While Torres claimed second overall with his time of 1:40:52, McDonald was not far behind and crossed the finish line in a new women’s course record time of 1:42:22. The previous women’s course record was held by Kona’s Kym Kiser of 1:47:11 set just last year.
An impressive feat considering that the course also measured 0.3 miles longer than previous years.
Rounding out the men’s podium was Jeff Lassie in 1:53:28, with Jennifer Real and Pamela Harlow claiming the next two spots for the women with their times of 1:57:47 and 2:32:36 respectively.
An honorable mention went out to the five riders who made it to the top without an official time: Paul Burke, Doug Dollinger, Steve Fraser, Toni Romp-Friesen and Bob Smith.
Race Director, Tom Solis, best summed up the day by saying; “It was a great day for the Mauna Loa.”
