Up to the top of Haleakala and back...
by Rick Schultz
posted 2006-03-10
Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii
Last year, my family and I traveled to Maui for a fun-filled family vacation. My wife and daughter wanted to take one of Maui's famous bicycle tours from the top of Haleakala volcano back down the road to the bicycle shop 35 miles away - yes, basically its a 35 mile ride downhill. This sounded like a great outing with the family, but seemed a little too easy, so I opted to do the ride both ways - up the 10,023 foot volcano and back down! My wife and daughter would ride in the tour van and meet me at the top so I could ride down with them on their downhill excursion.
Photo courtesy of Cruiser Phil's Volcano Riders
I have often been asked, "how would you rate this ride?" I always tell people that the Haleakala ride is good and steady, no part of the road is over 8% grade (except for the final 1/3 mile which is up to 12%) and the average is about 6%. But don't be fooled, it is a TOUGH, tough ride. It is best to rent a "performance" road bike from one of the local bike shops, and ask for a triple crank. You will thank me for this suggestion as you go above 9,000 feet. Not that the grade is hard, just a constant strain on the legs for 4-5 hours. With a triple, you can shift down and rest a little.
This is also a fairly dangerous ride, as tourists have been killed by going too fast through the downhill turns and flying off of the volcano. An article in the Honolulu Advertiser claims 70,000 cyclists take this downhill tour each year with more than 117 accidents per year (an accident every two-and-one-half days). On average, there are about 400 riders every day that take the downhill tour.
Now, the State of Hawaii does not allow the downhill tours to start the ride on the upper sections of the volcano, instead, they require these tours to start outside of the park entrance. Some tourists have never ridden a bicycle, or haven't ridden a bicycle in years. There are also young kids on this ride that hit the brakes too hard in the damp switchbacks and end up taking themselves out and other travelers as well... It is this lack of experience that make it ripe for a domino effect if someone crashes. The best way to ride down is definitely by yourself, or in the front of one of these groups.
At 6am in the morning on the day the I rode, it was already 80°F in Paia. Four hours later, the top of the volcano was 50°F. Throw in a 20 - 35 mph wind chill factor and you are looking at 38-40°F. Its definitely hard to dress appropriately for the drastic temperature fluctuations. And since the humidity is often very high, this causes sweat to pour all the way up to the summit.
Article Note: Take PLENTY of water, energy bars and gels with you. It is important to eat and drink plenty to keep your energy up. Never allow yourself to become dehydrated on this ride. The warm temperatures and strenuous exercise can easily cause you to dehydrate during the initial part of the ride so you won't be able to continue with the rest of the climb.
You should start with 2 full bottles.
THE ASCENT
From Paia, Maui, the trip to the top is about 35 miles, but, it is the most beautiful and scenic 35 miles that you could ever imagine!!! It is also one of the slowest 35 miles that I have ever ridden. It took me 4 hours to get to the top, and since I rode round trip, I put in 70 miles that day.
Photo by Mitchell Silver
I left Paia (sea level) at 6am, and I immediately started climbing. The first five miles was through the beautiful farmland and open pastures that were some of the greenest that I had ever seen. Horses were grazing as the sunlight filtered through large trees that line the road. This was the easiest part of the ride as you spend much of your time taking in all of beautiful scenery while you are warming up for what looms in the distance. Tall grass, horses and cows line these lower pastures, and since the ride was always heading uphill, I was able to see Haleakala rising grandly in front of me [something that stayed in my thoughts over the next 4 hours.]
As I continued up the road towards Makawao, a beautiful, quaint little farming town with a population of 6,327. I had finally spun the pedals enough to get warmed up. I remember concentrating on not pushing too hard or too fast this early in the ride, after all, I still had a few hours left and I certainly didn't want to blow up or cramp up on the final push to the top of the volcano.
Entering Makawao I made a left turn onto Olinda Road which pointed me in the direction of Haleakala. After about a mile, I made a right turn onto Hanamu Road which was the turn off that would point me in the direction of Highway 37 which would then transition to Highway 377 and eventually to 378 - the road that takes you to the top. Make sure not to miss the Hanamu Road turn off, or Olinda will take you 8 miles to a dead end ...and much of the 8 miles is at a 10+ percent grade.
