Bekologist

I must say WOW.

A heads up: the loop around West Maui is one of the best coast rides in the American Pacific. Unbelievable scenery coupled with a fantastic road and very little traffic, this ride classifies as one of the best rides in the Pacific Northwest region. At times i felt i had left the USA because of the narrow road & lack of traffic, and had been transported to some nearly deserted island in the Adriatic.



I have not found a better road with less traffic and views of the pacific anywhere in Oregon or Washington, maybe there's some great coast roads in California but suspect they have quite a bit more traffic.

If anyone has time on maui, skip the halekala ride and do the west maui loop. 62 miles m/l, and one of the absolute best coast rides EVAR.

Unbelievably fantastic. Must recommend as a must do if anyone makes it to Maui. I did it on my SNS coupled Surly TravelersCheck, but you can rent a road bike at West Maui Cycles.

Pictures and video when i get time to crunch some pixels.

JC 911

Do you have a map of link to something where I can do the same route? I will be there in April.

Bekologist

yes, there's only one road so its pretty hard to get lost.

I will post some pics and video and will link to a map or something in a few more days, im trying not to waste too much time in paradise on the internet-

off to snorkel with the sea turtles and ukulele shopping!

Daveyboy

++1 That's a sweet ride Bekologist! Starting from Napili the landscape and views are fantastic, and I love riding with the trades at my back down to Ma'alaea. The only tough part for me is the hill the locals call 'The Wall'.
P.S. - There's a nice huge shade tree to shelter from the sun at the little store next to Chez Paul.

Bekologist

yeah, i am glad i got the 411 from the local riders about 'the wall'; it is really a little hill compared to some of the riding in the seattle area but it was still quite the grind up to the top.

Truly a world class ride.

I suggest stopping at Oloulwu (Chez Paul) and heading back to the petroglyphs for a trip to historic Hawaii.

Bekologist

raw video of a stellar, fantastic 3 minute climb out of kahakuloa village on the west maui highway.

unbelievable.

cyclezealot

Looking forward to the photos...... I remember driving it, infortunate in that we took no bikes.. The airlines rip you off when you take a bike.. Seems the road when you reach the north west point and turns back east gets a little rough and that portion of the ride would be better on a mountain bike...? Otherwise, seems the road even offered wide shoulders and designated bike lanes.. ?

Bekologist

Good ride all around the way. Maybe there were a couple of little stretches that might merit some extra caution on 700x23s - i used 700 x 28s on this trip - but it's definitely rideable on a standard road bike.

I took a SNS coupled Surly TravelersCheck in a case that meets airlines current hight and weight restrictions, so only paid $20 bucks for my bike to travel with me. I strongly recommend one to ANYONE that travels and doesn't have a 'bike in every port'. Plus, you can stuff 700x45s under it and ride some heinous roughroad/offroad with it as its a cyclocross bike (or flatbar it as a rigid 29'er)

Anyway, some more polished hawaii bike ride video to come, i just wanted to post this video unedited to get the footage up. I thought it was good enough to stand alone and capture the spirit of an arduous bicycle climb on a beautiful island.

I shot it handheld on a 1080i Kodak Zi8 pocket videocamera; i was riding the climb one hand on the handlebars.

.

Daveyboy

Thanks for sharing the video - I'm looking forward to my trip there this June. This time I might try the 'Worlds Best Banana Bread' in Kahakuloa.

Bekologist

i'll be making a blend of some of the downhills into a more exciting video - i just got to reviewing the footage yesterday night, that was a raw clip i just had to put up to youtube.

that was handheld, i had a chainstay mounted video camera running for most of the good downhills on the ride, i just need to spend some time and parse down a lot of megapickels for the quality bits..

yeah, i rolled thru and didn't see anything even vaguely open..... no banana bread at julies'

there's a fruit stand at the crest a few miles past kahakuloa around maybe Puu' Olai, on the start of the downgrade off the West Maui headlands into wailuku well worth the stop.

You can sees all the way over to where Jaws breaks off in the distance from there, the views are so expansive.

fruit stand view puu olai.jpg

BGrayvy

I remember thinking it would be an awesome ride when we pounded our rental car around that route a few years back! What more could you want?

forrest_m

Spectacular

I was glad to read that, 'cause when I was watching the video, I was thinking it was a helmet mounted camera and I kept wishing you'ld look at the road more! ;-)

Bekologist

Video compilation of the 63 mile ride.

Enjoy!

Camilo

dredging up this old thread, hoping someone will see it and answer a couple of questions.

How difficult are the hills?

Is there any way to split the ride into two segments (like and overnight at one end or the other?)

We aren't wimps, but are late 50's ish recreational riders. We've both done 60+ mile rides, but prefer 30 or so, especially if there's tough hills.

Thanks.