Cycle to the Sun - CycleRoad Race

Weather "seemed" perfect. Clear skies on the voyage from Paia (sea level) to the top of Haleakala (10,023 feet) over 36 miles (5.3% avg grade)

Positioned myself about 20 feet behind the start line and unlike last year, when the gun went off, the leaders did not sprint off. The top 30 or so stayed as a peloton through the first few miles. Slowly a few would drop off along the way, but as we approached the first steep climb at about mile 7, that's when the break happend, and we went from a peloton to many strung out lines. I latched on to a small group of 4, but made probably the stupidest mistake ever in a bike race. There are a few short downhills that last about 10-20 seconds where you can go into your big ring. But it's important to remember to shift back down into your small ring. I didn't. For at least 2 miles I was grinding in my big ring wondering why the heck it felt so hard. I kept looking to see if I had a flat. The grade was only about 3-4% at this point, so it wasn't entirely obvious I was in my big ring...LOL.

Anyway, I soon drop off the small group as my HR is just a little too high, and I know if I try to hang on too long, I'm going to pay for it at the end. So my TT begins. I'm feeling okay, hydrating, and just getting ready for the hardest part of the race which is the middle third where it is the steepest.

The one thing is though, I'm noticing the wind. Last year, once you got into the park entrance, at around 4000-5000 feet, the wind was pretty non existant. Not so much this year, and the way the switchbacks are setup, you're either going straight into the wind or have a tailwind. The tailwind was nice, but OMG the headwind is just brutal. I was in my 34/27 just grinding. I did hit the 5000 foot mark at 1:40, so I was on pace for a 3:20 finish, but I knew the headwinds were going to make 3:30 a challenge at this point.

One thing that really irritated me though was that something got in my eye, and probably scratched the surface. So I was basically riding up the last 2 hours with just one eye. Couldn't really do anything but look straight down at the white line and the pavement.

As I got to 7000 feet, I still felt okay, but I was just sick of the wind. I watched my average speed drop like an anchor, and 3:30 was now looking pretty bleak. With my eye issues, I couldn't even enjoy the view. Not sure I would have wanted to with the wind though. I just wanted to be done and just kept pressing on. Another difference from last year is with the wind...I was cold. Not shivering cold, but my fingers were going a little numb.

I cramped up at 8500 feet last year, but this year I didn't cramp at all. But at 9000 feet I just wanted to go to sleep. I kept adjusting my hand positions, and really just wanted to rest my forearms on my handlebars so I could rest my head on them. I'm guessing the altitude was getting to me.

As I approached the finishing stretch, I was able to pass one last guy, but there was another guy up ahead that I just couldn't get myself to chase. I think mentally, I was just done.




Lose some weight. Still not down to my ideal weight...but I trained really hard and given the conditions, am quite happy with the results.

I got off my bike and got my jacket which was waiting for me at the finishing line. And after my body cooled down, I was freezing. The wind was still blowing and I swear the wind chill was below 50 degrees. Last year I waited at the finish in just a t-shirt and it was no problem. This year I had to bundle in the van and wait for others to finish.

I knew a few of my training friends would finish for sure, but was worried about a few others including my girlfriend as the conditions were way worse than any of us were expecting. Luckily, everyone made it to the top, however some were not official finishers. No big deal though...it wasn't a race to them. They know they climbed Haleakala, and that's all that matters. My GF made it in at 6:01...just under the 6:30 cutoff.

Went to the post race party and had a few beers. Turns out my GF ended up winning her AG. Well, there were only 3 of them, and 2 of them place OA (3:26 and 3:36), so she was bumped up to first. She originally didn't want to go up on the podium and stand next to them since they were so much faster, but when she got to stand on the top podium by herself with the first place medal, she was all smiles.



I know I can get my weight down into the 140's, it's just a matter of committing to it. I also think I peaked too early. Last year I did my huge week of training 3 weeks before the race...this year I did it 6 weeks prior. I felt my strongest 2 weeks ago. The placement of Pineapple Hill and Tinman didn't help either. If I skipped Tinman, that would have given me one extra big week right when I needed it.


Good race. Post race food was pretty lacking. Something not prepackaged would have been nice. More hot tea...I was the 32nd finisher and they were already out of tea? I bet all the volunteers drank it all because they were freezing their asses off.

They're moving this race to the end of June next year because of some type of fiscal request by the National Park. Which likely means I will never do Honu and this race in the same year again. Either way, I was thinking of doing Sea to Stars next year anyway. Now that would be an epic race.