7th Annual Sea to Stars Mauna Kea Hill Climb

It seemed like deja vu when I was standing there listening to the pre-race introduction for the 2nd year in a row. The only bike race I have ever done is this crazy one, which is why all of my memories of the course remain so vivid. (I'm the 2nd rider from the left in the white jersey and black shorts). I look so focused!

This is me riding the 3 mile warm up before the official race starts. It was hot as balls and we were still cruising at 18 - 22 mph the entire time!!! You can see the redness in my face already. I decided to open my jersey in the beginning to avoid overheating. I'm riding with my friends Brett (next to me), Tim (directly behind me), and Dan (diagonally behind me in the green jersey). My main goal for the race was to beat Tim since he has proven to be the strongest climber in the training group that I ride with. My only advantage over him is that I have excellent endurance and I'm a better all-around rider. He is so light that steep hills are easy for him, but he doesn't have enough power to ride hard on the flat sections. He's also a very smart rider, so he will back off if he is riding at a pace that he knows is too fast. I think much less about strategy and just ride my guts out at all times. I decided that I would kill it in the beginning to get him off my back wheel so that he wouldn't be able to draft me and I wouldn't have to worry about him for the rest of the race. There were a few more of my friends in the race, but you can't see them in this photo.

Once the race started, the pace got intense. The strongest riders were in the front trying to drop the rest of the field, while all of the riders in the main field were constantly sprinting and scrambling around each other to stay as close to the leaders as possible. The top 5 leaders in this picture were cut off, but the black rider in 6th is at the head of this group leading the charge. You can see me on the left side near the back with Tim right next to me! In the distance, you can see some of the riders that have already been left. This is only about 2 miles into the actual race lol.

After about mile 4 or 5, the leaders were getting too far ahead, so most of us at this point gave up on chasing them. My friend, Dan, made a crazy attack to catch the leaders but died out before he was successful. He told me after the race that he got within 20 feet of them but then ran out of gas! This is me leading the main field as we attempt to catch up to Dan who shows weaknesses after making an unsuccessful attack. It's nice that the photographer got a shot of me in the center of the frame, but I would have preferred a panoramic view of the mass of riders behind me.

Dan, the rider in black, and myself eventually broke away from the field. We could not see the leaders, but we were riding in 6th, 7th, and 8th.

Right before a downhill section, I switched into my big ring too early and my chain dropped. I had to get off my bike and put my chain back on, so I fell back about 30 seconds. This is me catching back up to Dan and the rider in black after dropping my chain. At this point in the race, Tim is several minutes back and of no threat to me.

The black rider and I continued to ride together and eventually dropped Dan. Here you can see my friends Dan and Rob in the middle. Little did I know, the black rider I was competing with won this race 2 yrs ago. In other words, HE WAS OUT OF MY LEAGUE!!! I was going too hard in the first half of the race trying to stay with him and I should have backed off like these guys did. I was still battling for 6th/7th while this group is 8th - 11th at the moment.

I eventually got dropped by the rider in black and rode miles 20 - 32 pretty much solo. I was hurting really bad and paying for my really fast start at this point. The headwinds were slowing me down a lot and my legs kept spazzing out, which is a common occurrence in a race like this where you are going all out for 4 hours and climbing so many darn hills. From mile 33 - 36, there were 3 guys that were riding in a pace line and passed me on a downhill. I tried to keep up with them, but my legs were too tired to spin that fast and I wasn't able to hang on.

I continued to ride solo until mile 38 when Dan passed me! I remember his wife yelling, "Good job baby!" I thought she was talking to me since I wasn't aware Dan was creeping up, but the true recipient of those cheers became apparent after a few seconds of false empowerment. We rode together for the next 4.5 miles in 10th and 11th place as we approached the brutal 6 mile hill finishing stretch that includes consistent climbs of 17% and higher. 

This is a picture comparison of the winner at the beginning of the race and during the final climb of the race. Notice the difference in his facial expressions?!?! That's what it takes to complete this race. Even the strongest rider is whincing in anguish!!!!

I led Dan for the first 2 miles of the 6 mile hilly finish....basically the first 2 easy miles.

This is Dan dropping me on the final 4 miles of the race when the elevation really spiked. I was just in survival mode at that point.

This was about a mile from the finish. He looked like he was starting to crack, but I was too far behind to make up the distance.

This is me crossing the finish line at 9,300 ft. The race started at sea level, and due to the downhill sections in the race, we climbed at total of 10,000 ft!!! The race directors were yelling at me to slow down since there is nothing but gravel after the finish, but I ignored them because I wanted to get the best possible time that I could lol. After this picture, I slid through 40 ft of gravel! My time last year was 4:21 and my time this year was 4:09. I finished in 11th place overall and 2nd in the Men's Elite Category 4/5. I was only 2 minutes behind a Cat 3 rider. Only the top 5 riders finished in under 4 hours, so I was only a few minutes behind 6th place!!! The race was pretty tight. The final climbs were so steep and long that I could see everyone ahead of me, but you're working so hard just to keep pedaling that you can't really catch up to anyone. The only way to pass someone on a 20% graded hill is if they quit and get off their bike to walk lol. Dan pulled ahead of me in the final 3 miles to finish in 10th at 4:08. I think I'm a little bit stronger than him, but I worked too hard in the beginning while he worked together with others more during the race to conserve energy. Rob finished in 13th place in 4:15. My friend Steve finished in 17th with a 4:24. Tim and Brett dropped out of the race!!! A lot of people fail to finish this race, and with a 6 hour cutoff, some are just not fast enough to make it. I was pleased with my effort but I'm disappointed in my racing tactics.

Goals for next year: My bike is currently very heavy for a road bike (22.5 lbs). Most of the riders have 15lb bikes, which gives them a huge advantage on hills. My goal for next year is to buy new wheels and pedals to make my bike lighter (under 20 lbs). I also plan on doing more long distance hill training and going out at more of a steady pace next year. Last year I beat Dan by 3 minutes, but this year he beat me by 1 minute. I plan on kicking his ass next year (sorry Dan!). I hope to someday break the 4 hour mark assuming the winds are in my favor, and I would like to win the Cat 4/5 race. I may decide not to run the 5K race this weekend, but I am still game for the Olympic distance triathlon August 28th!!!