I'm pretty sure Haleakala means Holy Crap Ola in Hawaiian

[chimivee]

http://www.three91.com/bike/2007/01/haleakala/image/img_0490.jpg

My report from my Haleakala ride last week in Maui. Here (http://three91.com/bike/2007/01/haleakala/report/).

Or skip to the photos (http://www.three91.com/bike/2007/01/haleakala/index.html).

[voltman]

That's a lot of typing!

[merider1]

James, I hope you are submitting your photos to Advertising companies (do I sound like such a nerd or what? :p) But you just photograph so stunningly well! Yes, I skipped right to the photos, but I'll read all about it later. Lucky man! :D

[voltman]

And the broken spoke means you need a new bike.

Great report and pics!

[chimivee]

That's a lot of typing!
My brain cells are tapped out.

[chimivee]

And the broken spoke means you need a new bike.
And you're a fast reader.

[Neccros]

What bike computer is that??? also is it wireless?? Sorry to jack the thread... you can PM me the answer if you want...

[VanceMac]

Great trip report to a great location. We took the easy route (by car) to the top a couple years ago, and it was the highlight of our vacation. It's like the landscape of Mars on the top.

[roadfix]

Fantastic ride report James! Beautiful photos too! Thanks for sharing. You need to add this link to the Road Cycling forum....as you know they have an ongoing thread concerning this very ride. :)

[OC Roadie]

Good stuff James:beer:
There's a charity race up Haleakala every Sept, it's on my cycling "to do" list, although I'd be just as happy (and probably enjoy it more) taking a solo trip up there. Thanks for sharing :D :D

[Tiffanie]

An actual ride report... woohooooooo!!!!! :p Off to read...

[voltman]

Tiff's here! Hurry up and delete this thread then deny it ever existed!

[Brandy]

Great ride report and pics (as always) James! I want to go!!!!

[Psydotek]

I'm going in July.

I was planning March but other things came up. So July it is.

[herbm]

awesome job James...
Great report and of course great pix as always!

[scvroadie]

James,

Awesome report and photos. Before I started riding I did the sunrise tourist thing with the mountain bikes back in '89. Now it's a goal to climb it. I'm glad you got to make this ride. Someday............

[Tiffanie]

Tiff's here! Hurry up and delete this thread then deny it ever existed!

Hey now.... I already clicked the linky, so there's no going back now!!! :p :p

[Mo'Phat]

Outstanding.
Amazing.
Great Read.

A Nene goes quackHONKchirpbokbok!

[Indolent58]

Great report. I am jealous.

[nesdog]

You rock!

I've ridden down that mountain twice but never up. I'm going to have to try this next time over!

Sheldon

[Tiffanie]

Great report James. Thank you for sharing! I saved a few pics to use on my desktop... amazing and beautiful, as always!

[chimivee]

What bike computer is that??? also is it wireless??
It's a Specialized Turbo Pro, wireless. I chose it for the altitude and backlight features. It tells current grade as well, but that function doesn't work very well, fluctuating too much to be meaningful. The barometric altimeter has been pretty accurate when compared to other altimeters/GPS. It read about 9700' at the summit of this ride (off by ~3%). I think all the other features are pretty standard.

I just checked the Specialized website, but don't see the Pro model anymore, only the Elite.

[Mr. Beanz]

Nice report, sucks about the spoke!:mad:

[chimivee]

Great trip report to a great location. We took the easy route (by car) to the top a couple years ago, and it was the highlight of our vacation. It's like the landscape of Mars on the top. Mars-like is a good description, with the reddish dirt in the crater. I did the drive-to-the-top thing as well, when I was a kid. My mom dragged us up there at some ungodly hour to watch the sunrise. It was so cloudy and cold, though, that it wasn't as amazing as we'd hoped. I got lucky this time with the weather.

[chimivee]

There's a charity race up Haleakala every Sept, it's on my cycling "to do" list, although I'd be just as happy (and probably enjoy it more) taking a solo trip up there.
Yeah, the Cycle To The Sun (http://cycletothesun.net/) race, right? Looks like last year's fastest time was 2:50. I almost doubled that time. :o I guarantee, you'll love this ride, Pat... although, you'll need to figure out what to do with the rest of your day, when you're done.

[chimivee]

I'm going in July.
Awesome! Interested to hear your story.

[OC Roadie]

Yeah, the Cycle To The Sun (http://cycletothesun.net/) race, right? Looks like last year's fastest time was 2:50. I almost doubled that time. :o I guarantee, you'll love this ride, Pat... although, you'll need to figure out what to do with the rest of your day, when you're done.
That's the one. One of my teamates had the best overall womens time last year, of 3:29 (she also happens to be a state and national champ). I'll have to plan a family vacation around that time of year, and mention to my wife, that there just happens to be a bike race going on ;)

[chimivee]

Nice report, sucks about the spoke!:mad:
Yeah, it was okay though - just had keep off the front brake.

The first broken spoke a month or so ago, I attributed to being a fluke. But after this second one, I'm wondering if it was poor wheel building when my front was rebuilt...

[voltman]

Yeah, it was okay though - just had keep off the front brake.

The first broken spoke a month or so ago, I attributed to being a fluke. But after this second one, I'm wondering if it was poor wheel building when my front was rebuilt...

Are you going to get it re-rebuilt?

[Brandy]

That's the one. One of my teamates had the best overall womens time last year, of 3:29 (she also happens to be a state and national champ). I'll have to plan a family vacation around that time of year, and mention to my wife, that there just happens to be a bike race going on ;)

Voltaire and I refer to those as OBTW's..."oh, by the way..." :p

[OC Roadie]

Voltaire and I refer to those as OBTW's..."oh, by the way..." :p
I tend to drop a lot of OBTW's on my wife :p

[chimivee]

Are you going to get it re-rebuilt?
I don't know... I probably should. Or maybe try and re-tension it myself. For now, I've just stashed an extra spoke in my seat tube.

[chimivee]

That's the one. One of my teamates had the best overall womens time last year, of 3:29 (she also happens to be a state and national champ).
Nice!

I'll have to plan a family vacation around that time of year, and mention to my wife, that there just happens to be a bike race going on ;)
It'll be difficult, but I'm sure she'll find SOMETHING to do in MAUI while she waits.

[Mr. Beanz]

I don't know... I probably should. Or maybe try and re-tension it myself. For now, I've just stashed an extra spoke in my seat tube.


Once spokes starts a crackin' prolly means the others will soon be toast too. Buy new spokes and nipples and give it a try yoself. I read the SheldonBrown's site on wheelbuilding. Built my own, not too hard. Putt 11,000 miles on 'em and still perfect after initial break in and retension.

If you tear it down for rebuilding, loosen spokes evenly so that you don't throw the rim too far out of shape. Makes it easier to rebuild. A lil mchanical ability and common sense is all it takes. I've seen some posts of your work on Tiff's bike, you can do it!

I have a $30 true stand,$2 spoke wrench, and $12 dish tool. Don't need fancy stuff!:o

Since it's the front, you could actually build in in the front fork in place of a stand..:)

[Grumpy Pig]

Wow. What a beautiful ride. Nice pictures and report.

[Cleave]

Hi James,

Fantastic report and photos!!!

I have a lot of family on O'ahu and we are scheduled to be there at the end of this summer for a family reunion. Also been to Maui a few times and have fantasized about climbing one of the big volcanoes on one of the islands.

I do like your idea of shipping, rather than flying the bike. I presume that you shipped it back to CA. Did it fare better on the return trip?

I definitely have more question the next time we get to ride together.

Mahalo. :)

[Luwin1026]

Where are the pics of Kat and Bre? ;)

Man, some of the pics took my breath away - what great eye/skills you have. Even made the bent derailleur look good . . . that's just plain sick.

Congrats on the awesome ride, it's heartwarming to read about something that would be such a good memory for life -

OBTW - I'm all moved/settled in - when are you and Amy coming over for our Interracial-couple-club kickoff meeting/dinner? :p

[chimivee]

Once spokes starts a crackin' prolly means the others will soon be toast too. Buy new spokes and nipples and give it a try yoself.
Thanks for the tips, Fred. What causes the spokes to start breaking this way? It was fine for a couple thousand miles, then 2 snap within a month. Spokes were replaced a year ago when the wheel was rebuilt. I have a trueing stand and spoke wrench... I suppose I'll give it a shot.

[cole505]

Great post and spectacular photos. You take amazing photos, what camera did you used?...oh and reaching the summit is good too;)

[ronjon10]

Badass

[chimivee]

I have a lot of family on O'ahu and we are scheduled to be there at the end of this summer for a family reunion. Also been to Maui a few times and have fantasized about climbing one of the big volcanoes on one of the islands.
That'll be fun Cleave. My mom is from HI, so I have a lot of family there too. It was my grandfather's 90th birthday. In my old age :p I appreciate the warm weather more and more. Last year we went to Volcanoes National park on the Big Island and hiked around there - pretty cool.

I do like your idea of shipping, rather than flying the bike. I presume that you shipped it back to CA. Did it fare better on the return trip?
I think the damage to my bike was my fault. I took off the rear der., but left the hanger - the most vulnerable item (duh) - and didn't pad that end well enough. Unfortunately, it did suffer another wound on the return trip. The big chainring poked through the bottom of the box, and had a nice flat spot ground in it. I had placed 3 layers of cardboard beneath it, which worked fine for the trip there, but on the way back, the cardbaord shifted, allowing it to poke through. Again, my bad - I should have supported the bottom bracket and kept the chainring off the bottom all together. So the damage was from the protruding bits not being well protected. The rest of the bike - frame/fork/wheels were unscathed.

Keep in mind though, that it isn't normally very cheap to ship a bike. My GF works for FedEx, so we get a big discount. I think most airlines charge $80 per trip, although, I've heard that if it meets certain size requirements, and you tell them it's "sports equipment," and not a bike, you can sometimes get away with checking it as standard or maybe oversized luggage. Renting was between $30 and $60.

[Luwin1026]

My GF works for FedEx, so we get a big discount.

Shoulda shipped yourself there too . . . it probably isn't too hard to find a box to fit you and your enviable 22" waist . . . :p

[chimivee]

Great post and spectacular photos. You take amazing photos, what camera did you used?...oh and reaching the summit is good too;) Thanks, Cole. Funny story on the camera... I had a Canon SD10 from a few year ago, which I loved, but broke. So, I got a Panasonic Lumix FX07 for x-mas. I wanted it for the wide angle lens. While it's a great camera, with nice features, and fairly good picture quality, I wasn't happy with some of the "noise" in the images. So, I ended up getting a Canon SD20 instead. (they don't make them anymore, but refurbished ones are on eBay for under $200.) It has a fixed 38mm(?) lens, and doesn't zoom. The SD30 and current SD40 (with zoom) are also excellent, and probably better in every way. I've found them to have excellent color saturation, especially in the blues/greens - It's actually overly saturated and not true, but it looks good for landscape/nature stuff (kinda like old Fuji Velvia slide film, if you're familiar with it). The SDXX series are ultra-compact "fashion" cameras (they come in colors!), with only moderate features. But, I love em... and they're cheap to replace when you break 'em. :D

http://www.diversifiedimaging.net/images/cameras/canon/digital/sd20.gif http://www.hhcmag.com/reviews/canonpowershotsd20/CanonSD20hand.jpg

[chimivee]

OBTW - I'm all moved/settled in - when are you and Amy coming over for our Interracial-couple-club kickoff meeting/dinner? :p
Say when. :D

Shoulda shipped yourself there too . . .
I probably would, if they'd let me. :p Back before Osama crashed planes into buildings, Amy could jumpseat ANYWHERE FedEx flies for FREE.

[Mr. Beanz]

Thanks for the tips, Fred. What causes the spokes to start breaking this way? It was fine for a couple thousand miles, then 2 snap within a month. Spokes were replaced a year ago when the wheel was rebuilt. I have a trueing stand and spoke wrench... I suppose I'll give it a shot.


After spokes are installed, it takes time for them to breakin/ Stretch(?), lose tension for one reason or another. After they seat,breakin, they will develope a lil play at the hub flange. They need to be retensioned back to proper tension. The lil bit o play will allow the spokes to move,wear and cause stresspoints or cracks eentually leading to broken spokes.

Cause it has happened to your wheel already, I'm sure some of the other spkes are weakened also. That's why I'd replace them all.

at the 90 day check up after a new bike purchase, the mechanics will true the wheel. Yeah, looks great but doesn't mean it will last. Needs to be retensioned. I go thru a hassle everytime I get a new bike. I ask if they retesioned, it. No, we trued it though. SO, how is it going tohold if it isn't properly tensioned. Well ok, bring it back in a fe whundred miles then we'll retension it. I got so fed up, I don't even take my bike back anymore, just do it myself. I've had wheels built and same thing.

Part of the reason I avoid the shops. Make it look good but isn't right! I don't think it's laziness, I think it's most don't know unless of course they are good wheelbuilders which most aren't. Usually some guy they call a mechanic cause he rides bikes and replaces brake cables.:D

I read SB's site and learned plenty of stuff. He says how to place trailing spokes on the inside of the rear hub flange of the drive side for reinforcement avoiding flex. Place the valve stem hole so that when you look thru it, you will see the hub label(!05,Ultegra,etc.) I went back and looked at some of the wheels I had built and nope, they didn't do these type things. SB says that they are small details that good wheelbuilders will pay attention to! Even on new bikes, these details aren't pesent.

I built my wheels, rode 'em, then retensioned. No problems. I take them to a friend that is a good wheelbuilder/mechanic. He checks the tension with a meter. I'm right in the ballpark, going off the feel of the spokes on a new wheel.

So,if you have wheels built, or buy a new bike, make sure the wheels get retensioned after about 300 miles. Not just trued or they will have some play leading to spoke failure.

Tried it as an experiemnt to see if it was correct. I used a new front wheel. Trued it, but no retension. Sure enough after about a year, the spokes started breaking. I broke one, replaced it but didn't retension and sure enough, a month later, another broken spoke. Built a new wheel, retensioned after break in. No problems after 2 years!

Anyway, after you learn to take care of your own wheels, you can aplly all the TLC you like!:p

[roadfix]

Thanks, Cole. Funny story on the camera... I had a Canon SD10 from a few year ago, which I loved, but broke. So, I got a Panasonic Lumix FX07 for x-mas. I wanted it for the wide angle lens. While it's a great camera, with nice features, and fairly good picture quality, I wasn't happy with some of the "noise" in the images. So, I ended up getting a Canon SD20 instead. (they don't make them anymore, but refurbished ones are on eBay for under $200.) It has a fixed 38mm(?) lens, and doesn't zoom. The SD30 and current SD40 (with zoom) are also excellent, and probably better in every way. I've found them to have excellent color saturation, especially in the blues/greens - It's actually overly saturated and not true, but it looks good for landscape/nature stuff (kinda like old Fuji Velvia slide film, if you're familiar with it). The SDXX series are ultra-compact "fashion" cameras (they come in colors!), with only moderate features. But, I love em... and they're cheap to replace when you break 'em. :D


I love those cameras like the one you originally had. I wish they made these ultra compacts with a slightly wider lens though. As you know, I don't care for zoom lenses also. Ricoh makes a nice fixed 28mm equiv digicam but it's kinda of pricey at around $500 and I wouldn't want to carry something like that around in my jersey pocket. :)

[ovoleg]

Yep went to the top myself...Actually it was uber cold after you get past the admin building thing about midway to the top.

I had a bag with me that had 3 gatorade bottles and some candy/powerbars and everytime I came out of the saddle the damn thing hit my side, other than that it wasnt that hard of a ride.

You get used to the climbing very soon after you are on the damn road for hours.

Fun times, Id do it again :D

[voltman]

Where are the pics of Kat and Bre? ;)

Man, some of the pics took my breath away - what great eye/skills you have. Even made the bent derailleur look good . . . that's just plain sick.

Congrats on the awesome ride, it's heartwarming to read about something that would be such a good memory for life -

OBTW - I'm all moved/settled in - when are you and Amy coming over for our Interracial-couple-club kickoff meeting/dinner? :p

Wait, are you passing out interracial couplets too? Can I come?

[Oleanshoebox]

wow james. looks like an adventure. thanks for sharing.

[Jaguar27]

Congratulations and great Pics, I haven't had chance to read the write-up yet but I deffinately will!!

I climbed Haleakala last March and I'm planning on doing it again this March too....

The unfortunate part about my ride is that 3 minutes after I reached the summit a cloud came in, visibility went down to around 20 feet, it started pouring with rain and it made it just too dangerous to ride down :mad:

Plus, the only pic I have is me in the exact place you were at the summit standing at that lookout Hut...

Right then, I'm off to read the story!!

By the way, I rented a road bike from west maui Cyclery, a Cannondale R4000 (I think)...I regreted not taking my Six13 but it was a good bike, I rented it for a week and a half, it was great to get up early, go for a ride and stop for a Kona!!