Suncrest sets record in Hawaii - Mauna Kea

Ameila Durst of the Flow Formulas Factory Team broke the climbing record on the famous Mauna Kea climb in Hawaii. 

The Mauna Kea bike climb on the Big Island of Hawaii is considered one of the most difficult bike climbs in the world. The 42.5-mile climb starts at Waikoloa beach and ascends 13,803 feet to the summit of the Mauna Kea volcano. 

Here is Amelia's story in her own words on how it all happened.

The whole thing was pretty last minute. I had only made arrangements to go to Hawaii a month before the summit day. My boyfriend, Adam was going over there for work for 3 weeks. I was able to go on the back end of his trip. I said one night, maybe I'll attempt climbing Mauna Kea this trip. We started looking up details, then I couldn't stop thinking about it. We started looking at the segment and Adam crunched some numbers. He thought I could probably come close to the QOM. The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became. I had remembered Ari just launched a brand-new climbing bike, what if I could use that?! Next thing you know, bike is on the way, and I got the coolest opportunity to demo the Suncrest on the world's hardest climb. I made it to Hawaii and the anticipation was getting high. I finally kitted up and went to preview the first few miles of the route. It was insanely windy. I almost got blown off the bike. I was ready to pull the plug. The realities began to set in about how hard it was actually going to be. I had no idea how weather dependent this ride was either. I randomly picked this date 4 weeks prior.

I knew I was fully committed and just had to focus on all the positives. We decided to start at 5am to avoid the heat and wind. That turned into a 3am wake up call. Spam, eggs and rice for breakfast--Hawaiian style. We made it to Waikoloa by 430am and got everything prepped. Dipped the tire in the ocean and got started promptly at 5. It was still super dark. I didn't have daylight until well after Waikoloa Village. I had the Strava segment on my computer screen so I could see how much of a gap there was. It was my first time ever using Strava live segments and I wasn't sure it'd be smart or not. I was feeling my legs a lot. They felt good overall, but I was on the cusp of riding too hard and hoping I wouldn't blow up later. I decided to stop looking at the segment and just ride my own ride. The wind started to pick up a little on Saddle Rd and I started to get worried. Luckily it was super manageable and nothing like what I had experienced two days prior. Before I knew it, I was already making the left hand turn onto the access road. We had a planned stop here to swap wheels for the gravel sector. It was about 7 miles before the actual start of gravel, but I had easier gearing on the gravel wheels and the steepest section is actually before the visitor’s center. I took about 10 minutes to refuel and get resituated. You're supposed to acclimate at the visitor’s center for 30 minutes before continuing to the top, so Adam headed straight there to get checked in and make sure everything went according to plan.

Those few miles were a grind. I felt like I was barely turning over the cranks. I couldn't get into my easiest gear. The sun was beating down. I started to feel like I was in trouble. I finally met them at the visitors center and took another break off the bike to use the bathroom and refuel. Adam adjusted the shifting so I could use the granny gear. Next up was 4 miles of gravel. I was excited for a change but pretty nervous for it. The gravel ended up being way looser than expected. You definitely had to choose your line carefully. I lost traction and had to put my foot down and couldn't get started again. I started running the bike up the hill and quickly backed off. Thankfully, the jeep was still behind me, and Adam was able to hop out and hold the bike while I got going again. This happened 2 or 3 more times. Some wider tires would have been a better call. Most people switch to a mountain bike, but I was so excited to be able to stay on the same bike the whole way up with the wider clearance the bike allowed. The gravel finally turned back into road. It felt like we were on a different planet up there, Mars maybe. I’ve been above tree line before, but this felt above life line. I was above the clouds. I could see the switch backs up to the top as I followed the tiny little cars with my eyes. It was still a ways away, but the observatories were coming into sight. I took one more quick break off the bike before the last couple miles.

I couldn't help but smile because I knew I was so close and hadn't fallen apart yet. Looking at the time, I had a pretty good feeling I was ahead of the record. One last turn and I knew how close I was. Motivation was high push hard to the top. There was a family cheering for me at the summit. They had passed me on the way up hours before. I did it. I made it to the top. I beat the record. It was surreal in every way. The day went better that I could have ever asked for. I can't thank Ari, Verum Velo, IRC, and Flow Formula's enough for the support on this effort.

This effort from Amelia set the women's record by over an hour! If you want to see more info on the ride, visit this link to view Amelia's strava ride.