Riding from sea level to 10,023 was on the minds of over 200 competitors from around the globe, to  participate in one of the most challenging cycle races on the planet.  Cycle to the Sun. Organized by Donnie Arnoult, owner of  Go Cycling Maui and Maui Cyclery, this event drew out some of the top athletes from Germany, Japan, Colorado and we even had a few of our local heroes. I believe one of the youngest entrants was 11 years old!

Donnie and wife Michelle did a great job of organizing this event and the volunteers at the rest stations were incredible. The after party was a feast, that included music and even a magician to entertain the kids and us big kids!

One competitor from Maui stood out.  Former windsurf champion and my neighbor and friend, Alf Imperato. Alf’s impressive time of 3:22 gave him the title of “fastest man on Maui.”  Alf’s training regime was quite intense, often seen at our gate at sunrise doing double rides.

I asked Alf if he’ d tell me how he trained, his goals and what drives him. Here’s what he wrote:

“Training for this year’s event was mentally one of the easiest contests that I’ve ever trained for — I didn’t have to do it for sponsors, prove anything to anyone or finish in a certain time for a paycheck. This ride was for me to better my time from last year. With that said, it WAS one of the most physically challenging training schedules I’ve ever had! The ride up the hill is only steep every step of the way, and breathing becomes an issue, especially when you get to altitude.

Over the last few months, I tried to focus on speed and average speeds for every climb throughout the course. Obviously, we all have good days and bad days, but it’s important to see gains and progress through your training (and each day certainly won’t be faster or better than the last). After almost nine (9) months of riding with a heart rate monitor and keeping records of mileage, heart rate, food intake and overall feel — I had a pretty good idea of how not to get hurt or over train. SO, the last two and half months before the ride, I put all that aside and figured the longer I could stay in my “CAVE OF PAIN” the faster I could go up the hill. It only seemed to come down to self-discipline to continue and increase how much you can put yourself through without cracking and giving up. That doesn’t just include pain in your legs, higher heart rates, being tired or pushing a bigger gear. It carries through to eating better, avoiding empty calories, getting more sleep, using time more efficiently, and keeping work where it belongs — at work. Our days are ours’ for us to ENJOY!”

Thanks Alf for sharing. Simply awesome and a definitely words from an athlete!

Here are photos and results to follow:

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Paia to Haleakala summit

Individual

Male

Under 19-Alex Murray 3:54:36.733, Sam Ratzke 4:14:42.116, Graeme Murray 4:17:50.813, Andrew Gibbons 4:27:27.499.

19-29-Jamie Emerson 3:05:15.191, Masao Shimanuki 3:36:07.823, David Scibor 3:48:18.519, Gregory Wessel 4:13:42.109, Joseph Dratz 4:41:29.973.

30-39-Raik Huster 2:57:08.505, Rick Beach 3:05:48.482, Darryn Biggerstaff 3:13:06.132, Jason Smith 3:16:26.656, Jeffrey Roberson 3:23:23.162, Alex Telitsine 3:29:44.237, Matthew McGee 3:34:06.563, Gregg Mayer 3:42:59.411, Alistair Fraser 3:46:07.175, Robin Auld 3:46:39.691, Steve Gates 3:46:51.250, Peter Martin 4:04:50.412, Andrew Martin 4:05:33.889, Tim Martin 4:13:32.629, Kenichi Kawamura 4:13:44.552, Michael Pryde 4:15:12.216, Dennis Howe 4:15:52.017, Timothy Martin 4:25:48.497, Gernot Holl 4:33:06.981, Jason Little 4:44:55.765, Joel Darrah 4:45:07.183, Edde Kanai 4:52:52.961, Stephen Russell 4:54:58.554, Christie Murphy 4:58:42.457, Scott Wilson 4:59:08.283, Keawe Liu 5:03:13.212, Hiroshi Kato 6:09:32.459.

40-49-Kozo Fujita 3:05:16.303, Ray Brust 3:05:17.209, Shingo Kikuchi 3:09:13.966, Tony Lang 3:15:19.341, Steve Heaton 3:20:09.782, Cruz Santa ca, Alf Imperato 3:22:20.762, Matt Watson 3:27:15.162, Nguyen Le 3:28:27.722, Bobby Reader 3:29:42.131, Mark Howe 3:31:20.743, Kevin McClure 3:32:06.226, Todd Meadows 3:36:54.379, Kevin Short 3:37:44.234, Mitch Jacaruso 3:37:51.554, Marc Emde 3:43:32.386, David Spee 3:43:54.815, Bill Darrah 3:43:54.932, Randy Taniguchi 3:44:13.687, Michael Keye Schuler 3:46:44.125, David Smith 3:46:46.255, Greg Anzalone 3:47:40.550, Bryan Gonzalez 3:52:20.734, Alexander Sijalbo 3:56:53.019, Michael Angove 3:57:32.693, Tad Craig 3:58:29.405, John Hearne 4:00:50.404, Binney Williamson 4:03:41.300, Christopher Minson 4:04:49.245, Ivo Dewilde 4:06:01.807, Jan Hogstrom 4:10:21.382, Tim Kramer 4:10:24.951, Rod Young 4:12:27.073, Kevin Shaw 4:16:27.721, Robert Patey 4:25:46.662, Darrin Sato 4:27:34.094, John Ratzke 4:30:26.872, Colin Peters 4:30:43.655, Scott Izutsu 4:32:32.740, Tommy Callan 4:34:14.556, Kevin Laird 4:35:01.384, Mark Wirtz 4:35:01.469, Jorgen Dewilde 4:35:33.077, Ramie Pederson 4:46:24.859, Gerry Gabiana 4:48:10.179, Todd Nishimoto 4:55:52.476, Hosea Victor Harmon 4:59:18.683, Sam Bhaumik 5:03:26.577, Jeff Zamora 5:04:06.177, James Beaton 5:12:34.973, Martin Brass 5:14:26.143, Andy Boyd 5:16:58.459, Steve Iverson 5:30:04.579, William Jack Phillips 5:31:07.301, Tim Weyland 5:42:51.189, Eric Wruck 5:56:44.501, John T. Strom 6:04:12.702.

50-59-Brian Gates 3:18:53.541, Craig Premack 3:22:51.490, George Mallory 3:32:04.277, Jeff Soulier 3:35:21.680, Mike Cardoza 3:49:21.605, Mike Abbott 3:51:44.000, Bart Zawacki 3:59:33.305, Kim Bleth 4:01:13.282, Shawn Fell 4:09:17.013, Woody Lum 4:13:41.319, Donnie McGean 4:15:11.112, Richard Lewis 4:20:23.927, Scott Martinek 4:20:27.241, Rick Browning 4:23:33.067, Calvin Asaeda 4:24:19.757, Stephen Ross 4:30:25.792, Gregg Sanders 4:33:33.656, Chester Tamashiro 4:33:40.152, Fernando Rabara Jr. 4:35:02.375, Buddy Lauer 4:44:20.191, David Sumida 4:53:26.732, Randy Kelsberg 4:53:47.091, Paul Batakis 4:57:08.673, Jame Morikawa 4:58:10.590, Mark Isfeld 5:02:48.134, Chet Blanton 5:20:14.036, Kevin Kolnowski 5:42:57.553, Steve Layne 5:46:09.666, Charles Uehara 5:49:18.345, Gerald Durkan 5:52:59.811, Gary Bulson 5:54:03.294, Todd Kimball 6:20:19.301.

60 and over-Barry Masuda 4:02:38.113, Wojciech Szymanski 4:16:33.234, Jerry Welch 4:19:19.713, Steve Kreider 4:40:36.853, Juki Taguchi 4:45:46.423, Robert Murray 4:54:16.521, Carlo Vanini 5:21:54.886.

Female

19-29-Alicia Gohn 5:27:14.521.

30-39-Gabriela McClure 3:18:25.047, Shantelle Pierce 3:26:29.079, Jenny Lagerquist 3:28:57.029, Krissandra Berens 3:32:11.944, Meredith Kuba 4:19:44.660, Jodi Jackson 4:20:46.725, Christie Newsom 5:12:23.535.

40-49-Patricia Jennings 3:59:07.025, Marsha Sarver 4:11:17.931, Yuriko Kado 4:13:16.722, Angela Farrell 4:19:39.207, Laura Dunn 4:20:41.814, Marta Downing 4:57:36.483, Johanna Waters 4:57:48.930, Lyda Liu 5:16:28.981, Petra Lee 5:34:21.845, Stephanie Tiger 6:43:18.000.

50-59-Jane Faulkner 4:01:09.497, Colleen Crane 4:44:19.195, Loredana Barth 5:33:04.911.

60 and over-Catchy Fritchen 4:07:55.350, Karen Kenny 6:09:13.377.

Relay

Team Lorenzo Pedrini 3:49:25.983, Team Peter Merriman 4:16:00.980, Team Livio Menelau 4:41:24.287.

Feel free to leave a comment for the riders!

Thanks for stopping by and supporting these fine athletes.

Suzie Cooney, CPT

Suzie Trains Maui  https://ww.suzietrainsmaui.com
808-283-2121