Mom's trip to Alaska

Fun in Alaska

Kalaeloa criterium

Yesterday was the Hawaii State Criterium at Kalaeloa. The HACC put it on this year and did a great job. There was some concern before the race about the shape the road was in but it seemed fine to me and we all had a blast carving corners all morning. Our team had some good results and we all raced from the front of the pack which always looks good. John "HACC Daddy G" put on a great show with his nemisis Ed, with the two of them dropping the golden masters field on the first lap, then battling it out for the rest of the race. Ed got the better of him this time, but it was edge of your seat racing. Speaking of which, check out the women's finish line photo above. One of our newest HACC riders Shannon Cutting tore it up in that race, edging out another rider in a dramatic sprint. Way to go Shannon. Now we need to get her in a HACC jersey for these photos! She also raced the 4/5 race and took a flyer off the front which looked like it was going to stick for a while, Wow!

Since fast cornering with large groups scares me I employed my "jumping off the front as hard as I can over and over" strategy for the first 5 or 6 laps everytime the pace slowed a bit. Making the pack accelerate repeatedly shakes loose all the dead wood and winnowed the field down to about 10 of the stronger/steadier riders. The finishing sprint was so chaotic and fun I kept wishing we could do that part over. I won 3rd place with my buddy Steve placing 5th.

So HACC took home a first in the womens race, second in the old dudes, and 3rd and 5th in the beginners. Another awesome showing if I do say so myself.

A big Mahalo to Bennie Peterson for all the great pictures.

Hill climbing fun

Sunday a bunch of us met Gil at his place in Kaneohe for 3 super steep hill climbs. Even though John decided to take up smoking? he still enjoyed watching me rip my legs off trying to keep up with him. After the ride we had an icy beer courtesy of Gil and his kegerator.

Where's Scott?

Today was the Scott Kimsey around the island, 112 mile farewell ride which we've been planning for a few weeks. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Scott isn't leaving, and he couldn't do the ride either! What a dweeb! We did our best to simulate his presence but it just wasn't the same. We rolled out of Hickam at 6 am and rode to Kailua. After a bit of a crash, we caffinated up at a coffee shop and those who were going all the way around headed out. Some where outside of Kaneohea a familiar silver truck drove by. Scott had finished up his business and joined us to do the last half of the ride, thereby partially redeeming himself and limiting the amount of ridicule and scorn we could heap upon him. The ride itself was tough with high temperatures and humidity. I'd been beating my legs up since Sunday and was glad to finish around 1:30 pm.

Hawaii State Road Race

Last Sunday was the Hawaii state road race. It was held on a tough course over on the North Shore with lot's of climbing. The HACC had a great showing with John Girmsey winning the Golden Masters division, Shannon Cutting placing second in the Women's race, and yours truly winning a sprint (unheard of) for second place in the 4/5's. Steve Steele also had a great race, capturing eighth in the 4/5's.