From: beldar@MicroUnity.Com (Gardner Cohen)
Subject: Cycling up Haleakala
Reply-To: beldar@MicroUnity.com
Organization: MicroUnity Systems Engineering, Inc.
Date: 14 Oct 92 17:41:23

In August I posted to rec.bicycles and rec.travel asking for
information on bicycling up Haleakala on the island of Maui.  Several
responses said I should avoid the ride because of the narrow road and
heavy traffic, not to mention the steep ride itself.

Lisa Petersen sent me some incremental grade information that made the
climb seem feasible.  She has ridden the Cycle-to-the-Sun race on the
route before, and was one of the ride coordinators this year.

So, last Tuesday I drove to Paia and hit the road at 5:50am or so.
Six hours, several powerbars, and perhaps 8 bottles of Exceed later, I
made it to the visitor's center parking lot on the crater rim,
somewhat tired.  The clouds rolled in shortly before I did, so I
missed the views at the top, although the views of the isthmus and
West Maui along the way were great.

A friend drove a support wagon for me, carrying all my food and water.
I think I could have carried enough water and food on my own, with
some penalty in time and composure.  Having a support van gave me the
option of skipping the ride down, which I did due to the bad weather,
my depleted state, and the downhill traffic.

The ride itself is quite pleasant, especially if begun as early as
possible.  There was light traffic between Paia and the Haleakala
Highway, then very little uphill traffic the rest of the way.  The
road is in fairly good shape, with some rough sections on the
Haleakala Highway; it's much nicer than many of the mountain roads in
the Bay Area and Sierras.  The few cars that passed me had no trouble
getting past.  Since the sun rises mostly behind the mountain, you
have the chance to reach cooler elevations in the shade before hitting
the warmer sunny areas.  I wore shorts and a tee shirt the entire way,
and was comfortable at the top (but then, I was comfortable on the
rainy Death Ride this year wearing the same outfit).  There was very
little wind until the top.

Passing all the downhill tour company groups was strange.  The ride
leaders would always smile and wave, while the clients (clad in full
face helmets and padded jackets or jumpsuits) seemed to take no notice
at all.

Driving down was a bit stressful as we ended up stuck behind a smelly
monster tour bus.  I saw only two other cyclists biking up; they were
carrying panniers and were about halfway up by the time we passed them
on the way down.

I rode an REI Randonnee touring bike with the stock 30-40-50 front,
13x30 rear, gearing, and was in the granny gear (but not lowest gear)
for most of the ride.

I'd recommend this ride to anyone with either appropriate gearing or
conditioning (or both!).  I also recommend reading the Koch book, _Six
Islands on Two Wheels_, which describes the route in some detail, as
well as the James Bier Reference Map of Maui.

Statistics:

   36.42 miles, 6:16:10 ET, 5.8mph overall average, 7.8mph moving avg,
   9240 feet of climbing (my avocet 50 altimeter seems to underpredict
   by about 10%).
--
Gardner Cohen / beldar@microunity.com / 408-734-8100
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.rides