Oops, he did it again.
Another weekend, another island, and yet another cycling victory for Kailua-Kona’s Caleb Barville.
This time it was at Sunday’s Dick Evans Memorial Road Race (DEMRR) on Oahu. It is considered to be Hawaii’s crown jewel and premier annual cycling event – a 112-mile loop around the beautiful island of Oahu, passing through Waikiki and downtown Honolulu as well as the famed surf breaks of the North Shore.
DEMMR is also known for its rich cycling history and deep competition routinely contested amongst the state’s best, as well as many elite amateurs from around the country. Triathletes too, know of the infamous story of how this race was combined with the Waikiki Rough Water Swim (2.4-miles) and popular Honolulu Marathon (26.2-miles) to become the first ever Ironman Triathlon in 1978.
And since the beginning of the year, cycling wins for Barville, who also graduated from Kealakehe High School in May and turned 18-years of age in June, seemed to have become so routine one might wonder why people even show up to challenge him?
But that’s just the gist of it – it’s a challenge where anything can happen, and to be quite frank, one never knows what will unfold come race day. It’s what every competitor – and race favorite – thinks about before placing their front wheel on the line and Sunday’s DEMRR was no different.
“People were talking about how it was going to come down to me, Chad Burdzilaukas and Douglas Pomeranz (both who ride for Davis Phinney Foundation Masters Cycling), and it was,” Barville said. “And I did have concerns. I only signed up on Wednesday as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it because I hadn’t ridden over 70-miles within the last five months so that was on my mind. I also thought that I might be alone at the front (of the race) and nobody would pull, and that actually ended up happening. And, I thought that if that should happen, I could also bonk at some point.”
Yet of all the things that could go wrong – mechanically speaking – that could ruin any cyclist’s hope for the win, luckily Barville was spared. And as far as having strong competition that would typically end with a dogfight sprint to the finish for most cycling races, he seemed to be spared from that too.
Barville explained he basically led for most of the race. Ultimately, he became his own competition and as it turned out, it was the conditions and at one point, running out of water, that posed the stiffest challenge.
“The race was harsh, unforgiving, and set on a very fast pace, lots of heat and trade winds,” Barville said. “There was a 20-25 mph headwind for over fifty-percent of the ride. Then the breakaway group that I was with didn’t do much work. I ended up doing 90-percent of the work for the whole race.”
For those new to cycling road races, a rider who “pulls” or “works” is up at the front of the group and sets the pace, putting out the most effort thereby making it easier for those riding behind, also known as “drafting.” It allows the cyclists in the back to utilize less power output to ride at the same given pace as the front rider.
Good sportsmanship would typically witness all riders in the group rotating to the front to take their turn to pull. But according to Barville, that didn’t happen.
“I started my breakaway pretty much at the beginning, or when the neutral zone ended at mile 30,” Barville said as the first 30-miles of DEMMR are ridden in a neutral format for safety reasons with the actual start of the race beginning at the bottom of Kunia Hill. “I just decided to drive the pace up the Kunia Hill and maybe like twenty guys latched on. I pulled most of the way up Kunia and then the group just slowly dwindled down as people started falling off the back. By the top of Kunia it was just down to four guys, including me.”
From that point Barville said he set a hard pace and continued to pull much of the way on his own.
“I almost ran out of water at one point but Chad was a cool sport as he had a couple of bottles on him and gave me a bottle,” he said. “After we lost Chad, Douglas just sat on my wheel for the last hour up until the climb up Makapuu. The headwind was challenging but I’m used that in Kona. So it was the conditions that got to me more than the competition.”
Yet all of his hard work and effort paid off as after dropping everyone, there was no need for a sprint finish – Barville cruised in to win his first DEMRR in a fantastic time of 5 hours and 23 minutes. Pomeranz finished just over a minute back in 5:24:07, with 7-time winner, Ray Brust, in third at 5:25:58.
“I’m just really happy,” Barville said of his win.
The top female finisher was also from Kailua-Kona. Tina Eakin claimed gold in the women’s division with her time of 5:36:23. Maia Paris and Carly Killam claimed the next two spots with their times of 5:50:08 and 5:53:19 respectively.
“It was amazing,” Eakin said. “I was here 20-years ago and this is where it all started for me as I started racing triathlons in 1999. I was in the Military back then and stationed here, so it was a really cool feeling to be back here twenty years later and winning it. I’ve done Dick Evans before, I think twice before but never won it, so it was just amazing.”
The 49-year old said that while she was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, she competed in her first triathlon in 1999 and also her first DEMRR around the same time.
“The one thing I remember is the race didn’t feel as hard for me from what I remembered it to be almost 20-years ago,” she said. “It’s a really great event, the volunteers were awesome, the police were awesome, and there were a lot of the racers I’ve known for a long time like Lou Ortiz, Ray Brust, and Carl Brooks. So it just felt good to be out there as all of those memories came back to me.”
Eakin added the win had a special meaning for her as she was in a bad cycling accident a year ago that resulted to several blood clots and a fracture. Now, feeling more determined and confident than ever, she will be readying to tackle her next event – the Ironman World Championships slated for October 12th.
“I’m just really grateful for the support, the people, and feel blessed that I’m still able to do it.”
Of the 95 entrants, only 76 completed the 112-mile race. Others from the Big Island who also participated were: Volcano’s Todd Marohnic (6:13:56), Paul Escobar of Hilo (6:13:58), and Kailua-Kona’s Jeff Lassle (6:21:59).