Today was the annual running of the Tantalus TT (+/- 4.5 mile hillclimb with about 1350ft of elevation gain). I've won this race three times (2006-2008), and a couple other times as part of the Boca stage race later in the year, but wasn't expecting any spectacular result this time. Normally, I'd have done 100+ climbs on Tantalus for training by the time of year. However, my training focus has moved away from climbing, and my trip up Tantalus last Friday was probably only my third trip up there since last Oct!

One difference this year is that the road has finally been repaved. This will probably results in some fast times over the next few years, but I think the road still needs time to cure under the Hawaii's sun.

I rolled out of my apartment at about 6am (my start time was at 7:03am), leaned my Zipp 202's in their wheelbag against the side of the car, put the bike in the trunk, then drove over to the course. I opened up the trunk and realized that I hadn't put the 202's in the car... They were left behind in the parking lot! A frantic drive back home ensued, with various thoughts of horror... "Did I back over the wheels when I left?"... "Did the random parking lot lurker that was there when I left score some sweet wheels?"... "Did someone drive into the parking lot and convert the wheels into a pancake?"... Luckily, none of the above! They were sitting there all alone like a child abandoned in a grocery store. Phew!!!

I drove back over to Tantalus, threw the bike together, waited in line to get my race number, did a 10min warmup, then lined up for the first of two races. Why two? My first race was in the Snr Men 1/2/3 category, then I raced a second time as a Master 30+.

The first race went OK. I was aiming for an 18min 25sec schedule, and was on top of my time splits until the last 1.5km. I should have gone a bit harder in the middle section as the last 1.5km get a little more wind exposure than the rest of the course. I ended up crossing the line with 18min 52sec, only good enough for second place behind Alex Eiler's solid ride of 18min 32sec - A new record for the April race date.

I cruised back down the hill, spun the legs easy for 10mins, then lined up for my second race. I clocked 19min 32sec for my second ride, which was good enough to win the Masters category and the 3rd fastest overall time of the day.