Returning pros, newcomers join ‘Hell’

Mieko Carey leads a small group of bikers cruising along Beach Road during last year’s Hell of Marianas Century Cycle Race. Carey is among the five pros returning to Saipan to compete in the 100-kilometer race. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Five returning pros and three bikers from the Philippines headline the list of participants in the 2016 Hell of the Marianas Century Cycle Race that will hit the road this Saturday.

Last year’s champions Ryutaro Nakamura of Japan and former Saipan resident Mieko Carey are back to defend the men’s and women’s title against fellow “Hell” returnees Aleksandr Dorovskikh and Konstantin Fast of Russia. Filipino pros John Mark Galedo, Jan Paul Morales, and Joseph Miller, on the other hand, will make their debuts in the 100-kilometer race around the island.

Nakamura topped the 2015 competition after reaching the finish line at Mariana Resort at the 2:54:50. He also joined the race in 2014 and finished third behind Fast Dorovskikh. Dorovskikh timed in at 2:49:22 in the eighth edition of the annual event, but failed to defend his men’s title last year when he pulled out of the competition the last minute. Dorovskikh slid to ninth place in the men’s pro category as he started the race 25 minutes late and clocked in at 3:53:22.

In the women’s pro division, the Guam-based Carey made it to the finish line first and timed in at 3:25:51. She won over fellow Guam biker Manami Iijima (4:14:33) and Saipan’s Kimiko McKagan (4:15:40).

“I would like to challenge myself so I am returning to ‘Hell.’ I am so excited to be back to my second home and race with friends. It will be a challenge since I haven’t had much time to recover from XTERRA World Championships, but I will do my best and hope to finish strong and with a smile,” said Carey.

Meanwhile, Miller will be on his third trip to the island, but will compete in the century race for the first time. The Team Forza triathlete was here early this year and in 2015, joining the pro division contest of XTERRA Saipan Championships.

Miller’s compatriots—Galedo and Morales—maybe seeing action in the toughest bike race in Micronesia for the first time, but both are veterans of road bike events in Asia. Galedo, who suits up for 7 Eleven-SAVA RBP, was a participant in the Jelajah Malaysia, Tour De Singkarak and Tour De Jakarta in Indonesia, Tour De Korea, The Princess Maha Chackri Sirindhon’s Cup in Thailand, and Tour De Langkawi in Malaysia. The 31-year-old pro also raced in the Le Tour de Filipinas, Tour of Borneo, the National Championships Philippines, and in the Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar in 2013.

Jan Paul Morales, on the other hand, is the first ever rider in the six-year history of LBC Ronda Pilipinas to rule three successive stages of the 2016 event. The 30-year-old biker, who races for Philippine Navy Standard Insurance, went on to win the LBC Ronda Pilipinas held in April this year.

Morales and his fellow pros are among the 150 bikers who have registered for the 100K race. About 30 of the “Hell” participants are from off-island and coming from China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Guam.