5. Bike Down Haleakala

Complete: 09/30/2012

 

Just before sunrise

  
As mentioned in my previous post, I was on Maui for a work-related trip. Here's the post on the second item from my bucket list I completed during that weekend. On the second morning of the trip, our group got up in the wee hours of the morning (2am) to get ready for our sunrise tour to the dormant volcano Haleakala, Hawaiian for "House of the Rising Sun."

 

Bikes loaded on the roof, ready to go

 

We arrived at Maui Sunriders at 3-something, sleepy-eyed yet excited for what was to come. (By the way, I highly recommend them if you're looking to do a tour up Haleakala. They provided prompt and excellent service from inquiry to day of tour.) After getting a safety debriefing and selecting our gear, we got into the vans to begin our adventure.

The two tour guides who brought us up were Remy and Joe, who provided  history of the local area and personal anecdotes on the trek up the world's third highest peak. For 3am, they were quite chipper. Also, lucky for us, it was a full moon out, so seeing it reflected against the water was a beautiful sight I was glad I got to see.

 Full moon on the other side of where the sun was coming up from

 

The windy road up (which has the Guinness World Record for steepest paved road in the world) brought us to the top of the mountain. We arrived just as the sun was starting to peek out. Stepping out of the van into the cold totally woke us all up. Having never experienced extreme cold weather, I felt like I freezing! It probably wasn't that cold to other non-Hawaii visitors.

Happy students at the Visitor Center

After thawing ourselves out for a bit in the visitor center, a small group of us went outside and climbed to a higher area. As more light came out, we were greeted with a view of clouds spilling into the crater. There is just something powerful about being isolated in nature.

 Sun rising above the thick layer of clouds
 

After soaking in the most surreal sunrise I've seen in my life thus far, our tour guide took us down to about 7,000 feet above sea level to set us up on our bikes for our cruise down the mountain. The 28-mile ride (98% downhill, with one short, sort of steep hill nicknamed "Agony Hill") brings you down Kula, through the paniolo ("cowboy") town of Makawao, and back to the bike shop in Paia. Didn't really make any stops along the way, so the bike ride took about an hour to an hour and a half. Our group was all down by about 8:30am. It was a pretty relaxing experience, and not as scary as I anticipated.

 Group picture before heading down the mountain

 

Tips/information you should know if you want to partake in this experience:

~The road up is really windy. It wasn't a problem for me, but if you get carsick, this might not be a suitable ride for you.
~Wear warm clothing in layers. The bike company provides a windbreaker jacket (very useful) and pants (didn't use but would probably be much appreciated if it rained), backpack for carrying your items, and gloves (much needed!). Also, bring food because you will get hungry.
~The bike itself is nothing special. The gear made it difficult to do any real pedaling (the highest gear felt like a 2 on a regular bike), and the cushion on the seat did nothing to protect my flat booty. My butt was sore for a day or two afterwards because of the (nonexistent) cushioning.