The Hawaii Cycling Club culminated their busy year of cycling events with Saturday’s much anticipated 11th annual Big Island Time Trial Championships.
The popular cycling event attracted 30 cyclists and featured a rolling 15.6-mile route that began at the bottom of Kaiminani Drive and finished just before the entrance to the West Hawaii Sanitary Landfill.
As is the norm for all individual cycling time trial events, competitors began their race separated by 30-second intervals to ensure an honest, no drafting race as cyclists test themselves against the clock. Competitors are also allowed to choose their “mobile weapon” of choice — riding an aerodynamic triathlon bike, a road bike, a heavier mountain bike, and for the courageous, a single-speed.
For a third consecutive year, Waikoloa’s Daniel Hill claimed the overall title by having the fastest time of the morning, finishing in 35 minutes and 31 seconds on his triathlon bike. Keeping it a tight race was fellow Waikoloa resident, Sam Anderson-Moxley, who pedaled hard on his road bike to finish with the next fastest time of 36:06. Jeff Lassle secured the third podium spot with his time of 39:48.
Winning her first BITT Championship crown was Rebecca McKee who finished in a swift time of 39:18 for an average speed of 23.8 miles per hour. It also happened to be the exact winning time of last year’s female champion, Papaaloa’s Melissa Schad.
Cary Craig had the next fastest female time of 42:31, followed by Kailua-Kona’s Laura Yamasaki who wrapped up the women’s top three with her time of 42:51.
An honorable mention goes to Kailua-Kona’s John Barnett, who at a young 81-years of age, finished the 15.6-mile time trial race with a speedy time of 53:39. Kailua-Kona’s Gerald Gruber (78-years) finished in 43:26, Harry “The Hammer” Yoshida (74-years) in 47:56, Wendy Minor (77-years) in 58:27, and Edward McFerran (70-years) at 1:00:17.
“A big shout out to Edward McFerran and Noelle Linderman for taking up bicycling and competing in a time trial. Noelle was especially excited. They reflect the people HCC wants to encourage to bicycle and to test themselves. I admire them for getting out there, not only competing but also having fun while doing it. And showing so show much enthusiasm and happiness after finishing!” HCC Race Director Tom Solis added in an email.
Congratulations to all who competed in the Big Island Time Trial Championships!
