Hawaii and Pacific Islands Regional Forum - Haleakala Climb - out and back?

I am planning on riding from Paia to the top of Haleakala and then back. Does anyone know roughly how long this would take? I was originally planning on having my dad meet me at the top but am wondering how feasible it would be to do the entire out and back ride.

How fast do you climb? Measure the distance, make some assumptions about average speed and do the math. Everyone is different.

Ryder has the record and I think its 2:32 for 57km.

Start at the corner in Paia and go to the summit.

peddle fast and dont puke. the air gets thin up there.

Give yourself 5.5-6 hours to the top. 1.5 to get down.

Ryder has the record and I think its 2:32 for 57km.

Start at the corner in Paia and go to the summit.

peddle fast and dont puke. the air gets thin up there.

and COLD too!

And be super careful on the way down. The road is clogged with people on cruiser bikes coasting down. Many of them are occasional riders at best and can be very squirrely.

http://www.hawaiiactive.com/img/activity/haleakala-bike-1.jpg

thanks for the tips! looks like this should be doable.

I am planning on riding from Paia to the top of Haleakala and then back. Does anyone know roughly how long this would take? I was originally planning on having my dad meet me at the top but am wondering how feasible it would be to do the entire out and back ride.

I just rode down it this week and its 40+ miles. And it's all downhill. Although I did not go to Paia -- I went the same distance out to the sugar factory and it took me an hour and a half. As for the ride up? Dunno. Knock yourself out. It's 10 thousand feet. Skip the tour crap, rent a bike from West Maui Bicycles and enjoy.

thanks for the tips! looks like this should be doable.

Take your time, it's a slog and there is no dip or even much of a flat spot on the way up. Read the many ride reports on the climb. I've done two. It's tough but doable and totally worth it.

And be super careful on the way down. The road is clogged with people on cruiser bikes coasting down. Many of them are occasional riders at best and can be very squirrely.

http://www.hawaiiactive.com/img/activity/haleakala-bike-1.jpg

Again, these lemmings are only on the road in the morning. I took off from the summit at 10:00 a.m. and had the road to myself.

Timely topic - looks like I'm heading to Maui for the 25th wedding anniversary next year and I've informed my wife I plan to climb Haleakala also. I'm not a beach person and she's not a cyclist - fortunately, she's given her blessing for me to do the ride.

I did it 10 years ago from Baldwin Beach and I think it took about 5.5 hours up. Wife did the horseback crater ride while I was doing this so I caught a ride down with her. The paid tour groups are now not allowed to start past the toll station (which is at about 6,500 feet I believe) because of a bad safety record. I wore a large Camelback which worked out pretty well since it was continuous climbing. I tipped a resturant for re-filling it for me at 4,000 ft and re-filled it again at the toll station.

I was in Maui this past April, but we'd had our rainy season in March, so I wasn't able to train for riding it again unfortunately. If I was going to ride more than one day though, I'd seriously consider shipping my bike via UPS.--the rental I got from West Maui was only barely acceptable and I noticed the brake pads were glazed over which is part of the reason I didn't ride down (but the road surface is very good to excellent).

It's kind of neat to say one did the longest climb from sea-level. It would be fun to live in Maui and do this ride on a regular basis to track improvement.

RacerOne posted this ride report thread. A fantastic writeup.

A Flatlander Climbs Haleakala (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/820341-A-Flatlander-Climbs-Haleakala)

...from the report...


The only vegetation left is small dried up grasses. It's starting to look like the surface of mars, sharp red and black rocks with steep drop offs. I think I'm getting close, but then way up the hillside, I catch the glint of a car window above on one of the switchbacks ahead, by it's size it's miles away. Scale is everything up here, and there's just nothing to reference it with. I think to myself of Marek, on his 3rd Christmas opening presents and saying in his scratchy little voice "oh my, oh my, and OH MY, this is going to be AMAZIK!". And it is. And it continues up.

I pass the 9000' level and at this point realize I AM going to make it. I also realize I have more left to climb than any single hill I ever had ridden before.

Wife did the horseback crater ride while I was doing this...

Yeah, I did just the opposite. She did the horseback thing in the crater and I caught a ride up with her and then cruised down the 10,000 feet. Don't waste your time or money with those tour groups.

It's kind of neat to say one did the longest climb from sea-level. It would be fun to live in Maui and do this ride on a regular basis to track improvement.Sea level from Hilo to the top of Mauna Kea is 13,796 ft. Of course the last section is on dirt road.