It has taken Vern Sekafetz twelve years to turn his dream into reality. But it was well worth the wait as on Sunday, the 42-year old Kailua-Kona resident successfully organized Hawaii Island’s first ever Cyclocross event – Big Island Cyclocross.
It has taken Vern Sekafetz twelve years to turn his dream into reality. But it was well worth the wait as on Sunday, the 42-year old Kailua-Kona resident successfully organized Hawaii Island’s first ever Cyclocross event – Big Island Cyclocross.
Cyclocross, also known as CX, Cyclo-Cross or just Cross, is a very specific type of bike racing typically held during autumn and winter. For the most part, the course is off-road with riders expected to encounter grass, dirt, mud, gravel, sand, portions of pavement, and a whole slew of other assortments, combinations and weather conditions. The races are based on a set time with results measured by the number of laps completed, not distance. Depending on one’s category, a race can be as quick as 30 minutes or as long as 60 minutes.
“I used to take part in Cyclocross races in the Northwest — in Portland and in the Salem area of Oregon as that’s where I’m from,” Sekafetz said. “What appealed to me was that it just wasn’t about training hard and racing. It was more about having a lot of fun. I remember the first time I spectated a cyclocross race as a young adult I immediately knew that I had to do this.”
Sekafetz said that when he moved to Kona in 2005 to become the general manager at Bike Works Kona, he felt a bit surprised that there were no Cyclocross events on the island. While the wheels in his head immediately began to spin on ways to organize Big Island’s first event, it was put on hold as for a period of time, Sekafetz physically could not spin the wheels on his race bike.
“Being an employee at a Bike shop I’ve always wanted to make it happen,” Sekafetz said. “But I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) right before I moved here and I’ve since had multiple knee injuries that has kept me from getting really enthusiastic about it. I’ve always dreamed that if it was going to happen then I would be a part of it – I wanted to race it.”
Sekafetz said that over the years he kept his dream firmly tucked in the back of his mind while working hard to find his groove within Kona’s close knit athletic community and settle into a life that fit with his laid-back style. Now, with his knee injuries behind him, Sekafetz was ready to turn his dream into reality.
“Once I realized that there was strong interest from the community, we just needed a location,” he said. “We’ve struggled with finding a location here on the island, but I’ve befriended Diego, the park coordinator here at Old Airport, and he helped by giving me a couple of ideas of how we could do it. It was only after that point that it began to sink in that I could do this.”
Cyclocross racing has some obvious parallels with mountain bike racing, cross-country cycling and criterium racing. Courses typically include barriers and difficult technical features that will require the rider to quickly dismount, carry their bike while navigating the obstacle, then remounting before completing the multi-lap course.
Sekafetz decided upon a racecourse behind the Kekuaokalani Gym located at Old Airport that wound its way around the south baseball and soccer fields while including a fair amount of pavement for a fast road element. A mixture of grass, dirt, gravel, sharp S-turns, along with three sections of barricades and hilly run ups over large dirt and gravel piles highlighted what many considered to be a pretty tough and technical course.
In most Cyclocross races, officials wait to see how quickly riders complete the first lap before deciding how many total laps will be completed. Depending on course conditions and pack motivation, the total time can be a few minutes less or more.
“The race got altered a bit when I saw that there was enough pain on everyone’s faces,” Sekafetz said with a laugh. “This prompted me to make a judgment call to bring the race time down a bit by ten minutes and end the race at 35-minutes instead of 45. With the exception of the top two guys, I could see that everyone was hurting. And that’s what Cyclocross is about, you go very hard in a short amount of time.”
The battle of who would complete the most laps within the designated time frame began with Captain Cook’s David Matthiessen taking the lead within the first lap.
Matthiessen, who is originally from San Jose and started racing Cyclocross at 12-years of age, was definitely one of the more experienced riders on the course with his adept bike handling skills and quick transitions on and off the bike. The 44-year old said that he enjoyed Sunday’s racecourse and that his last competition was at the Bay Area Cyclocross series in 2011.
“I thought it was very technical – just a really good balance of tarmac with a lot of technical stuff – it was well done,” Matthiessen said.
As competitors trudged through the difficult features of the terrain lap after lap, it would be Volcano’s Todd Marohnic who made sure to keep a close eye on Matthiessen.
“I think I was in seventh or 8th position the first half lap,” Marohnic said. “David was a good 100-yards in front of me. I thought that if he stays there then great, but I thought that there was a good chance that he would start making mistakes.
“It was about halfway through the race when it looked like he stopped after we got out of the S-turns. I really don’t know, but it looked like he was checking his tires when I passed him. Then he tried to get back on me right away which I think taxed him out too, and then I think he gradually just gave it up.”
Marohnic, who won the Hawaii Cycling Club’s Prologue 10-Mile time trial in February, held onto his lead throughout the final bell lap to become Big Island’s first Cyclocross Champion with his completion of 12-laps.
“It felt good as I didn’t know how it would go,” said the 57-year old of his win. “I’ve been looking forward to Cross as this was my first race. I just liked the combination of road biking and mountain-type skills, so today’s race was a great meshing of the two.
Not too far behind and also completing 12 laps within the designated 35-minute time frame was Matthiessen, followed by Maximus Kluver in third.
“I had a mechanical midway through the race,” Matthiessen said. “My rear brake cable came off so I had to stop and put that back on. I think I went a little too hot in the beginning and gave a little too much. So when I had that mechanical and got passed then it was a struggle to keep up with Todd because he’s super fast.
“I was extremely excited for this inaugural event. I think I share Vern’s passion to bring Cyclocross to the Big Island because it’s such a fun sport. Anything where there is a half hour of really hard effort with lots of spectators heckling people and of course beer afterwards is always a plus.”
On the women’s side, Katelyn Ingersoll completed the most laps at nine, with Janet Higa-Miller in second place at 8-laps, and Ingrid Hillhouse in third with 7-laps.
“I thought I was dead last,” Ingersoll said with a smile. “But it was a really good race and there were a lot of good sportsmanship out there that made it fun.”
The 26-year old archaeologist said that she competed in collegiate road racing but had taken a few years off. Ingersoll thought that Sunday’s inaugural Cyclocross race provided the perfect opportunity to get back into the swing of things.
“No, I didn’t have a plan today but I thought it was a really good nice mix of terrains – grass, sand, a couple of uphill, so I thought it was really good,” she said. “Nice, short and sweet.”
As for the future of Cyclocross events on the Big Island, Sekafetz is hoping to create a three-part race series – Kona, Waimea, and Hilo. Sekafetz said the idea is to do something fun, simple and easy to get more people out riding their bikes, and is already in the planning stages to continue the event in Waimea and Hilo.
“I’m stoked,” Sekafetz said of Sunday’s turnout of 40 participants. “Everyone seemed to have fun, and there were no major injuries which is always a concern. And I was delighted and excited. Excited because I think that there is finally a spark to this event. Seeing everyone show up and stoked to do this, and already talking about the next one is what I was hoping to accomplish. So I’m happy.”