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Hamilton, Vasse win Mt. Washington ascent

Overend gives masters' records a birthday beating

Published: Aug. 20, 2005

Tyler Hamilton, in his first race in 11 months, pedaled away from the field to win the Volkswagen Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday.

Behind him, Aimee Vasse was blown off her bike by the famous Mt. Washington winds but managed to remount and maintain a strong lead to win the women's race for the second consecutive year.

And Ned Overend celebrated his 50th birthday by placing fourth overall and chopping several minutes off previous masters’ records.

It was the 34-year-old Hamilton’s first trip to Mt. Washington since 1999, and he was after Tom Danielson’s record of 49 minutes, 24 seconds, set in 2002.

For most of the race, which gains 4700 feet of altitude at an average grade of 12 percent, Hamilton was on record pace, passing the halfway point in 23:14. But five miles up the 7.6-mile auto road he rode into crosswinds and headwinds gusting up to 40 mph, and wound up finishing in 51:11.

"This is my first race in 11 months," said Hamilton, who is appealing a two-year suspension for blood doping but was able to compete at Mt. Washington because it is an independent, unsanctioned event.

"I could have told you at the bottom that the wind would make it tough to get a record,” he added.

Hamilton finished four minutes ahead of runner-up Anthony Colby, who in his Mt. Washington debut rode with Overend and Philip Wong of Gloucester, Massachusetts, until the final 70 yards, where he dropped his erstwhile companions.

"The grade is incredible," said the 26-year-old Colby.

Wong, the runner-up here in 2003 and 2004, finished in 55:19. And Overend was right behind him in 55:21, a whopping 18 minutes faster than the previous record for men 50 and older, and five minutes faster than any man over 40 has ever ridden here.

Overend, who like Colby was racing Mt. Washington for the first time, described their part of the race as primarily a matter of tactics.

"We rode together, waiting for the finish. Phil really did 70 percent of the work, and I was just focusing on these two guys,” he said.

As for Vasse, of Tucson, Arizona, she had hoped to set a new personal best time, but as she approached the seven-mile mark the wind foiled her plan.

"I got hit by a gust and unclipped," the 27-year-old second-year pro said. After spectators tried unsuccessfully to help her back onto the bicycle, she finally had to ride back downhill for nearly 200 yards in order to clip back in and resume the ascent.

"I was on track for a good time, but when I fell I must have lost five minutes,” she said.

Nevertheless, Vasse finished in 1:12 38, well ahead of runner-up Kerry Litka, who finished in 1:16:52.

"I trained for this," said the 28-year-old schoolteacher from Franklin, New Hampshire, who finished second to Vasse last year, too. "But today I rode poorly. I tried to stay with Aimee, but I couldn't.

"I was fighting to stay up. The wind was a huge factor. The guys around me were just sitting upright, but I was trying to get behind them, to stay out of the wind."

Sponsored by New Hampshire's Volkswagen dealers, the Hillclimb is the primary fund-raiser for the Tin Mountain Conservation Center in Conway, New Hampshire.

Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb
Pinkham Notch, NH. August 20
Men
1. Tyler Hamilton, Boulder, Colorado, 51:11
2. Anthony Colby, Dedham, Massachusetts, 55:12
3. Philip Wong, Gloucester, Massachusetts, 55:19
4. Ned Overend, Durango, Colorado, 55:21
5. Jess Anthony, Beverly, Massachusetts, 1:00:02
6. Dan Cassidy, Burlington, Vermont, 1:00:51
7. Patrick Brown, Boulder, Colorado, 1:01:06
8. Ian Ayers, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, 1:01:57
9. Stuart Abramson, Falmouth, Maine, 1:03:33
10. Christopher Schmidt, Quechee, Vermont, 1:04:21

Women
1. Aimee Vasse, Tucson, Arizona, 1:12:38
2. Kerry Litka, Nashua, New Hampshire, 1:16:52
3. Jennifer Miller, Burlington, Vermont, 1:18:16
4. Joanna Peters, North Conway, New Hampshire, 1:19:12
5. Heather McKendry, 1:20:07
6. Ellen Moses, New York New York, 1:20:54
7. Martha Robertson, Peru, Vermont, 1:22:09
8. Elisabeth Wegner, Colchester, Vermont, 1:23:12
9. Dominique Codere, Montreal, Québec, Canada, 1:24:35
10. Sarah Chubb Sauvayre, New York, New York, 1:26:25

A complete list of finishers is available on the Tin Mountain web site,www.tinmtn.org.