Great pics, stevejaz!

We attacked the big hill this past Sunday (11/14), rolling out of Paia about 9 AM. Man... it was hard! All kinds of hard. But I just kept chugging away and got up there with about 5 hours 11 minutes of saddle time, moving average of 6.9 MPH. Next time I hope to be better trained and roll out earlier (7 AM) to beat the heat on the first 1/3 of the climb. It was the middle 1/3 of the climb that was the most difficult, though, as fatigue starts to get in and the grade tips up to an average of 6.2%. The extended intervals of 8 to 10% really made me wish I had even lower gearing than 34/25. Thankfully the last 1/3 wasn't as steep (except for the very end) but the altitude, fatigue, and some wet/cold/blustery weather took their toll.

How'd the Haleakala climb go for you, Tony?

My buddy and I did the West Maui loop yesterday morning before I had to pack it up and head to the airport. Actually a much more enjoyable ride than Haleakala! Quite scenic and highly recommended. We left from North of Kihei (Sugar Beach Resort) and logged about 66 miles round trip over the course of 4 1/2 hours elapsed.

Wish I was still there. When I left Maui yesterday it was 82 degrees & sunny. When I got off the plane at Sea-Tac it was 40 and raining!!

Bradley