Has anyone done the Cycle to the Sun race up Halekala on Maui?  I'm planning on doing it in 2 days, would like input on how the race typically unfolds.  I've ridden Haleakala before, did the climb on a crap rental in a tad under 4 hours.  Stopped briefly a couple times for maybe 10 minutes and was in a fairly serious storm from around 7k feet to the top.  Also wasn't too fit.  This time I brought a good race bike, am fit/light as it's in the middle of my race season and I figure the times will be quicker riding in group(s).  Then again, I'm 10 years older (47)...

My plan is to try and line up in front, stay with a reasonable lead group on Baldwin to Makawao, then let the seriously fast guys go.  I figure I'll save a lot of time not fighting through 200 people if I follow this plan, plus gain serious time drafting a fast group.  After that, I think I'm going to try and ride totally within myself and attach on to a reasonable paced group as I'm not a pure climber and haven't trained for anything this long (just my normal 50-75 mile rides with maybe 6k climbing).  Figure if I go slower than necessary I can always add speed in the last third but if I go out too hard the last 45 minutes could be a mess.

Anyhow, I'd love to hear from anyone who's done the race or ridden the climb in around 3.5 hours (my vague target). 

Aloha!