Haleakala is a volcanic peak on Maui in Hawaii. It is 10,023 feet
tall and a road runs to the top. Haleakala National Park covers the
top of the mountain and runs down the windward side all the way to the
sea, although there is no road within the park making this trek.
70,000 people a year coast down the mountain from the top to various lowland areas covering as many as 38 miles of coasting! A fabulous ride I am told. They bundle you up in a heavy jacket, and a heavy bike and a motorcycle helmet and give you a guide and coast in groups of ten or so down the mountain at a gentle speed. Well, at least the views are fabulous from there.
Never one to do things the normal way...
While Marilyn, Jack, and Debbie were on a snorkeling trip that required way too much time on a boat getting tossed about in the waves, I rented a bike and rode part way up the mountain. I hope to return and do the whole thing. But here is some useful information for others who want to follow in my foot steps.
Finding a road bike to rent can be difficult. West Maui cycles (840 Wainee St., Lihaina, HI 96761 808-661-9005) rents road bikes complete with helmet, patch kit, spare tube, and tools. The bike could have used a new chain and some cleaning but was a nice Cannondale 800 triple chain ring road bike with fairly wide 32mm Contennental gator tires. I was not planning on doing this ride so I had to buy energy bars, water bottles, and bike gloves. Considering the cost of other Hawaiian activities this was a minor cost and I got to keep the stuff. Nice helpful staff and their bike was well equiped if well used. You might consider buying new brakes when you get the bike.
Tips: be sure to have tools to adjust seat height on the way and good brakes. Take lots of sun tan lotion and energy bars. There is no food or high calorie drinks to buy in the park... absolutely nothing. And there isn't anything on the way up so take lots of Power Bars and Gator Aide (which I didn't).
The next trick is to find a place to park your car. After much driving around I found an empty lot near a church near the intersection of highways 37 and 377. This is at about 1800 feet of elevation but the traffic is much much less on the Haleakala highway (377) after this point. So from and safety and enjoyment factor this seems like a good place to start unless you are determined to ride from the sea to the top.
I had until noon to do my ride when my friends would be back from snorkeling and it was already 8:20 when I started. I thought I'd see how far I could go. I had no bike computer so I must rely on maps for measures of elevation and distance.
The road is excellent on all parts that I rode. Smooth, new asphalt with foot wide shoulder. The first part (6 mi) of the ride is through upland residential and small farm. Pretty houses with lush yards. Horses grazing. Dense foliage.
Then highway 378 breaks off and proceeds up switchbacking road for maybe 8 more miles with great views of the central part of the island and off to adjacent islands. The climb is slow, steady, low traffic and steeper than the first part of the road. The road gots through stands of eucalyptus trees separated by open brush land. The call of pheasants could be heard.
The road then makes a long traverse to the North East and back
and to the National park gate. This was a total of 18 miles of
climbing in about 3 hours. Tip: there is not a calorie to be
bought in all of the National Park. I was out of time but
I made it to just inside the park. Tip: bring money or
a park pass to get into the park. Water is available as at
the entrance station and at the vistor center up the road.
The station is at about 6800 feet.
Well I was out of time and in danger of bonking so a return to the island below was in order. What a view. The descent was a screamer. I was not used to the bike so it was slow going on corners to start with. But soon I got used to it and the speed grew. There is only one small section where you might have to pedal if you didn't let it all out on the long North East Traverse. Watch for it. The total time to the car at the bottom was a thrilling 34 minutes for an average of better than 30 mph on the twisty roads. Great fun. Yeeeeehhhhaaaaawww!!!
Next time more power bars, gator aide, and a full day to do the ride. Also, there is a mountain bike trail down from the top on dirt that looks thrilling. Ask the people at the bikeshop. That's for another day...
Date: Jan 6, 2003
Est. Distance I did: 36mi
Est. Verts: 5000ft
Gotta be one of the top rides in the country.