December 16, 2013 – According to the website, Strava, where athletes can race each other via GPS, Ottawa’s Mike Woods (Garneau Quebecor), also a national team rider, has achieved the 56km Haleakala Climb KOM in a time of 2:32:24, besting Ryder Hesjedal’s (Garmin-Sharp) record of 2:32:51. Hesjedal set his ascent record of the famed volcano on the island of Maui on January 6, 2009, while Woods’s ride was logged on December 12 of this year on Strava here. Hesjedal’s data is saved on the Garmin Connect website here.

However these records should come with a disclaimer, as anyone who has used GPS data for cycling knows that the system is not infallible and times, distances, and other info can vary, depending on the recording device used, environmental and other factors. For example, two riders can ride the identical route together, yet their uploaded data can have some major discrepancies. That said, it looks like Hesjedal might have to go back and reclaim his Haleakala KOM – and possibly use an old-school stop watch as a backup – or perhaps a head-to-head showdown would be the way to go.

The road up Haleakala is known as the world’s longest paved road climb and travels from sea level to an elevation of 3,055m – read more on Wikipedia here.