Samoyloff takes Capitol Hill Challenge

Stephan Samoyloff capitalized on Tyce Mister’s gear change gone awry in the closing seconds of the Capitol Hill Challenge to emerge victorious in Saturday’s off road mountain bike race hosted by the Northern Mariana Islands Triathlon Federation.

Samoyloff and Mister were neck and neck for the length of the race, but fate stepped in when Mister’s gears suffered wardrobe malfunction to allow the good doctor to surge across the finish line first overall with a time of 43:50.

Mister followed close behind, and fellow racing rival Nathan Hawley finished within seven seconds of the leader to round out the top three spots overall as well as in the 30-39 year-old age group.

According to race director Sue Knecht, 29 of Saipan’s most formidable mountain bikers went head to head in a pre-Saipan XTERRA Championship tune up.

“This is part of the ongoing efforts of the NMITF to spread the word and get people off the couch and into the seat of a bike. Mountain biking is certainly the largest component and arguably the most demanding portion of the race, and we used today as a sort of ‘taste test’ to let area mountain bikers get a feel for the competition,” said Knecht.

Knecht added that while some of the participants were XTERRA veterans, others were “the riders you see out often in packs of fit, dressed for the part, guys who know every crack in most of the trails on this island.”

Butch Sublemente finished first among the 20-somethings when he crossed the finish line in fourth place overall in 45:30

The men’s 40-49 year-old category went to John Douglas, who finished the race in 50:12, while his wife Dawn Hammermeister took top honors for the same age group in the women’s category with a time of 1:00:24.

The men’s 50-and-over master category was taken by Florian Braig who finished the race in seventh place overall in 50:19, while the only other female finisher won the women’s 30-39 category when Laura Hohman crossed the line with a time of 1:06:09.

The racers met atop Capitol Hill at the parking lot of the Governor’s Office, and took off through the field, heading past the Emergency Management Office and Capitol Hill parking area to wireless road, and gave the Kingfisher trail, located near the far end of the road, a road test.

“This portion is highly regarded by XTERRA racers as some of the island’s best single track trail,” said Knecht.

From there, the racers proceeded to the bottom of the decent which connects to the end of the paved Kingfisher Road. The pack sped down hill until they once again began a climb that led them to the Egigi coral road.

The race continued to offer an extreme adventure to the riders as they peddled to a jeep trail and more technical single track section on public land—recently dubbed by the NMITF as the McDick Bridge and trail.

“Thanks to local physicians Dick Brostrom and Michael Conrad who located the land, built the bridge to traverse over the stream bed, and helped prepare the trail for racing, along with many other volunteers,” said Knecht.

Racers were forced to carry their bikes due to the rocks and incline of the McDick trail, following which they remounted their two-wheeled steeds and proceeded to the Santa Lourdes area.

From there, they made a quick pair of right turns and climbed another coral road before reaching Isla Road. They stayed off the main road, turned left onto Ifet Road, encountered another coral road hill climb, and proceeded to a single track trail that went uphill over rocky terrain that led the racers to the final homestretch.

The racers finally struck pavement before they reached the finish upon the hill behind the old MPLA building atop Capitol Hill.

“We want to say thanks to our sponsors Pepsi and Saipan Bike Pro for prizes and support. Another round of thanks goes out to everyone who came out, and to Dick Brostrom (embedded photographer) Shireen Alam, Fred Camacho, and the Barry family for volunteering their time and effort,” said Knecht.

Next week the NMITF will host another off road triathlon to gear up the big one in April. For more information about the event, or to pre-register, go to NMITF@yahoogroups.com.