LIHUE — After arriving on Kauai Wednesday, Mark Galedo of the Philippines was on the road Thursday. Galedo is the defending champion of the Pedal to the Meadow uphill bicycle climb to Kokee and will be among the field of
LIHUE — After arriving on Kauai Wednesday, Mark Galedo of the Philippines was on the road Thursday.
Galedo is the defending champion of the Pedal to the Meadow uphill bicycle climb to Kokee and will be among the field of cyclists Sunday when the event unfolds at 8 a.m. in Kekaha.
“Last year, my goal was to win my first race,” Galedo said during a break from a training ride. “This year, my goal is to just better my time.”
Gary Advincula, administrative director of RaceBike Philippines, said Galedo comes here on the heels of winning the individual championship at Le Tour Filipinas, a four-stage race.
“I have been in mountain training because of Le Tour Filipinas race,” Galedo said. “That race had three mountain stages and a flat stage. After the Pedal to the Medal, there is a mountain race in Indonesia, the Tour of Sinkarak.”
The defending champion, averaging between eight to 10 races a year, set a new standard with his winning ride to the Meadow in 2013, breaking into the 50-minute mark with a ride of 59 minutes, 29 seconds, handily breaking the 2012 record set by Eric Lau at 1:03:47.
Hawaii amateur Penn Henderson, finishing second in the 2013 event, also slipped in at a previous record-breaking pace, crossing at 1:00:33.
Mary Williamson, Pedal to the Meadow race co-director, said this year’s event also attracted Kaeo Kruse, a student at Kamehameha Schools who recently set the Hawaii High School Athletic Association record for running 3,000 meters in 8:43.12.
“If he is as good on two wheels as on two legs, he will be someone to watch,” Williamson said of Kaeo, the son of George and Pam Kruse of Kalaheo, and whose mother is registered to race in Pedal to the Meadow.
Galedo said he’s looking forward to the race.
“The Pedal to the Meadow gains 3,884 feet in elevation,” said Galedo. “The Indonesian race gains a little more than 2,000 feet. Otherwise, the terrain is very similar.”
Also accompanying Galedo, Advincula, and Bong Sual, president of RoadBike Philippines, is Naser Sual, Galedo’s coach. The group is being hosted by the Philippines Islands Hawaii Islands bicycle group represented by Angela Catiggay, his wife Lerma, Russell Reynolds and Kenny Ishii.
“What the PIHI group did after Typhoon Haiyan with their fundraising efforts to help the Filipino people was very much appreciated,” Bong Sual said. “We appreciate their friendship greatly, and we race on behalf of the people they worked hard to help.”
Motorists planning on heading to Kokee from 8 a.m. Sunday are encouraged to use the road in Waimea to avoid cyclists.
