Maui Trip - Day 5 (Part 1 of 3)

 

After several days of snorkeling, hiking, and exploring, I had this idea to look into renting a bike to get in some riding.  I also brought a bike kit just in case the opportunity arose.  Thankfully, there are a few shops around the island that rent bikes.  I also started reading about this legendary ride up Haleakala and I was sold!  I figured, how hard could it be...I am reasonably fit and from Colorado so it should all just be fine.  The formal route starts at the beach, as seen above, and climbs almost 10,000 ft to the top of the volcano.  Seems pretty epic!

I wasn't quite sure how long the ride would actually take, but this bike shop (Maui Sunriders Bike in Paia) opened at 8 am, so I showed up as their first customer for the day to get as early of a start as I could.  I knew it would take a bit to get the fit right and sorted to start riding.  The rental process was smooth and we discussed my route.  The guy setting up my bike was actually from Colorado, but the crew there seemed to be pretty skeptical of my biking skills as I inquired about the climb.  They said it would typically take people five to seven hours for the ride up, but I was hoping to be closer to the four-to-five-hour range.

Welp, this face from about 15 minutes into the climb basically tells the whole story of the day.  I started off at the beach, which was pretty neat and the climb immediate ramps to an 8-10% gradient that never, ever relents.  Couple that with the scorching heat of Maui and a nice 10-15 mph head wind and I quickly knew I was in for quite the adventure.

The lower slopes of the volcano (after you get out of town) are really pretty and there are tons of open grass fields as you wind your way up.  If you zoom in on picture all the way at the top of the mountain is where I am heading.  There are a bunch of observatory domes that you can just barely make out.