bkrownd

In common usage, but it is not historically correct. Second paragraph of this link: about the East Maui volcano

oujeep1

now that you have done the easy volcano, step on up to mauna kea- go to bicyclekona.com for a report on it. seriously for a mainlander who visits hawaii and wants to consider going up east maui mountain to see the haleakala crater, is there a decent lbs that rents the type of bike one would need to consider the ascent? i have done both the downhill and driven up haleakala, and both times i thought man this would be fun to go up.

ovoleg

I won't be there again anytime soon.

If I had my bike, It would have been much easier. The standard 44" bars feel way too short for me

chromedome

The day after going up H, you can go around Maui also. Then the day after that, around West Maui. Or just combine the two in one day. Neither one is very long, so you don't really need an early start. Weekends are best.
Those three rides are really worth hauling your bike across a continent and half way across an ocean.
Or, instead of staying at a resort hotel for a few days, stay at one of the youth hostels and buy a new bike when you get there, then take it home with you. Just take your lid, clothes, shoes and pedals.

gurana

I'm getting married in Maui in September. The downhill bike ride was on the itinerary, but it got crossed off at the last minute. I originally wanted to do it uphill, but I would probably want my bike to do it, and I'm not shipping it to Hawaii. Besides, I'm pretty sure my fiancee would frown upon that

bkrownd

Escape, while you still can!

truckin

Hey, I thought I had read somewhere that you could only ride alone up to the entry to the park- beyond there, you had to be with a commercial operation (supervised, in other words). As such, I hadn't been planning to do this climb when I'm there in August. Am I mistaken, and can you legally climb all the way to the top (and then descend afterward)?? If that's the case, my plans may well change!

crackerjab

My experience with the bike ride down the mountain wasn't so pleasant. My wife and I did one of those "sunrise bike tours". I was expecting some nice mountain bikes and few trails on the way down. Well instead they put us on these 60lb beach cruisers with front and rear drum brakes that were at least 20 years old. To top it off they made us wear full face helmets. I asked the smart ass tour guide why we couldn't wear regular helmets and he said "It's the law here" to which I replied "Why are you and all the roadies wearing them?" All I got was a dumb look. Total waste of $240. I was a little pissed off to say the least.

Those who have done the ride on a real bike are fortunate and i envy you.

EDIT: And to add to this the fastest we went was probably about 18mph

ovoleg

LOL, Actually I felt bad for most of the guys going down because the bikes looked like crap. Most of the kids were going downhill so slow they were ducking to help increase speed. On the R5000 that I rented, I was bombing downhill at 30+mph(No computer so just guesstimates but I had no more gears to spin on the 50/12 gearing).

Even the tour guides were riding some odd bikes~They did all wave at me as I was climbing

alraicercsu

I did it last summer and its fun, get out early and enjoy the tourists almost running you over going up and all of them fliping out at you on the way down, but never the less its an awsome ride that given the chance I would do again.

ovoleg

The tourist were pretty nice *shrug*. They all gave me looks like, "WTF???"

Sprocket Man

Change your plans! You can go to the summit, but you will have to pay a small fee at the entry gate.

ovoleg

$5 is too much for cyclist Should be Free!!!

chromedome

The downhill tour groups are expensive, limit the descent speed of the group (15mph), dress you up in yellow or orange rain slickers, stop everybody evry few miles so the "stragglers" can catch up, feed you a little, and give you the crappiest bikes imaginable. Cant imagine doing it.
I've been up once, and everytime I drive up now to hike, I lick my chops wanting a bike under me. Then I see just one a-hole in a car and I remember why I dont bother. And a big portion of the drivers trippin' up and down really are driving like a-holes. And the trails we go on are terrific.
Is it worth the risk? Not for me.

ovoleg

That bad eh?

Maybe during the week there are less tourist?

bkrownd

Don't forget to make space for passing, as a lot of these drivers are trying to get to and from work at the summit. Not everybody is a tourist with a whole day to kill.

ovoleg

You know that's what my friend was saying as he was driving through Hana with me. Everytime I told him to hurry up he would reply with, "What are you late for work or something?" and when someone passed us really fast he would utter, "That guy is late for work".

Sorry offtopic hehe

truckin

Thanks! Consider my plans changed. We're doing it!

adxm

As far as the tourist traffic on the climb, as I remember there was always plenty of room, and it was much less dangerous riding up the mountain than riding across central Maui, for instance (I rode over to Paia from Kihei to start my ascent). Other tourists treat you like a god when you make it to the top. The one incident I had was getting threatened to have my ass kicked by some locals in a beat up pick up truck, and this was on a road on the northern flanks of Haleakala, not on the main climb. One guy started to get out of the truck at a light, but thankfully the light turned green at that point. I think they hate all bikers because of the traffic from the bike tours.

The other suggestion I have is to attack it on a day where Haleakala is not cloud enshrined! Sometimes it changes fairly quickly, but I had to climb from about 4,000 ft to 9,000 ft inside the clouds, and I think that made it much more mentally difficult. The descent is wonderful: I think it took just a hair over an hour for the 36 mile trip back to sea level. Hardly had to deal with any cars, but passed some poor bike tour participants going like 15 mph, decked out in body armor.

ovoleg

Kind of similar experience, near the HQ I got hit really hard with STRONG wind and mist and I was nearly freezing to death.

The way down was extremely fast as you get a tailwind most of the way. Hey, I went up Hwy 37 then to 377 then to 378, is that how you got there?

Garfield Cat

I got the brochure on the tour up Haleakala. I called and left a message and finally got a response a few days later. They try to get enough paying customers to go up and take them up at the same time. So I didn't make it because I had to leave to Kauai. So we drove up just to scope it out. I saw two riders going up at different times, going solo.

If the climb doesn't get to you, the altitude will. Make sure you acclimate yourself to the elevation with some practice rides before you go to Hawaii. At the top I went jogging into the crater and went in about a mile. It was ok but I felt the thin air and was breathing a lot harder than usual.

I saw those bikes for the downhill and I think they're Moped brakes. I also heard that every year a few riders die going down mostly because they're inexperienced and start to panic.

chromedome

There's a few people die or injured each year from bike vs. car/truck accidents there.
Bkrowned in Hilo makes good points, except that on Maui people jet over for just a couple of days and try to squeeze in as many activities as they can, driving from one side of the island to the other, and back again in just a short space of time. They dont really spend all day on one activity, so theyre usually in a big hurry, and just like at home, they dont realize somebody might be on a bike right in front of them around a blind curve. Bumper bait.
Weekdays arent any better. Theres essentially the same number of tourists every day, all year.
Locals in pickup trucks? Theres an understandable reason for that, at least understandable to them. Its got a lot to do with the economy of the island, the jobs locals have, and how people are treated sometimes.

adxm

I started in Paia, and up 390 over to 377. I think I scoped out 37 before and decided that 390 was more pleasant. The bottom portion of my ride was very lush and beautiful. Quite a contrast to the moonscape terrain you get as you get higher up.

ovoleg

Main thing people need to worry about is the gusting wind. Going down this can seriously launch you over the cliff. I had a few close calls and I am sure I'd be dead if I wasn't confident in my handling...

Altidude isn't as bad as you would think. The wind scares you and keeps you on your toes.

In any case, you only live once---Try everything

bkrownd

By the way, the road up the North face of Mauna Loa is paved up to the NOAA weather observatory at 11,200 feet. The first few miles after you leave the saddle road is a bit rough, but it improves as it goes up, and the visibility improves as well. There are few cars on this road. This road isnt nearly as steep as the road that goes to the 9200 foot visitor center area on Mauna Kea, and on a clear day (before noon is best) the view from the Mauna Loa weather observatory parking lot is MUCH better than the view from the visitor center on Mauna Kea. From the weather observatory you'd have to hike the rest of the way to the summit caldera, which is a good hike and the caldera is very scenic, but probably not something you'd want to do after biking up that far.

There are a couple of tough but very scenic mountain bike roads on both, but that's another thread... Anybody been mountain biking on Haleakala? I know there's a road down the West rift zone, but I'm not sure about the access to it.