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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARADVERTISER.COM
Mike Zagorski fell in love with the sport of cycling, and his favorite event, the pursuit.
From the Scottish highlands to the bonnie challenges that Tantalus brings, Mike Zagorski’s love of cycling has taken him literally to new heights around the globe.
It also has brought him success, including two golds and a silver last week at the USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships in Frisco, Texas.
"I was always riding bikes since I was young," the 31-year-old native of Scotland said. "I did my first race, a mountain bike race, when I was 15, and I was hooked."
Zagorski has excelled in local races since moving to Oahu 10 years ago. He’s dominated the limited local racing season recently, most notably winning last month’s inaugural Sea to Stars Hillclimb on the Big Island, a 49-mile trek from Waikoloa to Mauna Kea.
Zagorski also doubled up with state titles in June, placing first in both the criterium and road race events in Kailua-Kona.
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Yet for all his success on the road, Zagorski said he prefers track racing … a bit of a surprise since there is no velodrome in Hawaii.
"My favorite is pursuit because of the simple, pure speed," he said. "The only problem I’ve had is losing track of the laps."
After placing second in the 3-kilometer individual pursuit on Sept. 1 — losing by 3/100ths of a second to David Wenger of Texas — one of Zagorski’s pursuit teammates suggested he try the points race. One hundred and 20 laps later, he picked up his second medal in the Superdrome, this time gold.
"Then I was going to skip the team sprint race, one that I hadn’t done before," Zagorski said. "But after sitting around that morning, and my legs feeling better, I got talked into it."
Zagorski anchored ‘The A Team’ that won the 30-plus age-group team pursuit in 4 minutes, 45 seconds Sunday.
"It was an expensive trip but it was worth it, even with the crazy schedule," Zagorski said. "It was a long, hot week."
Then it was back to Oahu and back to his project engineering job for Hawaiian Dredging.
"Hawaii’s home now," he said. "I lived in Colorado for about nine months. A former classmate was living in Hawaii and I decided I’d rather be somewhere sunny and warm."
Zagorski’s recently taken up surfing — "Very addicting and a great workout," he said — but there’s nothing like cycling in Hawaii. Each island offers a unique challenge, from racing up Haleakala to avoiding the wild pigs when taking on the blind curves of Tantalus.
And then there was one ride over the Pali to Kailua that took him halfway around the world to the old sod.
"I had just come through the tunnels, around the hairpin curve," he said. "I heard bagpipes playing."
