Deep within the foothills of Keauhou, awaits a fiery beast. One with unimaginable powers to summon wind and rain, fly high into the clouds, hide at the bottom of the deepest sea and breathe fire onto all that crosses its path.
Its ferocious appearance alone is said to be bone chilling. With a snake-like body wrapped with thousands of slippery scales, four ginormous paws and facial features made up of many different types of animals, it is a legendary and mystical creature like no other.
It is — the Dragon.
Until last Sunday, the Dragon lay asleep, camouflaging itself amidst nine steep hills of Keauhou, each hill depicting the spiny ridges of the Dragon’s back. Fifty brave warriors cycled their way to the southern end of Alii Drive, all in anticipation of wielding its magical powers, strength and good luck by awakening the beast and conquering its nine hills, earning the title of Dragon Slayer.
Race organizer of this Dragon-slaying feat was Kym Kiser, a top female cyclist on the Big Island, triathlete, wife and mother of two teenage daughters.
“I have always been interested in bringing groups of cyclists of all levels together,” Kiser said. “I was on the internet one day and I saw a bike race in Pittsburgh called the Dirty Dozen. It was a bike race where they ride 13 hills, and then they ride neutral to the next hill. I thought that would be the perfect event that I’m looking for in getting the elite guys together with the middle of the pack guys with the slower and newer riders. An event where they cheer each other on and be on the same part of the course at the same time.”
Kiser explained that she brought it to the attention of the Hawaii Cycling Club in December and hoped the joint effort would appeal to cyclists regardless of fitness level and experience. What she received was a jaw-dropping amount of support from the community.
“I couldn’t believe the response I got not only from riders, but people who don’t even ride who knew about the event and wanted in,” she said. “I just thought that it was really special and that if this could bring more cyclists out there and bring more of us together then that would make it even more special.”
Kiser’s concept for the inaugural event was simple, but ingenious. Limit it to 50 people, select nine of Keauhou’s most challenging hills, have riders start each hill together with the faster riders who reach the top first turning around to cheer on those still climbing, then ride together (neutral) to the next hill climb, repeat.
Naming her race, The Dragon, was symbolic on many levels.
“Within the Chinese culture, the number nine is very special and strongly associated with the Chinese Dragon, a symbol of magic and power,” she said. “I liked the idea of having nine hills, with each hill being a ridge on the Dragon’s back.”
Kiser decided to award points to those who reach the top of all nine hill climbs first, with the male and female winners taking home the title, Dragon Slayer. By formatting her race this way, Kiser introduced the most unique and exciting cycling event in the state, and created an instant camaraderie among participants, volunteers and spectators.
The best part? How Kiser managed to keep 50 riders together and highly entertained for three hours with some of the most intense, quad-busting, sprint to the top finishes.
“What really got me excited was people who don’t normally race, or participate in race events, came out and they were so excited,” she said. “I think just the fact that we are all together and stepping out of their box and doing something they normally don’t do. They can say wow, this is a pretty good workout and this is actually fun.”
Indeed, it turned out to be a genuine first-class race experience for all who ventured out, from pre-race registration to post-race party and awards ceremony.
Cool and overcast skies greeted participants for what would later turn into a light rain mist – perfect Dragon slaying conditions. Lining the course for each of the nine hill climbs were the Coffee Talk Riders, Hawaii Cycling Club, cheering family members and friends, all equipped with cowbells, pom-poms and everything else you can think of to help riders reach the top.
Men and women race starts were separated by two heats, with the men racing first, followed by the women. Keauhou’s Penn Henderson jumped out quickly, winning the first two climbs, but then missed points on the third climb after succumbing to a chain malfunction. From there on, he faced an uphill battle for the overall points, literally.
Although Henderson recovered well, winning five of the last six climbs, it was Waikoloa’s Maxfield LaFortune that showed consistency and would prevail. LaFortune won one more hill and then stayed close to Henderson on the remaining climbs, earning enough points to take the lead and ultimately the men’s Dragon Slayer title.
“It was really hard, I was definitely trying to win,” LaFortune said. “I knew Penn would be stronger than me on these types of efforts and he definitely came through. I was able to outsprint him on one of them that really surprised me, but he really took it today.”
LaFortune, who won and set a new course record at last month’s individual time trial the Prologue 10-miler, is focused on defending his title at Maui’s Cycle to the Sun 36-mile hill climb event this June. LaFortune praised Kiser’s efforts for the inaugural event.
“Just the format was cool, it was different,” he said. “It was cool to ride with everyone with having the race broken up into segments. I thought the end of every hill was the most challenging. I was putting out more power than I expected to which really surprised me.”
With Henderson’s points placing him in second, Kealakehe Waverider Triathlon Club’s Malik Mariano busted out a superb performance and battled his way to third place overall. At just 16 years of age, Mariano is well on his way to becoming one of the elite cyclists in the state.
On the women’s side, I managed to reach the top of all nine hills in first place, earning me the women’s title, Dragon Slayer. What surprised me the most was how quickly lactic acid set in when pushing a hard pace on such a short climb, turning my legs completely into jello before reaching the top of each hill.
Kona’s Janet Higa-Miller, who is gearing up for the cycling leg of Lavaman Waikoloa women’s relay division, placed second, and France’s Francoise Haudry rounded out the women’s top three.
With the inaugural Dragon race living up to all of the hype and turning out to be such a huge success, Kiser says that one can expect to have this event on the race calendar for years to come. And everyone who came out to face their fears and challenge himself or herself against the Dragon, each went home with shiny new medals and became “Dragon Slayers” in their own right.
Kiser hoped that after the race, participants ride away with a sense of unity and genuine camaraderie for one another.
“The biggest thing for me is that we are all one,” Kiser said. “There will be the faster riders, the slower riders, the in between ones, but that we are all one. We are on the same roads, we got the same mindset, we want to get stronger, we want to have a healthier lifestyle, we want look out for each other. And having an event where we finish together each time I think makes you feel that and know that. It makes them know that we are all in this together.”
