Pi'ilani Highway kicked my butt!

I set off from the campground at the Y after a late, lazy start because of sitting around talking with a family from Calgary.

I continued riding up and down all day past nice water falls.


There were some right by the road that I stood under to cool off.

I passed some taro fields.


Taro is a plant that the Hawaiians brought from Fiji. They cook the tuberous root and mash it into this stuff they eat like potatoes called poi.

I got to Hana and called ahead to reserve a B and B for the following night in Kula.

I rode a few more ridiculously steep hills to Kipahulu campground in Haleakala National Park. This part of the park reaches all the way down to the ocean and is a legacy, in part, of Charles Lindburg, who lived the rest of his life in Maui and is buried here.

My phone battery was dead the next day so I have no photos of the crazy Pi'ilani 'Highway' on my phone.

The road started out right on the ocean with fantastic views. Then, the road turned to dirt, which wasn't too bad. Then came the hills. These things were crazy steep with some around 20%! They were scary to ride down because I felt like I would fall over my handlebars so I hung my butt off behind the seat to put my center of gravity farther back like I've seen them do in cyclocross races. That really helped stabilize the descents. Of course, it was impossible to ride up these monsters so I pushed the bike, which was also really hard. And, When I got to the top, I rolled straight back down again to the ocean. This on a day that finished in Kula at 3500 feet elevation.

Then, things got bad. The road switched back to 'pavement'. This stuff was the most god awful surface I've ever ridden on except for Dempster Highway mud. It was all patches with no original pavent visible. And the patches weren't smoothed out at all so there were little humps and divets about every six inches all over the entire road. It felt like both Sam and I would be shaken to bits. I named it Pele's Pavement, Pele being the Hawaiian fire/ volcano goddess, since the road was about as smooth as a lava flow. And, of course, the ridiculous hills continued, pushing up, and slowly, rattling back down. I rode up some of the less steep (12-14%) ones, but it made my legs and arms scream after a few of them.

Then, it got really hot. This part of the road is back on the leeward side of the island, so the jungle with it's nice shade is gone, replaced by scrubby, brown bushes. By noon, I felt like I was riding in an oven with the heat radiating off the asphalt. Several passing cars gave me water, fruit, and lots of encouragement. Finally, the road became normal pavement as it began the climb up the side of Haleakala to, what they call The Upcountry.

I always find it hard to eat when it's really hot and I made the mistake of not eating sooner. By the time I stopped on a ridge for lunch, I was well on my way to bonking.

Bonking is basically running out of energy during a long distance run or bike ride. It feels like my legs have turned to jello, I can't really catch my breath, and every hill is next to impossible to get up.

I crawled into Ulapalakua Ranch, the first bit of civilization, ate some snack food, and pushed on uphill another 10 miles to Kula. I crawled in after dark, scarfed down a nice sandwich the owner prepared for me, showered, and slept 12 hours straight. I can't remember the last time a road kicked my butt that badly.


-- Post From My iPhone

Hana highway

It took two days to ride the Hana Highway. I started from the hostel in Wailuku and rode along the famous north shore. I stopped in a few spots to watch the surfers, though the break wasn't all that big.


Overall, the road was quite a bit easier riding than West Maui since the hills aren't quite as steep. The road is quite windy, curving in and out of valleys and crossing countless little one lane bridges and lots of water falls. The vegetation is very jungle-like with vines and dense trees and there was a bunch of shade so it was a bit cooler.
I stopped at lots of fruit stands to eat and had apple bananas, passion fruit, guava, starfruit, lychees, pineapple, coconut, and lots of citrus.


They also had lots of home made banana bread and fruit smoothies made with cane juice.

I ended up camping at a YMCA because the state park reservation system here is the most asinine thing I've ever experienced. Youhave to pay for your camping permit in Wailuku, on the other side of the island. Even though there is a full time person working at the campground itself, they will under no circumstances issue permits there. And, the permit place in Wailuku is only open limited hours due to budget cuts.

Besides brutal hills, finding places to stay has been the hardest part of this trip. They don't have little motels either, like they have on the Oregon coast. Instead, they have B&Bs which I have to get reservations for ahead of time. I'm used to being able to pull in to a town and find a room really easily. This place requires way more planning.

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Climbing Haleakala

After The crazy grind up to Kula, I needed a day off and hung out at Sandlewood B and B for an entire day, sitting in the sun and napping. My body really needed a break after four straight days of near constant hills in the tropical heat.

The owners of the B and B gave me a ride to a grocery store to stock up for the two day climb up Haleakala, the big shield volcano that dominates East Maui. It is substantially cooler in the Upcountry, which was a nice break from the heat down by the coast.





The next day, Christmas Eve, I headed up to 7000 ft to camp inside the National Park at Hosmer Grove.




It was quite windy and cool so most of the folks in the campground congregated around a nice campfire for most of the evening. It was a rather eclectic group with some locals from Paia and Makawao, including a semi-homeless Vietnam vet, and a big group of Canadians.

The next morning, I left most of my gear and headed for the summit. The climb was a nice gradual grade and, riding light with only a bit of food and warm clothes, I was able to comfortably climb several gears above Granny gear. The road switchbacked up and the views became more and more spectacular with some views towards the Big Island and Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in the distance.




The 1000 ft markers slowly passed by and after about three hours of steady climbing, I got to the summit at a bit over 10,000 ft. The Haleakala climb is supposedly the shortest road to this altitude in the world.




The views were fantastic as the sun was going down.




It gets dark very quickly in the tropics so after a few photos, I put on warm clothes and started the coast back down to camp. The clouds were below me, all lit up by the sunset. It felt like I was riding on the top of the world.

On my way down, a man in a red Mustang stopped me and asked if I wanted to test some high tech cycling clothes for his Swiss company. I told him I did but I needed to get down to camp before it got totally dark. On that curvy road, I was able to keep up with the cars and the Swiss guy ended up driving behind me, lighting the road for me with his brights. It was a spectacular descent, with the last of the light fading on the clouds below and my very own chase car. When I got to camp, I gave the Swiss man, Bruno, my address. He said he had seen me several times riding on the island and would send me some bike clothes to test. I hope it pans out; it would be interesting to help with gear design since I sure use my stuff pretty hard core and in some fairly rugged conditions.

Back at camp, the wind had died down and I had a nice dinner with a local couple camping on the mountain for the weekend.

I spent the next two days slowly making my way back to the coast and hanging out on the beach near Paia. Then it was back to the Banana Bungalow for my last night and a quick ride to the airport this morning. The hostel had stored my bike box and one of the employees was nice enough to drive it to the airport for me.

So, my two week adventure in paradise is over and it's time to get back to the real world.
-- Post From My iPhone

ATP! Somebody get me more ATP!

I really enjoyed my stay on Moloka'i. The ride to the east end of the island was great. I also rode out to the west end. There were some hills, which weren't to bad, but it was crazy hot so I had to stop several times. I camped at an isolated spot next to a gorgeous beach.


It rained most of the night and off and on during the ride back to the ferry. I got soaked but at least I didn't over heat like the previous day.

It was Christmas day so the main town, Launakakai, was really quiet.



I took the ferry back to Lahaina on Maui. It was a rough, crazy ride! I stood in a corner on the top deck and got soaked with sea water as the ship plowed through the choppy waves. I got a roller coaster ride to go with my ferry ride.



Sam picked up a really annoying tick during the ride to west Moloka'i. At every pedal stroke, regardless of which gear he was in, he would tick loudly, and I could even feel the jarring in my feet. I had to ride with music all day to block out the incessant noise. Luckily there is a bike shop in Lahaina so I was able to get him fixed. The problem was the bottom bracket, the piece that goes through the bottom of the frame and that the pedals attach to. The mechanic took it apart and greased it up, which solved the problem. It's so nice to have a smooth ride again.

Today was tough ride. I rode around the rest of West Maui from Lahaina to Wailuku. The road was spectacular but really, really hilly. There were two hills that I walked because they were so steep and long. The views were fantastic with lush green, jungle valleys and a coastline studded with rocky cliffs and crashing waves.


Part of the road narrowed to a single lane for a good 10 miles. The pavement was in pretty bad shape, adding to the already challenging ride.



Luckily, the trade winds weren't blowing much, though there were a few sections with a brisk headwind.

I've definitely got my climbing legs back which is a good thing since tomorrow I'm riding the road to Hana, which is similar terrain to West Maui but a longer ride. It'll take four days to ride to Hana and around the rest of the east part of the island. After that, I'll finish off this trip with a climb up Haleakala and, hopefully, an overnight backpacking trip into the crater.


-- Post From My iPhone

Riding the trade winds

I took the late afternoon ferry to Moloka'i, a choppy 90 minute ride. The moon and stars were out as we bobbed along. I was a bit nervous about getting in to Moloka'i after dark, but past experience has proven that I always figure something out. I waited for the few cars at the dock to leave, turned on the rear blinker and put on my headlamp.

There is next to no traffic on this island so it's ideal for night riding. The stars were out and my headlamp gave enough light to clearly see the shoulder. I rode a few miles and then stopped at the Moloka'i Hotel to have dinner. I talked to the manager who gave me a deal on a room. So, I got to sleep in a gigantic bed after having a glorious shower.

I decided to stay another night at the hotel and ride unloaded out to east Moloka'i, a 60 mile there and back ride. I took off around 8, after a nice breakfast, and rode the flat, quiet King Kamehameha highway. It was flat for a good 20 miles, so I cranked out the miles in no time. There were some great ocean views along the way and it wasn't too hot.


I passed one of Father Damien's churches.


The Father came to the islantoon the late 19th century to take care of lepers who had been exiled to a leper colony on the island. He ended up contracting leperacy and dying from it.

There were some interesting fence posts by the road with a definite Hawaiian flare.


After 20 miles of easy cruising, the highway turned into a single lane road and began a climb over a headland. It was steep and hot but had great views. After the hill, the road ran down to a pretty and isolated beach at the end of the road.


I had lunch, went for a swim, and cranked back up the hill. It wasn't too bad until the last half mile or so where the hill had some pitches that were up to 20%. I pedaled almost all of them but ended up walking the last one.

Once I caught my breath, I cruised back down to the ocean and picked up the gusty afternoon trade wind at my back.

I got back just in time for a perfect sunset in paradise.




-- Post From My iPhone

Lazy days

I'm currently sitting in a neat little restaurant in Lahaina, drinking a mai tai. Notice the sunny beach and ocean in the background.



I'm not that big a fan of rum, but this is pretty good!

It's crazy hot and the sun is as bright as it is at home in late July. The buildings in Hawai'i often have no windows and are permanently open to the outside cuz, well, it's ridiculously warm all the time.



I rode into town early this morning to go on a whale watching cruise for 2 hours. We saw at least a dozen humpbacks, some so close that we could hear them blow. One of them was slapping it's flukes on the water. We saw several competition groups, which are two or more males battling it out to impress a female. They were diving, blowing bubbles, and head butting each other. I got some great photos with my new, nice camera. Here is what I got with my phone. Too bad there is no zoom on the iPhone.



I've spent the rest of the day wandering the shops, waiting for the evening ferry to Moloka'i. I bought some souvenirs including a pretty turtle sarong to wear over my bike shorts like a skirt to reduce my otherwise freaky bike tourist appearance.

When I rode through the Navajo Rez back in '99, I met a Navajo elder,who was a shaman, on the way to Canyon de Chelly. He spent quite a bit of time talking to me, telling me his life story. He told me that I deserved his respect because I had worked hard to see his home. I wasn't a tourist, I was a traveller. He told me that since I travel carrying my home and posessions strapped to my bike, the turtle must be my spirit totem. He told me to always wear a turtle when I travel to acknowledge my totem animal, which I have done on every trip both biking and backpacking since then. I currently wear a sea turtle necklace that I bought on the Big Island last Christmas break that I also wore all last summer on the ride to Inuvik. I also have a soapstone turtle that I bought in Minnesota during my cross country bike ride in '96 (before I travelled the Rez) in a leather pouch that is tied to Sam's handlebar with other little travel mementoes.





Sam posed with the biggest Banyan tree in the world. This thing is huge with long aerial roots that have dropped down and established new trunks. Sam is posing in front of one of the newer trunks. The original trunk is back by the couple sitting on the bench.





The ferry is about to load! Off to Moloka'i.
-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Front St,Lahaina,United States

West Maui

It poured rain all last night but had pretty much cleared up by this morning. I got going around nine and made my way over to highway 30, which heads over to West Maui.

It was an easy ten or so miles across the valley to Ma'alaea with a fierce trade wind at my back which I was grateful for but made for a hot ride. There were great views of the ocean and Haleakala I spent several hours exploring the Maui aquarium at Ma'alaea. It was quite nice with sea turtles and a deep tank with sharks and rays. They even had cute little puffer fish, the source of TTX, the sodium channel blocker, that supposedly is what was used to make zombies.

I signed up to go whale watching tomorrow from Lahaina for a couple of hours. I saw lots of humpbacks from a lookout today, spouting and breaching- pretty cool! You can't see the whales in this picture, but you can see Haleakala, a nice shield volcano across the bay.


Riding this section of West Maui reminds me of the scablands in Eastern Washington. It's really hot, the sun is blazing, there are basalt outcrops all over, and there is only scrubby vegetation.

I'm currently camped in a campground a few miles south of Lahaina. The ocean is about 20 feet away and it's cooled down to about 70 degrees. Life is good!




-- Post From My iPhone