Road Bike Racing - riding the world's longest road climb

I am interested in riding up Mt. Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui but all I can find on the "net" are tours that ride down it. Can someone say "lame"? Then I thought about it... just check on "bikeforums" in the road racing section. I know that one of you fellow bike racing lunatics has done this 10,000 foot, 36 mile, climb. If you're out there can you let me know who on the island I can go thru? It will have to be some shop or club that has high end bikes and equipment. I don't think it can be done on anything else. I'll bring my shoes and pedals. Thanks in advance.

You probably have already seen this site but here it is anyway. Good luck!
http://www.cyclekona.com/MaunaKeaClimb.htm

you're gonna want to talk to Coppi51

he did the ride a while back, renting a bike from a bike shop:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12004

Seems to me I just read an article on this very climb just 2-3 months ago, probably in Bicycling. You might check their website.

Dekkerfan,

I rode that in 1996. We left from the curb of the airport and rode all the way to the top. I don't recall any details other than it was about 35 miles. I was living on Oahu at the time, and rode it with a good friend of mine, who was 65 yoa at the time. None of the ride is too steep. It is beautiful. I can scan and e-mail you some photos if you are interested.

We kept meeting tourists on their way down, and they all looked shocked to see that someone would ride up, and not have to pay $50 to do it either!

The next day we ran 28 miles in the crater to celebrate my 28th birthday.

Good luck.

I'm going to Hawaii with the family next August and am planning on flying my bike over there for that ride. It'd be nice to do some other riding, but I want my baby to see it with me. Looks freakin hard. I can't wait. Good luck, and let us know!

Thanks for all the replies. I have found the web page (www.gocyclingmaui.com) that I need. The company gives you all you need to do the ride, a bike, helmet, etc.. All I have to bring is my shoes and pedals. It's a lot better than having to lug my bike all the way from Boston to Hawaii.

Good luck Dekkerfan. Take some good pictures and let us know how it turns out!

Aloha.

sounds like a good climb. never done it, but i did ride up mauna kea (60 miles, 13,800 feet) on my mountain bike. i had to walk towards the end, starting at 12000 feet on a 17% sustained grade on a road paved with volcanic ash ...

is haleakala all paved? wow. now i wanna do that too.

Well I am back and I did it. It was grueling and excruciating. Loved every minute of it of course. It was 36 miles of nonstop pedalling from sea level to 10,023 ft. It took me 4 hrs to go up and 1 hr to come down. I got lucky because I didn't rain at all, up or down. The pro I went up with said that it was the fastest he ever came down it, but unfortunately, not the fastest up it. Hey, I never said I was a climber.
Where I come from we don't get them as steep as Haleakala. The middle 10 or 15 miles seemed very steep and some stretches were steep for miles on end with no break whatsoever. As a matter of fact, at one point along the way I met up with a guy riding up who said that the section we were then on had the same "rhythm" as L'Alp d'Huez. Apparently he had ridden that once while being a spectator at the Tour. That section, and many other parts of the climb, was just one switchback after another. As your approaching the corner at the end of one you can see the 45 degree angle of the next one looming over your shoulder. "I have how many more miles of this?", went through my head a few times.
The high altitude made me drink more than normal. I think that was the only effect it had on me.
Once I reached the Valcano National Park the landscape changed dramatically. The first part of the mountain had been tropical, which I had expected. The middle had been temperate, with evergreens and a temp I am more used to (Boston). But the top third was like no place I had ever been, it was like Mars. The soil and rocks were red, the landscape was open and barren. Jagged bolders here and there. No plant life just a lot of wind. I thought I was going to get blown off the road at a few points. With 50 mph gusts and no guard rails I often went over to the other side of the road to seek shelter behind the cliff walls.
When I reached the top it was so exhilerating and beautiful that it's burnt into my memory now forever. I guess I got lucky, I'm told that there aren't a whole lot of days where the sky is so clear on the top as the day I got there. You could see for miles of course. But the funniest thing was a lot of what I was seeing was the TOP of clouds.... that felt awesome.

Rock-on, DEKKERFAN

congrats! man i'm jealous... gonna have to give that a go someday. :D

Did you use the www.gocyclingmaui.com tour company?
How was your expirence with them?

:D Nice goin! The wifey and I would love to try that one! You are so fortunate! We're jealous! :p

to answer some of the questions:
yes i did go thru www.gocyclingmaui.com. Donnie, the owner is a great guy. definitely go thru them instead of trying to go up yourself. benifits to this: a "guide" rides with you and leads you out if you need any help. a truck drives up too and leapfrogs you so if you give the driver a camera he'll take some photos of you. *don't be stupid like me... the truck doesn't go all the way up, it stops about 12 miles from the top, i didn't get my camera from the driver so i didn't get any pix at the top. that is a good place to get pix too because of the surreal landscape that is like mars and, of course, the beautiful peak. (i am still kicking myself) but i digress... another reason that you should do it thru this company is that they supply everything you'll need: bike, jersey etc.. sport-drinks and bottles, energy bars, bananas, and cookies afterwards. unless you are a super domestic you can't carry all that you will need. i actually drank 7 bottles on the way up. 7 bottles on a 36 mile ride? yeah 7. you only have to bring your shoes and peddles. the truck stops at two different spots where you can get more fluid or a jacket or arm warmers whatever. there are more benifits to using them but i've rammbled on too long so i'll end it here. oh yeah, one last thing, i used a double, use a triple instead. it would have been nice to spin a little bit every now and then just to get the blood flowing fast. it is a long way up.

[QUOTE=DEKKERFAN]to answer some of the questions:
yes

Great post! I have ridden the downhill several times and loved it. Left the crater at dawn, freezing weather, and dumped off layers of clothing as we passed the different climate zones. Since you were ascending, how did you deal with having to keep warmer? Or were you so warmed up at that point, it didn't matter?

Sheldon

thanks for the ride report... :)