Haleakala... the HARD way! (ride report)

Gordon,

When we do Haleakala next month we'll have about a week to find the
window. Your ride report will be very useful for our trip too.

Steve
www.steephill.tv bike travelogue

Janet wrote:

Yes, but there's "slow" as in the need to go through the curves slowly
enough to be safe and "slow" as in the snail-like pace the tour group used.

Janet

But you need to realize, the tour groups are not just there to ride.
They are stopping to photograph, stopped and up close, the various
flowers and plants along the route. They might even have some
pre-arranged lectures about what to stop for. In 1998, I took a bus
tour on the route (started riding in 2000) and we made several stops
for various flowers. and gardens along the route.

"Janet" wrote

Yes, but there's "slow" as in the need to go through the curves slowly
enough to be safe and "slow" as in the snail-like pace the tour group
used.

Janet


"Safe" for a tour group has to be slow enough for the least skilled rider in
the group and I am sure that speed, whatever it is, would drive me nuts.

"Janet" wrote in message
...

One thing though - we did the sunrise tour thing. I don't reccommend the
tour, but if you can find someone to drive you up to the summit pre-dawn,
the sunrise is really worth it - it's spectacular! (just be sure to dress
warmly and in layers - at 10K ft. it gets pretty chilly pre-dawn, then
warms quickly once the sun rises) Then you can ride your own bike down at
your own pace, not the ridiculously slow pace the tours use. I think
someone in the past mentioned a bike shop that does rentals (real bikes,
not the junk the tour companies use) and will drive you to the summit...

Back in January 2000 my wife and I used Haleakala Bike Co. The tours start
at their bike shop. No silly motorcycle helmets!

http://www.bikemaui.com/

Unfortunately, during our particular tour, the clouds moved in at the summit
right at sunrise. It was still an unforgettable experience.

Scott Mace

wrote:
Janet wrote:


Yes, but there's "slow" as in the need to go through the curves slowly
enough to be safe and "slow" as in the snail-like pace the tour group used.

Janet


But you need to realize, the tour groups are not just there to ride.
They are stopping to photograph, stopped and up close, the various
flowers and plants along the route. They might even have some
pre-arranged lectures about what to stop for. In 1998, I took a bus
tour on the route (started riding in 2000) and we made several stops
for various flowers. and gardens along the route.

What trip were you on. When we were there, no stopping for pictures,
talks, etc. (the only stop was the planned breadfast - which wasn't very
good). Yes, it was boring.

Janet

Mike:

Thanks for the post and ride page. I remember that intersection where
you went wrong, and wondered where it led.

Your advice regarding a ride window is good. When I did the ride I
accidentally picked a very nice day. Here is a useful link to the
current weather conditions on Haleakala:
http://koa.ifa.hawaii.edu/Weather/current.html

My own Haleakala ride page (which now has a link to yours) is he
http://pages.prodigy.net/hamachi/Haleakala.html

I just added the link to your page at the bottom of mine. Yours was probably
the most-helpful of the sites that I found prior to my ride, yet I still
didn't make that turn I was supposed to. Part of the problem was not knowing
how steep it was supposed to be (the wrong part is *very* steep), and
reading about the nasty (but short) pitch out of Makawao and getting a bit
confused. That's why I put up the maps on my site... something to try and
make it as bullet-proof as possible that someone will go the right way.

I'm somewhat surprised that someone hasn't painted anything on the road,
given that several other people I've spoken with know of people who did the
same thing I did. Maybe my next trip I'll invest in some latex paint &
rollers and do a bit of road-graffiti! :)

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Dan wrote:

"Janet" wrote


Yes, but there's "slow" as in the need to go through the curves slowly
enough to be safe and "slow" as in the snail-like pace the tour group
used.

Janet



"Safe" for a tour group has to be slow enough for the least skilled rider in
the group and I am sure that speed, whatever it is, would drive me nuts.


Yes it drove us nuts. All the advertisement said that it was for
"experienced riders only". We thought WE'D be the least experienced ones
- boy were we wrong. I guess by "experience" they meant "haveing ridden
a bike sometime in your (distant) childhood"

"Mike Jacoubowsky" writes:

That's why I put up the maps on my site... something to try and
make it as bullet-proof as possible that someone will go the right way.

Maybe you should have taken a GPS.

--
John P. Serafin | This message not checked for viruses, etc. If your
jps at pobox com | system can't handle plain text, that's your problem.

That's why I put up the maps on my site... something to try and
make it as bullet-proof as possible that someone will go the right way.

Maybe you should have taken a GPS.

What sort of brain-dead cyclist needs a GPS to navigate what, a total of
maybe four intersections? (Raising hand, guess that would be me!).

For reasons entirely unrelated, I think there's probably a Garmin 305 GPS in
my future.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Scott Mace wrote:
Back in January 2000 my wife and I used Haleakala Bike Co. The tours start
at their bike shop. No silly motorcycle helmets!

You need to watch out, ridiculing helmets in this way, on these forums .

Dan