The Race
Race report: Cycle to the Sun (Haleakala Hill Climb Time Trial) Maui, Hawaii
Other Team Members: Phill Mai, Tara Kurihara (FFBC Club member)
Category: Non USAC event, age category 50-59/35 competitors
Number of Competitors: 153 total(from the perspective of West Kurihara)
Intro
This is my 2nd year of doing this event and third time climbing Haleakala. It’s the time of the year that works for me with work, school and vacation schedules. I can do the race and take a well-deserved break from my job. Haleakala is supposed to be the longest paved road hill climb with the greatest elevation change, sea level to 10,000+ feet. The race has limit of 200 people limited by the permit with the US national parks system. The field is mostly a US crowd but about 10% are international entries. The unofficial best time was done a few years ago by Ryder Hesjdal in under 2.5 hours. For those non Tour de France caliber racers, anything under 3 hours is smoking fast and definitely puts you in elite company.
Haleakala
Haleakala is actually a very smooth and consistent climb. Most of the road surface good to fantastic. About 90% of the climb is between 4-6% gradient. The difficulty of the climb is the length, final altitude, and potential wind and weather conditions. If you are lucky enough to have favorable weather conditions (no rain, no high winds), you could set a personal best time. If the weather is not good, it will definitely be a memorable event. Climbing the mountain, there are three weather regions. The first is from 0 – 4000 ft. This is usually warm and humid. The cloudy region is between 4000 – 7000 feet. This band could be wet and stormy. The last region, 7000 – 10,000+ is usually clear but cooler and sometimes very windy. Then middle region is the most unpredictable and you just have to look at the cloud patterns and wind direction in the morning to make an educated guess as to how conditions will be. It is very unpredictable and can change within an hour.
Pre-Race
The start of the race is a mass start at the Paia bypass road at 6:30am. Paia is just a few feet above sea level. This is a big event for this little town because this is a big fund raiser for one of the local charities. There is a limit of 200 riders than can participate in this event capped by the National Park service permit. This year there were 147 individuals and 6 three person relay teams entered. Most entrants are Americans from Hawaii, Colorado, California & Washington, with a sprinkling of others from other states. Other international entrants consistently come from Japan and Australia with a few others thrown in.
My personal goal this year was to try and get under 3:30. Last year my time was a dismal 3:42. I did not really train or plan for the 2014 race as the whole trip was a last minute decision to do the race and take a break from work. This year I did plan on the event months in advance and modified my training to include several weekends of 8K+ feet of climbing at high temps and high altitudes. We (Tara, Charlotte, Aron (Tara’s friend), Phill and Jennifer) all arrived on Maui on Tuesday so Wednesday we did a recon ride up Haleakala. Phill rode almost the entire climb and Tara and I started from the 4K elevation point to ride an easy pace to the park visitor center at 7K ft. Along the way up we ran into Phill and decided to ride to the park entrance and jump into our support van to avoid the individual $5 rider fee, cross the park entrance (only paying for the vehicle) and got out further up the road. The weather was already wet and rainy so we wanted to get above the weather before continuing our ride. On this day the winds were actually blowing up across and up the mountain in our favor and we actually had a nice tail wind. The clouds were quite high and we never really escaped them. Visibility was probably less than 30m so Phill and I were both surprised when we ended up at the top of the climb. Between the tailwinds, conversation, limited visibility we just ended up at the top at 10,023 feet without realizing it. It all seemed really easy. Phill was planning on riding down but Tara and I were planning on riding in our support vehicle down the mountain. It was raining and cool at this altitude. Phill borrowed my rain jacked and rode down. Tara and I have ridden down when the weather was good and it’s a blast.
The Start
On Saturday, Tara and I arrived at Paia at 5:30am. Charlotte and Tara’s friend Aron were driving our support vehicle which would take us down the mountain at the end of the race (riders are not allowed to ride down as part of the park permit instructions). The race was a mass start on a narrow street named the Paia Bypass Road, basically a one lane, one direction road that goes around the town center street named Baldwin Ave. The climbing started right from the first foot of the start line.The first five miles were very mild at 3-4% gradient to a town called Makawao. I had timing marks written down based upon last year. Makawao was the first checkpoint for me and my goal was to get to Makawao at least one minute slower than last year. I was not riding with a power meter or heart rate. My powertap wheel is too heavy and I simply forgot to bring my HRM chest strap.
Time Checkpoint #1, Makawao Rd & Baldwin Ave, Mile 6.9
The pace to Makawao was surprisingly mild compared to 2014. We were probably going 1 mph slower, a sane and reasonable pace considering the time and elevation ahead. I was turning a comfortable cadence between 75 – 95 rpm. Power output was probably within the range of 200-260 watts. I was taking advantage of the draft from the lead group. At the first time check at Makawao Ave, I was 90 seconds slower than last year and as far as I was concerned, this was perfect! At this point, there is a steeper pitch of about 10% for couple of hundred meters and this is where the pack tends to split up a bit. I was determined to not make all the mistakes of 2014, so I geared down and maintained my tempo and power level. A good portion of the pack got up and sprinted a bit and separated from me, but I did not care! Looking over my shoulder, there was a sizable gap to the next group of riders behind me. Phill was in the mix of the lead group and was riding near the front. This was the last I would see of Phill until the end!
Time Checkpoint #2, HWY 377, Mile 9.2
The section from Makawao to this point can be described as upward rollers with a bit of flat and even a few very short descents. It’s higher speed here and I was taking advantage of the draft of a taller gentleman who was perfectly happy to ride point through this section. When I made the left turn on HWY 377, my time was back even with 2014. I had made up the 90s in the last 3 miles but felt good. My cadence, power output, and HR all seemed consistent. I knew I was on track.
Time Checkpoint #3, HWY 378/377 junction, Mile 14.1, Elevation 3,400 ft.
One third of the climbing was behind me. At this checkpoint I was about two minutes ahead of 2014. I was planning on making up the majority of the 12 minutes I needed on the 2nd half of the climb. Making up 10+ minutes in the next 22 miles and 6,600 ft. elevation was not so far-fetched considering how badly I fell apart last year. Everything was going well, cadence, HR. I was also starting to run down and pass some of the guys from the lead group that were ahead of me. This part of the climb starts an almost endless array of turns that zigzag up up up.
Time Checkpoint #4, Visitor Toll Gate, Mile 24.5, 6,650 ft.
2/3 of the way there. I think I was about 7 minutes ahead of last year. Still catching a few people that went too hard (like me last year). At this point, I was hoping for a tail wind like on Wednesday but it was becoming evident that the wind was reversed today and it was feeling like a head wind for much of the last 10 miles. Last year at this point, I was really in trouble, legs full of lactic acid. Breathing heavily and running on the verge of unconsciousness if I tried to push harder. It seemed like other riders were passing me left and right, men, women, children on tricycles, etc.. lack of oxygen really plays tricks on you. This time, I was still feeling good, cadence high, HR good, and definitely riding faster than 2014. I wanted to push harder and increase my tempo, but at this point I was really feeling the altitude. Any pushes to increase effort were met with dizziness and darkness on the periphery of my vision. I had to increase my distance to the right hand side of the road to allow for a less steady line.
Time Checkpoint #5, Kalahaku Overlook Turnout, Mile 33, 9095 ft.
Three miles to go and about 1Kft elevation. My time still appeared to be about 7 minutes ahead of 2014, but I had not made up any time in the last 9 miles. The headwind was impeding any gains. 2014 had dead calm wind conditions. Today, it feels like a 5 knot head wind. The end of the race is at the top parking lot but there is a 10 – 15% grade up the last quarter mile and 300 vertical feet. It was very windy at this point and the finish was much tougher than on Wednesday’s recon ride. I passed two people in this last steep section that were just barely turning the peddles over.
The Finish
Crossing the finish line in an official time of 3:35:39.075 6th place of 35 in the 50-59 age group, 28th overall out of 126 men. I didn’t quite make my goal of a sub 3:30 time, but given the wind conditions I felt OK with my effort. I rode a smart time trial, riding within myself and correcting all the mistakes I made last year. My preparation was much better. Doing some post race calculations I figured that if I drop 4 pounds (bike & body) that’s worth -6 minutes right there. Something to think about for next year. Phill had finished in 3:10:08.725, good for 9th overall for men and 3rd of 34 in the M40-49 age group. Tara finished in a time of 4:05:24.365, good for 1st in the W18-29 (only entrant) and 7th of 21 overall for women.
Conclusion
All in all, another good event and fun trip. I still have an unfulfilled goal of breaking 3:30. I think as long as I can keep improving my times, I’ll keep doing this event.
Team members Patricia Vo and Brian (Patricia’s son) also climbed the Haleakala crater on July 25, 2015. Their post can be found here. To learn more about the annual Cycle to the Sun race, click here.