Northern California - Too bad I didn't bring a (mountain) bike to Hawaii

I went up Mauna Kea in the car. The Summit Access Road starts at apx 6,500 feet, and the peak is around 13,700 ft. :eek: The crazy thing is, chances are, you would start from the coast (as we did in the car). This means you would start at SEA LEVEL and end up at above 13,000 feet in the like 60 miles :lol:

Oh... and there are some rollers on the way... so you would end up with a 57 mile 14,200 foot climb. :twitchy:

Unfortunately starting apx 9200 feet there is 4 mile section of unpaved road, then it becomes paved again for the last 5 miles to the top. So for most of us roadies, the fun would stop at 9200 ft :rolleyes:
You can ride a road bike to the visitor center at apx 9200 feet. There is alot of 15-17% on the way there.

Then you hit the unpaved part. There is a sign saying that you should use a 4x4 to go up :innocent:

This road was so crazy once I hit the unpaved part, that I didn't feel safe in the POS Crystler Sebring rental car. I can say that is the worst handling car I have ever driven... aweful.

Seriously, the car had no power at that altitude and the tires/brakes (modulation) absolutely sucked.

The car would have probably made it to the top, but with barely any visibility, cold tires, unpaved gravely roads, >15% grades and no guardrail... I decided the way down would probably not be too fun. So I turned around less than a mile up the unpaved section.

If I had a mountain bike though... this could have been a pretty crazy ride :D

I saw a roadie on a TT bike riding up to the visitors center. Actually, he wasn't riding.... He was walking on the final 17% section around 9000 ft. He said that he had a 39x28 and that he was riding at 2.5mph... so walking at 2 mph was fine with him.

Here is the entire climb (including the gravel section) from the coast:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/mauna-kea-whole

Here is the route we drove from the hotel to the visitors center and back a slightly different way:
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/mauna-kea-kona-village

Check out the profiles ;)

What do you think Ruthie? :lol:

http://www.mtbtandems.com/images/gallerymplecdm.jpg

Does it come with a 30/38 gear ratio?

14,000 in 60 miles is crazy. The hiking/biking time ratio has got to converge at some point.

MTB? pah. That begs for a cross bike :D A tandem cross bike would be very interesting, especially racing it...

Too bad you weren't at Maui ... otherwise, you could have climbed Haleakala ...

http://www.chainreactionbicycles.com/haleakala.htm

I went up Mauna Kea in the car. The Summit Access Road starts at apx 6,500 feet, and the peak is around 13,700 ft. :eek: The crazy thing is, chances are, you would start from the coast (as we did in the car). This means you would start at SEA LEVEL and end up at above 13,000 feet in the like 60 miles :lol:You should go back in August for the Cycle to the Sun (http://cycletothesun.net/) ride. 36 miles, over 10,000 feet. :)

[edit: Whoops, looks like the link Ron posted is the same route as RttS.]


This road was so crazy once I hit the unpaved part, that I didn't feel safe in the POS Crystler Sebring rental car. I can say that is the worst handling car I have ever driven... aweful.Only thing worse than a Chrysler automobile is a Chrysler automatic transmission. Ugh. Terrible.

This road was so crazy once I hit the unpaved part, that I didn't feel safe in the POS Crystler Sebring rental car. I can say that is the worst handling car I have ever driven... aweful.

Seriously, the car had no power at that altitude and the tires/brakes (modulation) absolutely sucked.

The car would have probably made it to the top, but with barely any visibility, cold tires, unpaved gravely roads, >15% grades and no guardrail... I decided the way down would probably not be too fun. So I turned around less than a mile up the unpaved section.

You mean on the road that they tell you not to take rental cars on? :lol:

You mean on the road that they tell you not to take rental cars on? :lol:

I was going to say that even the Saddle road will violate most rental car agreements, much less the access roads. They tell you this at the airport (rented cars out of Kona twice), and it's in the fine print. Well, I guess if you didn't get caught... :)

Anyway, the big island is my fave. Coffee, ranches, mountains, nut farms, beaches, the southernmost bakery in the US... love it.

I just returned from Hawaii and drove my rented Jeep Wrangler to the top of Mauna Kea with no problems (but please don't tell Budget). Rented a bike in Hilo and got as far as the 26 mile marker. A bit above 6000 feet. I do not think a cx bike is the best bike to go higher with, you really need a wide range triple to get any cycling done at those grades and altitudes. I got quite dizzy and felt strange at the top so I am more than a bit sceptical to try cycling there next time I visit but the dream is still there.

You should go back in August for the Cycle to the Sun (http://cycletothesun.net/) ride. 36 miles, over 10,000 feet. :)


I think this sounds much more doable. Just like doing Hamilton 2x w/o the descent, which I don't enjoy anyway.

You mean on the road that they tell you not to take rental cars on? :lol:

Exactly... I read that part later on :lol:

I was going to say that even the Saddle road will violate most rental car agreements, much less the access roads. They tell you this at the airport (rented cars out of Kona twice), and it's in the fine print. Well, I guess if you didn't get caught... :)

Anyway, the big island is my fave. Coffee, ranches, mountains, nut farms, beaches, the southernmost bakery in the US... love it.

:lol:

Yeah i took the rental car down to the cliff edge at South Point too, it was like off-roading. :innocent:

The car is so awful, it needs to be out of its misery. I was just expediting the process.

You mean on the road that they tell you not to take rental cars on? :lol:

They tell you that, but I think they expect everyone to take the rental car up there. :roflmao2:

They tell you that, but I think they expect everyone to take the rental car up there. :roflmao2:

That's why the fine print is there, because they know you're going to do it anyway and want to be covered in case you drive it off the cliff. ;)

What do you think Ruthie? :lol:



I'm sorry, my tandem heart has been taken by a white calfee already...

I'm sorry, my tandem heart has been taken by a white calfee already...

Oh you mean the one we haven't seen yet :lol: :p

Oh you mean the one we haven't seen yet :lol: :p

I can feel it already, it's going to be love at first sight!

:lol:

Yeah i took the rental car down to the cliff edge at South Point too, it was like off-roading. :innocent:

The car is so awful, it needs to be out of its misery. I was just expediting the process.

Oh, you did the South road too, thus hitting the trifecta of forbidden roads on Hawaii? You're a terrible, terrible person. :)

Agree on the suckiness of the Mopar machines, though. We had a PT cruiser last time we were on the Big Island. I think that was the first time I've ever been embarrassed by a rental car. And seeing as I rent from the Enterprise at Stanford regularly and drive whatever crappy thing they give me for free, that's saying something.

We haven't been up Mauna Kea, but we did drive up Mauna Loa when we were there. Even though it's only up to 9,000 feet, seeing snow after being at the beach was pretty cool. :)

That's why the fine print is there, because they know you're going to do it anyway and want to be covered in case you drive it off the cliff. ;)

Well, I didn't drive off the cliff. When I was in Maui, I took the rental around the road to hana ... some very tricky narrow roads there.

I had a Jeep...took it off-roading near a cliff. :thumb:

This is one that is on my to do list. I've driven to the top in a rented Jeep Wrangler. When I was there last year it was during the Iron Man. Some guy on a road bike rode to the top. When I met him, he was walking his road bike on the gravel section. Here are some ride reports of others doing it:

http://www.northeastcycling.com/Hawaiian_trip_05_wb.html (scroll down to Manua Kea Hillclimb)
http://jsglazer.com/adv/mk.htm

Also I did a bunch of other stuff that probably violated the rental agreement. If you want to have a truly awesome experience the best thing to do is rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle and get a book like The Big Island Revealed.