If records are made to be broken, then this year’s Pedal to the Meadow has to be considered a success. There were 85 cyclists who took on the Waimea Canyon climb this past Sunday morning. Two of them crossed the
If records are made to be broken, then this year’s Pedal to the Meadow has to be considered a success.
There were 85 cyclists who took on the Waimea Canyon climb this past Sunday morning. Two of them crossed the 15.75-mile course’s finish line bettering the previously held record time.
Mark Gelado, a paid elite cyclist from the Philippines, now holds the course record with a time of 59 minutes, 29 seconds – the first sub-hour climb the race has seen in its four years. Not far behind was Penn Henderson, who came through in 1:00:33.
The previous course record belonged to Eric Lau (1:03:47 in 2012).
One broken record and one broken bicycle were the stories of the day. Rider Sherrill Dean’s bike broke down roughly 10 miles into the uphill journey. Rather than bemoan his bad luck, Dean decided he was finishing the course, one way or another. He put his bike upon his shoulders and began ascending to Kokee.
Having seen him on the way up, other competitors finished the race, hopped in their cars and drove down to give him a lift. It seems that Dean informed them that unless they had plans to take him by force, there was no way he would be accepting vehicular assistance.
“Save me some food,” Dean told Maria Malia Finazzo-Kreuger.
Completing his race in the men’s 60-plus division, Lincoln Gill headed back towards Dean and asked if he had enough energy to run the final 50 yards.
“Of course!” was Dean’s response and the pair jogged together through the finish line. It will go down technically as a “DNF” in the official results, but Dean was indeed the 85th cyclist to cross the finish line and certainly had the respect and admiration of the other 84.
Pamella Stuart was the first woman to cross the finish line, with a time of 1:22:18. Second on the women’s podium was Krissandra Darrah (1:24:06), followed by Monique van der Aa (1:37:50), both members of host Tradewind Cycling Team.
Third place on the men’s side went to Jason Smith (1:04:50). Fourth place went to former Pedal champion Rick Beach (1:08:31), who was the event’s inaugural “King of the Mountain” back in 2010.
Just under half the cyclists came from places other than Kauai, be it other Hawaiian islands, California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, New York, Florida and the eventual champion from the Philippines. Many didn’t rest their muscles very long, as Kauai riders led some of the visitors on a far less strenuous, but beautifully scenic ride on Monday from Kapaa to Kee and back.
Race directors Mary and Binney Williamson express their mahalos to “the more than 50 volunteers who served as road marshals, the water station team, bottle retrievers, cheerleaders, cooks, servers, logistics guys and the support truck drivers.
“This amazing race would not happen with such efficiency and quality without each and every one of them,” Mary said.
• ‘My Thoughts Exactly’ appears Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays in The Garden Island. Email David Simon your comments or questions to dsimon@thegardenisland.com. Follow David on Twitter @SimonTGI
