Hamilton conquers mountain

PINKHAM NOTCH, N.H. -- Tyler Hamilton was back in the saddle for a bicycle race for the first time in more than 11 months.

Hamilton, the Olympic gold medalist fighting a suspension for alleged blood doping, won yesterday's Volkswagen Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in 51 minutes 11 seconds.

Hamilton, a former Lance Armstrong teammate who grew up in Marblehead, Mass., had his eye on reclaiming the Hillclimb record, which is 49:24. He was on pace at the halfway mark, but Mount Washington's thick fog and gusty winds above the tree line beat him back.

''That was my goal," said Hamilton, 34. ''I'm certainly a little disappointed. I wanted to do better. I could have told you at the bottom, because of the wind, that it was doing to be pretty difficult."

Hamilton burst from the pack after about 100 yards and rode alone the rest of the way, a solitary figure along the winding 7.6-mile road. It wasn't until the final quarter-mile that the rest of the podium filled out with a trio of riders who had been sticking together for much of the race. That's when Dedham's Anthony Colby sprinted ahead of Gloucester's Philip Wong to take the No. 2 spot at 55:12, with Wong seven seconds behind in third.

Ned Overend, a six-time US National Championship mountain bike title winner and now a triathlete, was fourth. Not bad for a guy racing on his 50th birthday. His 55:21 shattered the record in his age group by 18 minutes and made him the fastest person over 40 to compete in the race.

Hamilton was able to ride in the Hillclimb because it is an unsanctioned race. He is appealing the suspension and has a hearing Sept. 6 in Denver. Hamilton trains and lives in Boulder, Colo.

Hamilton has set the Hillclimb record twice, both times after competing in the Tour de France. The current record was set in 2002 by Tom Danielson.

''The legs felt good," said Hamilton, whose father, Bill, and brother Geoff also raced. ''To break the record, you need two things: good legs and a little bit of luck with the weather."

Hamilton was clocked at 14 miles per hour up a steep 10 percent grade on his 12-pound bike early in the race. But up without the shelter of the trees on the higher portions of the road, the wind howled as Hamilton rode in his lowest gear with his head down.

''Once we got above tree line, I lost a lot of time," he said.

With Hamilton ahead, Overend was riding in a pack with two guys nearly half his age.

''It didn't really work out for me because I didn't have the power to outsprint them at the end, but my time was good," said Overend.

Wong, who has finished second twice, was doing most of the work. Of the three, the 25-year-old was the veteran Hillclimb racer, with Overend and Colby, 26, racing it for the first time.

''It was tough," said Wong. ''But it was good having other people taking some of the pulls to get out of the wind."

Despite not being able to see the cloud-entrenched finish line, Colby bided his time.

''I decided to wait until the end to make my move," Colby said. ''I knew if I didn't, Ned or Phil would try to do something and force a good sprint to the finish."

For the second year, it was the same women's 1-2 finish, with Tucson's Aimee Vasse winning at 1:12:38 despite being blown off her bike at the 7-mile mark, followed by Kerry Litka of Nashua, N.H.

The 5-foot-1-inch Vasse, 27, who weighs just over 100 pounds, had to ride back down 200 yards to find a spot to reclip.

''I was really nervous that I wasn't going to be able to get back on the bike," she said.