Gary,



This looks interesting!!

Mike

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TheBikeRacer.com

Yea it is a pretty cool race, mass start and hang on for dear life. The Big Island has a similar race up Mauna Kea two weeks before that one as well. Usually they get a couple of guys from the mainland, but none of the super climbers as it is expensive to get to HI and not a real big prize list. Great race and a "must do" one time just for fun. G

I have driven up the road and ridden down it...they have bike tours where they drive you to the top in a van, cover you in body armor and an old motorcycle helmet and push you off on a MTB with very large brakes.

They also have a Run to the Sun on the same course every March or April I think. When I was there there were a lot of people training on the mountain....didn't look like much fun to me.


Oh yeah...forgot to mention....the first 10 miles are flat or rolling....the 10,000 foot climb starts after that.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

It is far from fun.

Either take a jacket or have someone hand you a jacket about 2/3 of the way up. It starts hot then gets pretty cold.

Definitely need a good jacket near the top. I remember sunrise on Haleakala as frigid. Beautiful though. The temperature drop was severe as was the wind everytime I was at the top. Hate to think what the ride up in that wind is like. If you survive the ride, eat at the Hali Mali General Store. The chef - Beverly Gannon is great as is the food.

Good luck Gary.

Gary,

I have done the "run to the Sun" I remember it as 37 miles, every foot uphill. Maybe they have a different start for the cycle.

Anyhow, if you do it be prepared for varying weather conditions. When you are in the clouds it is very cold. When you are above them it is quite hot. At least that is my experience.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

I didn't do the race but when my family and I went on vacation two summers ago I brought the bike with me so I could do this climb. I'm a climber and to put the ride in simple words, that thing was a b*tch but is one of the things that I'm most proud of ever doing.

If you guys want to see pictures from my ride of how freakin' high up this mountain is go to my website! http://homepage.mac.com/derekoskutis Or just go directly to the Hawaii trip page... http://homepage.mac.com/derekoskutis/PhotoAlbum8.html

The guy who won it occasionally posts to the topica wattage forum. He sent me a copy of his SRM file for the race. One look at it quickly put the thought out of my head of ever being competitive in it.

-jens

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

there's only one hill that you will climb, it's all uphill once you get into the park. i've done the run but not the bike. it's really nice till you leave the tree line then it's not quite as scenic unless it's a clear day and you can see the island. just a word of caution be careful not to spill water on yourself as it's quite cold at the upper elevations. you may want to take arm/leg warmer that you can pull up when you reach the higher elevations. put on a lot of sun screen especially on your ears and back of your neck, as this can be very painful to get sunburned on them.

Frank, don't they start the race down near the beach in Paia? From what I recall its about8-10 mils from there to the base of the mountain.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

I don't remember a single "downhill" section after leaving the airport. It wasn't very up until you made that left turn, but it was up every single step as i remember it. I remember getting a bottle of pineapple wine when I finished. Did you get anything?

It was my doing this race in 1977 that was, in part, what convinced me that i could do the first IM when I heard about it in 1978.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

[reply]Frank, don't they start the race down near the beach in Paia? From what I recall its about8-10 mils from there to the base of the mountain.[/reply]
Maybe now. We started at the airport. sea level to over 10,000 feet is what they said. Probably really 3 feet to over 10,000 feet in case the cheese is listening in, don't want to puff up my accomplishments. :-)

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

The run and the bike start in different locations. The ride used to be a time trial, but since is reincarnation, it has been a mass start. The race is run as a charity fund raiser, so the entry fee is steep. From Paia there are actually some flat and down hill sections within the first 4-5 miles of the course. Once you begin the climb it is generally uphill with one very short flat section within the park where you can use your big chain ring. That section lasts for all of a minute.

The race conditions can vary. One year it was so cold , wet and windy I swear I saw snow. Other years it is blazing hot. From the bottom of the hill you cannot precdict exactly what the conditions will be like at the top. Bst advice: Take arm warmers in the back pocket.

The views are incredilble and the final short hill to the finish line will bring out your finest profanities. I have not gone up the hill since it changed to the mass start format, but I can say that it should still be a race that you will always remember. Indeed, you will probably keep and maybe even wear the tee-shirt from this one.

I bet his average wattage was 285w.

Am I close?

"Anyhow, if you do it be prepared for varying weather conditions. When you are in the clouds it is very cold. When you are above them it is quite hot. At least that is my experience. "

Thanks, if I do go for it, lots of planning will have to be done. A long sleeve skinsuit should do the trick.

Lots of training for this one, if I do it.

Looks like I would have to average 285w for the course, which would put me at 2:50-2:55 to be competitive.

That has just been added to my "Races to do before I die" list.

285 isn't too far off the actual power. Keep in mind, he only weighs 140-something. If you check out his website:

http://www.mikezagorski.com/

It gives a quadrant analysis and lists his functional threshhold (1hour power) at 350 watts. I'm not sure that he wants to divulge the actual power or the file, so it's probably best if you ask him directly for it.

Note, that, if you assume a time-weighted average altitude of 6000 feet (which I think is probably conservative), you lose about ~11% of your power. So if you want to average 285 watts on this ride, you'll need to be able to hold about 315 at sea level (for 3 hours).

Can you do 5.4 watts/kilo for an hour?

-- Jens

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

"Can you do 5.4 watts/kilo for an hour? "

Gosh no. That's huge - like in the range of David Zabriskie and John Lieswyn.

I'm shooting for 4.4 watts/kilo for an hour (325w/~74k) by next summer (USCF CAT 3).

Consider your trip back down carefully. After the ride up, riding down can be very very cold . I opted to get picked up at the top and have a meal waiting for me in the van. Was a fantastic ride.

Tom

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"Boldly Going Nowhere"

The race is one way. Then they shuttle you down.

Race site says you are prohibited from riding down. That looks a great race, and a great reason to return to Maui as if Exterra, sun, sea, surf, food, the people etc wasn't enough.

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

I was there last August, in Kaanapali, but did not know about the CTTS race, and didn't have a bike. I did not drive Haleakala, but wanted to. I hear it is very scenic.

I stayed outside Lahaina and saw most of the island on the week before Ironman, hence I did not take my bike as I didn't want to take an athlete's space in the hold. I went up to the summit with Hike Maui for a 10k crater walk, fantastic scenery and views. A must do if you visit the island.

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS