88.7 km and 4,307 metres of vertical gain from beach to observatory — Phil Gaimon logged what he called the "Worst 40th birthday party ever" on Hawaii's Big Island this week. For a rider who has built a second career around suffering on camera, the choice of the world's hardest cycling climb to mark his fifth decade feels almost inevitable.
The ride, uploaded on January 28, traces the route from Waikoloa Beach at sea level to the summit of Mauna Kea at over 4,200 metres, where astronomical observatories sit above 40 percent of Earth's atmosphere.
Moving time was 4 hours 36 minutes. Conditions on this climb involve a temperature swing that can exceed 30°C – from humid tropical coast to potential near-freezing temperatures at the summit, where oxygen density drops dramatically.
The final kilometres above the Visitor Information Station are unpaved and brutally steep. I've ridden this myself, exactly a decade ago, when I was a journalist for Cyclist magazine, and I will never ever forget its brutal inclines and relentless length.
With no ability to acclimatise given the sea-level start, the ascent is also a real test of altitude tolerance. On my own ascent of the volcano I had to be driven down rather than descend on account of dizziness.
Mauna Kea measured from its oceanic base is the world's tallest mountain, and this ascent from sea level represents cycling's most extreme single-ride altitude gain.
The effort is Gaimon's third (at least) on the world-famous ascent, and no doubt his renewed effort was an attempt to reclaim his KOM for one of the most coveted segments on Strava. Gaimon lost the nearby Haleakala KOM to Drake Deuel earlier this month.
Cover image credit: Phil Gaimon/Strava
