anyone take a vacation in maui and go riding? i've heard of the big volcano thing... i'm debating bring my bike out (i can borrow a box from a friend, heard it's $140 rt for the bike) or to rent... $40-$60/day...

if there's lots of riding and i go for >2 days i might bring my bike. anyone else bike on maui on vacation?

john

anyone take a vacation in maui and go riding? i've heard of the big volcano thing... i'm debating bring my bike out (i can borrow a box from a friend, heard it's $140 rt for the bike) or to rent... $40-$60/day...

if there's lots of riding and i go for >2 days i might bring my bike. anyone else bike on maui on vacation?

john

Aloha John,
I'm on Maui and can tell you that yes, there is a big volcano named Mount Haleakala. 10000+ft of "fun". It's not the easiest but the challenge is worth it. Just be careful about wanting to ride down after. You'll be way too tired (if you do it right) to ride down next to sharp lava covered fields or around lost visitors or tour buses. Better to have your sig other wait at the top and bring you back safely to sea level for food and drink.

Do you road bike? Check out Donny A. at www.gocyclingmaui.com. He can set you up to do some real road biking all around the island. Just reserve a slot and show up. He uses Litespeeds and supplies just about everything you'll need. (no I don't own stock in the company)

If you're a casual rider the downhill tours are okay. They ride as a group and the bikes can handle the 36+ miles of constant braking. Just be prepared to ride along with Grandmas and kids. Lots of companies to choose from when you get here.

If you're looking to rent a road bike, West Maui Cycles has Cannondale R900's. Talk to Chris or Jaime. If you're in Kihei, check out Frank, Aaron, Travis or Shawn at South Maui Bikes to rent or help if you bring out your own ride. Don't forget to get a Maui County Bike Map when you're there. It has lots of good info about cycling on Maui.

Hope some (or any) of this helps!
Aloha
BMC Wally

aloha bmc waly,

thanks for the info. i'm definitely going to go for it then and will look into the shops you mentioned. yup, i road bike (about 500miles/mo), 2-3 centuries/year.

i can just bring my jersey, shorts, and shoes? or should i bring my spd-sl pedals too?

i wish i could ride more, but it's my first time to maui and i'll be with some other non-cycling folks.... so with 6 days, i will definitely spend 1 day to ride haleakaia.

if i were able to sneak off for one more day of riding, what would you recommend?

john

Aloha John,
I'm on Maui and can tell you that yes, there is a big volcano named Mount Haleakala. 10000+ft of "fun". It's not the easiest but the challenge is worth it. Just be careful about wanting to ride down after. You'll be way too tired (if you do it right) to ride down next to sharp lava covered fields or around lost visitors or tour buses. Better to have your sig other wait at the top and bring you back safely to sea level for food and drink.

Do you road bike? Check out Donny A. at www.gocyclingmaui.com. He can set you up to do some real road biking all around the island. Just reserve a slot and show up. He uses Litespeeds and supplies just about everything you'll need. (no I don't own stock in the company)

If you're a casual rider the downhill tours are okay. They ride as a group and the bikes can handle the 36+ miles of constant braking. Just be prepared to ride along with Grandmas and kids. Lots of companies to choose from when you get here.

If you're looking to rent a road bike, West Maui Cycles has Cannondale R900's. Talk to Chris or Jaime. If you're in Kihei, check out Frank, Aaron, Travis or Shawn at South Maui Bikes to rent or help if you bring out your own ride. Don't forget to get a Maui County Bike Map when you're there. It has lots of good info about cycling on Maui.

Hope some (or any) of this helps!
Aloha
BMC Wally

aloha bmc waly,

thanks for the info. i'm definitely going to go for it then and will look into the shops you mentioned. yup, i road bike (about 500miles/mo), 2-3 centuries/year.

i can just bring my jersey, shorts, and shoes? or should i bring my spd-sl pedals too?

i wish i could ride more, but it's my first time to maui and i'll be with some other non-cycling folks.... so with 6 days, i will definitely spend 1 day to ride haleakala.

if i were able to sneak off for one more day of riding, what would you recommend?

john

Aloha John,

Check out http://cycletothesun.net/ to find out more about the organized ride that happens in August of this year for a good idea of what it looks like. Bicycling mag did a great article about doing the ride by yourself also. Check out their old issues for "Haleakala".

Be prepared for the climate change. Sea level in the am is about lower 70's, Top of the crater can get bad if the rain, wind and fog comes in. Rain and wind plus lack of oxygen could make for an unhappy time. You'll feel the lack of air from around 6500ft and up and it doesn't get easier. Pace yourself!! (I wouldn't go scuba diving before or after this ride either.) Check out http://www.haleakala.national-park.com/weather.htm right before you come out to see what the weather forecast will be. You don't want to experience 70mph driven rain at 8000ft in 36* wind chill corrected temps.

If you can arrange it, I'd go with Gocyclingmaui. No muss, no fuss. Liteseeds, sag, clothes, food etc. You might only have to bring your pedals, shoes and measurements. Donny has got some great stories to tell from last's years TDF. If not, the Cannondales I mentioned should be able to handle it.

If you do the Mt. Haleakala ride one day, rest a couple days then do a ride around the west end of the island. Lots of great views, maybe some whale sightings, lush tropical valleys, shear cliffs, cows, ....you get the picture. About 66 miles around but some good elevation changes (like you'll want that after doing Haleakala). Go in the clockwise direction around the west end of the island to avoid being close to the cliff edges and some unpleasant (and/or fatal) drop offs. Don't let that stop you though, its worth it. Bring lots of water and gu cause the humidity drains you and there ain't much in the way of stores once you get out into the country area. Be sure to check out Curlys Fruit Stand right above Kahakuloa Valley for fresh bananas, mangos and other stuff. YUM!

Have fun when you come and let me know how it went. If you see a skinny ornamental guy on a BMC, say "HI" and don't laugh at the lung he's usually coughing up.

Aloha
BMC Wally

And....
If you make it to the Big Island i would be more than happy to take you on one of our tours or a custom ride that i do for alot of cyclist. Just a thought...Enjoy Maui
Josh

www.cyclekona.com

Just rented two bikes from South Maui Bicycles, www.southmauibicycles.com , phone is 808-874-0068. Very impressed with the place. Staying at Four Seasons and the Concierge reccomended the place for road bikes. Rented two Trek road bikes that were in very good shape and real reasonable rate for the day. I dealt with a very good represenative of the place , Travis.
I had only one previous road bike rental experience in Palm Springs and it seemed that they picked up the bikes at a police auction. South Maui Bicycles appears to be very well run.

My wife and I rented Trek 1000 road bikes during our stay on Maui, and we were very pleased with the bikes and the service of Travis, Aaron, and the rest of the South Maui Cycles crew. We can recommend them highly.

Dale

i'm leaving for maui tomorrow.... and will definitely give south maui a try. don't have the luxury or $ for a guided tour, so a quality rental place is what i need. i might spring for the extra $ and pay $50 to try one of those trek 2200 carbon bikes. it'll make the ride up haleakala easier (is it really 10,000 ft in under 40miles?!)

i ride ultegra spd-sl pedals... do you think they'll have them or be able to put them on the rental bikes or should i bring my own pair (just trying to pack light).

john

Just rented two bikes from South Maui Bicycles, www.southmauibicycles.com , phone is 808-874-0068. Very impressed with the place. Staying at Four Seasons and the Concierge reccomended the place for road bikes. Rented two Trek road bikes that were in very good shape and real reasonable rate for the day. I dealt with a very good represenative of the place , Travis.
I had only one previous road bike rental experience in Palm Springs and it seemed that they picked up the bikes at a police auction. South Maui Bicycles appears to be very well run.

Aloha jksu,

Hope the trip goes well! I just came back from playing on my new fixed ride project bike...(no I'm not taking that one up Haleakala). Caught your post while surfing RBR.

The weather here been a tad cloudy. The top of half of the mountain has been windy lately too. Surfs been up. Whales are still in town.

Yes it is 10000+ft in about 36 to 38 miles depending upon where you start, either way have FUN!!!

As for the pedals, I'd bring my own just to be sure.

Hope all goes well!!

BMC Wally

John:

Good luck vs. the volcano! Even the natives said it is a formidable ride. Go get it!

I'd call them at South Maui Cycles to find out if they have your pedal style in stock to put on a rental bike. As others have said, bringing your own pedals will likely save you grief and surely save you money (there was a small surchage for my wife and me to rent their SPD pedals, which is perfectly understandable). Also, if you have not done so already, call to reserve a 2200 bike before you go. I know from my visit that availability is limited.

I can recommend rides to Io valley and Lahaina. Both were worthwhile destinations.

Aloha! Have a ton of fun!

Dale

i'm leaving for maui tomorrow.... and will definitely give south maui a try. don't have the luxury or $ for a guided tour, so a quality rental place is what i need. i might spring for the extra $ and pay $50 to try one of those trek 2200 carbon bikes. it'll make the ride up haleakala easier (is it really 10,000 ft in under 40miles?!)

i ride ultegra spd-sl pedals... do you think they'll have them or be able to put them on the rental bikes or should i bring my own pair (just trying to pack light).

john

hi everyone,

thanks for all the suggestions and support... i'll have to get the pics developed but it turned out fine.

i rented from south maui bikes...hoping for a trek 2200 but the only 58cm they had was a trek 1000. kind of beat up and they did somethign funky to the quick release brakes so it was next to impossible to get the wheels off. not a big deal if you have a car rack but the low-end chevy rental we got wouldn't let the seats down. but as i've ridden campy and shimano, the low end shimano shifters were familiar (kind of campy clones with the thumb shifter). 1st time on 25cc tires too which were pretty cushy although coming down i still had numb fingers. nice they included tools so i could tweak stem height/angle and seat position.

i drove up leaving our condo in wailea around 4:30am...not knowing exactly how long it'd take me. since i was early, i decided to drive all the way up and check out the sunrise (made it up there around 6am, with sunrise at 6:21am) beautiful! it was a clear day so it was gorgeous. it was nice to "scout" the ride up too.

unfortunately my fiance packed my cliff bars in a friend's bag, so i chickened out and only rode from about 25miles out, a few miles from the base.... would've liked to do the true beach to summit, but 21 miles and 6500ft climbing still kicked my ass. i was really worried about bonking.. not sure if it was my lack of adequate fitness, the altitude, sleep deprivation or low sugar. 2 guys (father and son) from british columbia where the only others ridign up that day. it took me about 2 hours with the last 2-3 miles being a true brute. the air was so thin every time i took a swig of gatorade i had to recover!

the weather was perfect though...i had my regular bib shorts and ss jersey and arm warmers and the rain jacket and knee warmers stayed in my pocket until the ride down. i summited about 10am, snap a few pictures, finished off the last of the gatorade and suited up to ride down.

the ride down was a blast. i guess since maui makes so much off these cruiser/bomber riders, the road is very nicely paved and the turns are pretty safe. i passed about 4 groups of these tour groups on the way down. i was sweating like crazy at the bottom.

i did the ride this past tuesday and i'm glad. by the time i was back on thursday with my friends (so they could see the sun rise), it was more over cast, and it was raining when we flew back yesterday.

when we explored west maui by car i was jealous of the riders i saw...accompanied with a sag wagon and all. some beautiful climbing!

thanks again folks. a great experience and definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

john

Aloha jksu,

Hope the trip goes well! I just came back from playing on my new fixed ride project bike...(no I'm not taking that one up Haleakala). Caught your post while surfing RBR.

The weather here been a tad cloudy. The top of half of the mountain has been windy lately too. Surfs been up. Whales are still in town.

Yes it is 10000+ft in about 36 to 38 miles depending upon where you start, either way have FUN!!!

As for the pedals, I'd bring my own just to be sure.

Hope all goes well!!

BMC Wally

....you guys are starting to tweak my Hawaii addiction again. I've done the downhill tours off Haleakala twice, but I haven't been back to the Islands since I really got into riding. Ever since I started road riding I can't help but think what riding in Maui would be like, especially with someone like Donny at gocylingmaui.com. This isn't the only place that he's received rave reviews.

For me the Hawaiian islands are one of the most seductive places on the planet. I wanted to go back this year, but instead we're off to Aruba....my wife wants to prove to me there are other places equally as beautiful. In the back of my mind I kinda hope Aruba sucks so I get more leverage to plan another Hawaii trip next year!

While this is not necessarily cycling specific, I'd absolutely give Hawaii (either Oahu or Maui, the only two Hawaiian Islands I've made it to yet) the edge over Aruba.
PRO--
Hawaii: Lush, Large, Volcanic (think altitude), US Roads, Beach Quality (Ask Dr. Beach www.drbeach.org )
Aruba--Gambling is Legal
CON--
Aruba: Arid, Small, Flat, rugged road conditions in some outlying areas, trade winds (do a bit of research on the divi divi trees)
TIE--
Both of them are a haul for a "Jayhawk", marine life for both is superb, water is beautiful in both locations, both are pretty expensive on a cost of living basis.

I'm happy I've had the opportunity to go to both places. I'll go back to the Hawaiian Islands, but Aruba is a one time only deal for me.