LIHUE — Those who knew Ken DaVico knew that age for the longtime Kauai triathlete was only a number defined by the miles that he would run, swim or bike every year.
“On more than a dozen occasions, we would be riding with a group people who are at least 20 years younger than he was, and he would be there riding the fastest and the longest out of all of us,” Kauai Cycle Owner Jason Barth recalled Tuesday. “He would do a 40-mile ride with us and then go on another 40-mile ride right after.”
When Barth first moved to Kauai in 1996, he recalled that DaVico would sometimes bike 140 miles in a day, starting at his home in Wailua Homesteads and ending at the top of Kokee State Park.
To help perpetuate that legacy, Barth and Kauai Cycle head mechanic Bruce Orth started an informal bike ride on the island shortly after DaVico’s death. It began at Lydgate Beach Park and took riders along the Ka Ala Hele Makalae as far up as the North Shore.
That tradition will continue on Sunday, when dozens of people are expected to turn out for the third annual Ken DaVico Memorial Bike Ride that happens between the Ironman World Championship on the Big Island and the Xterrra World Championship on Maui.
The ride will begin at 8 a.m. shortly after everyone meets up at Lydgate Beach Park’s main parking lot.
From there, riders can choose to take a 16-mile round-trip route to the north end of Ke Ala Hele Makalae and back to Lydgate Beach Park or a longer route to the North Shore and back to Lydgate Beach Park.
Kauai Path, Inc. board member Tommy Noyes said 78 people participated in the memorial bike ride last year.
This year’s goal, he said, is to have at least 125 people participate in the event. It’s free for anyone who wants to show up.
“The ride is almost akin to being a bird in flock of swallows,” Noyes said. “It gives you the opportunity to socialize, enjoy the movement and the view.”
DaVico was recognized as “one of the pioneers in cycling and triathlon on Guam” before he retired from his job at the Ship Repair Facility there and moved to Kapaa, according to the Guam Pacific Daily News at the time of his death.
“He would train anybody who was even interested in doing triathlons, so many of the triathletes on the island were either trained by him or were helped by him at some point,” Barth said. “In many ways, he was an inspiration for a lot of people. When we lost him, it was a big loss for all of us.”
DaVico even set the all-time course record for his age groups during the 1995 and 1997 Tinman Hawaii Triathlon on Oahu.
“I’ve had some riders who would fake having a flat tire to get out of riding with him,” Barth said with a laugh. “He was incredible.”
But what many remember the most, Barth said, is the knowledge he passed down to many of the triathletes on the island before he died in June 2011 at the age of 74.
“He was an amazing incredible athlete,” Ken’s wife, Judy DaVico, said on Tuesday. “He was so willing to encourage other athletes.”
For more information, contact Noyes at news@kauaipath.org or 639-1018.
