kevrider

so i'm on Maui and i have read much about Haleakala in the past, it sounds be a great ride. a quick look says it would be about 8000+ feet of relentless climbing over appx 27 miles and a righteous descent, starting point TBD. i would like to do this ride, but am i kidding myself? the last ride i did before this trip was also my most demanding ride this year, appx 35 miles with 3700 feet of climbing. i built up to that, i have been 'training' this spring, trying to get my fitness back to a respectable level and to support some mtn biking later this summer. i have not climbed more on any ride in several years nor ridden much farther. it was a strong finish to that last ride, but i normally subscribe to the 2/3s rule and i have not climbed 2/3s of Haleakala. am i foolish to think i can climb this hill? i really want to do it, but there is that discretion/valor thing. i'd rather not pay 70 dollars for the rental bike and end up calling wifey for a rescue then sleeping the rest of the day. pray tell, what would the committee advise? if i go, it happens tuesday or wednesday, so i'm all ears! TIA.

OldTryGuy

Just do it and enjoy!!! I'm not going to judge you whether you make it or not, but will be wishing I was riding it with you.

pdlamb

The nice thing about a climb like that is that, if you decide it's too tough part way up, it's all downhill! See how far you can go. Do you have an altimeter?

manapua_man

Do you have a road bike with lower gearing and a lot of time? IMHO pretty much anyone can do it, whether or not they can do it within a given time limit is a different question. I would just go for it- even if you turn around halfway it's still a nice ride.

Lazyass

Don't be scared, harden yourself up and do it. The decent is worth the pain of going up.

Jofu

To echo most people's comments above, just to it!!! It's 10,000ft beach to summit by the way, so it's unclear to me if you'll be able to do it with the little training you've done so far. But while the climb just keep on giving, it isn't particularly steep anywhere. And as pdlamb mentioned above, the return is all downhill so you have nothing to lose attempting it.

Just make sure you bring plenty of water however, and it's best to start early to avoid the heat.

Enjoy and report back!

Geoff

rm -rf

Since you haven't been doing really long rides lately, you probably want to start as high up as is practical, instead of doing the whole beach-to-summit ride. But your recent ride with over 100 feet per mile, which was probably all climbing and descending, shows you can handle pacing on climbs.

My rule of thumb is that 200 feet of elevation is like adding another flat road mile. So 10,000 feet is sortof like 50 more miles.

It sounds great, even just riding a portion of the climb.

~~~~~

This thread might be useful to you: Attempting Haleakala
From that thread:~~~~~~~

I reposted a comment in that thread:

I've linked to this 2012 RacerOne Haleakala ride report before. With photos, too! It's one of my favorite BF threads.

A Flatlander Climbs Haleakala

...from the report...

f4rrest

Probably not ready, but $70 is well worth it to ride even part way up... or even just around the island.

Why not Road to Hana if it doesn't work out?

CV-6 

Will the opportunity ever come again? I would do it. Life is short and you may never get back to attempt it. Never let yourself be in a position where you say "I wish I had" or "I should have".

kevrider

fact.

hard truth, followed by another fact.

i'm going to have to try and assimilate this scheme for future reference. i live in a place surrounded by mountains, but the valley is at 4500' and the passes that i have ridden are 6900-7400 feet, which is kind of limiting, relatively speaking. if i ever try to do some legit training for a ride like sea-to-summit, i've gotta figure out how to come up with a reasonable plan that doesn't involve multiple laps on the same pass. i would not enjoy that.

i did and i will....

=============

so, you guys pushed me over the edge and i went yesterday to Maui Cyclery to rent a bike. they set me up with a 105-equipped Scott Solace Disc. it had a compact crankset coupled with an 11-32 cassette. compared to my own roadie machine, this is lower gearing. for my bike, i've recently changed from 50/34 with a 12-25 to 52/36 with a 12-30. i did this so that i would not spin out as much on descents. with this Scott setup, i figured i would be limited descending, but given what i was up against, that was the least of my troubles.

the shop threw in blinky lights, since i was planning an early start. but i did not have my 'to-see' lights with me, so i hoped that street lights and the full moon would be sufficient to light the way at climbing speed. that worked out for me.


after parking the bike in our room, wifey and i decided to head up the mountain for a look-around. the (highly optimistic) plan was to cycle in the predawn hours and make the summit for sunrise. but we wanted to see the place beforehand, since we would have to get the bike back to the shop around 10am and probably would not feel like returning after the ride. here enters error #1... apparently, the sunrise-at-Haleakala thing is too big for its britches and the Park Service decided to take it down a notch by limiting park access between 0300-0700 and requiring reservations in order to pass the gate during that time; this policy is new, as of February. demand is high, so there was zero chance we would get a reservation inside of 24 hours (tried/failed). this ruined the whole idea for me and i considered returning the bike and aborting the mission. but wifey and the shopkeeper encouraged me to just ride up anyway and nevermind the sunrise. also, getting the bike back to the shop before closing would have been a PITA, it was not a short drive, and we would have had to leave the park by turning practically at the entrance. that too, was a bummer. in the end, the least complicated course was give sunrise a miss and press on, so that's what happened. bonus, the early morning wake up was somewhat less ridiculous.

in the original post above, i mentioned 8000 feet of climbing, as i had no fantasies of a sea-to-summit ride. all i really wanted to do was ride hwy 378, the actual summit road. so i searched for a starting point that would allow me to get a bit of warm up before turning onto 378, and here enters error #2. my original thought was to start near Pukalani and ride 377 to 378. but i changed that plan for two reasons: (1) i recalled a good deal of traffic on this road from our drive to the summit and (2) i wanted to reduce the total mileage of the ride to maximize my chance for success. so we found ourselves in a place called Kula at 0500 and my mistake was immediately obvious. it appears that the elevation in Kula is roughly the same as that in Pukalani, but the distances to the bottom of 378 are very different. i turned the cranks for a short time in some neighborhood before setting out and was immediately into the granny gear. the grades on Lower Kimo Drive had me chugging and low rpm even in the 34-32 combo. i tried hard to keep the effort low and i think, i recovered during the few miles i had on 377, but this road was not at all beneficial. note to self: 377 ain't bad.

once on the summit road, the grades kicked up again, relative to 377, but were certainly more manageable than Lower Kimo. i settled into that familiar level of sustainable discomfort and took in the scenery. wifey mostly followed with her flashers on, pro-style, but occasionally leapfrogged, sprinting ahead to a pull out to allow cars to pass and take photos, she knew i was in no position to side step out of the frame. she also refilled bottles and passed snacks, as needed. something like an hour and a quarter into the climb, i passed the blue marking painted onto the shoulder indicating 4000' and was in disbelief that i was so far into the ride and still had my homebase hillclimbs ahead of me, followed by... the rest of it.

fortunately, the scenery was superb even the second time around. i was at a decent elevation when the clouds reflected that rosy morning glow, it was fantastic. i was jamming to hip-hop music, this drowns out the pain, and listening to mapmyride updates. after 8-9 miles, i realized that i was approaching the length of the climbs i've been doing near Reno, which are 9-10 miles long. at that point, i knew the summit was a nogo, but i had to make it to the ranger station, at the very least.

i had been throwing in some standup climbs intermittently, mostly just to get off the saddle, as it did not agree with my anatomy. but the frequency of standing increased as the ride progressed, my quads needed the change-up. i cannot understand how folks ride long distances on flat pedals, i was so grateful for the hamstring participation.

by the time i saw the booth at the park entrance, i was smoked. i was really happy to see "0.3 miles" to the Visitors Center. i turned into that parking lot, dismounted and flopped wearily onto the grass. for a 'ride to the summit' it was a colossal failure, but i felt pretty good about it! mapmyride claims 4755 feet gained in 14.85 miles, which is a thousand feet more than my last outing and my 'climbiest' ride in ten years. i'll take the 'L' but i'll claim a moral victory, as well.

well, i decided to descend from there, though my first move was the shuttle to the top. but it was about 50F and windy up there, the lower VC was and roughly ten degrees warmer. i packed a buff, which went under my helmet, as well as a vest. i donned these and reaped my just reward. this road has pretty tight switchbacks, reminding me of the southern Appalachians. i am a well-trained and experienced motorcyclist and i tend to go as fast as possible on the descents, not cruising and taking in the scenery for me! but, as would happen on the moto, the unfamiliarity with the road (and the machine) affected my progress. it was fun and (kind of) fast, but a probably braked more than necessary for most turns. also, as suspected, the gearing was limiting. the road is not so steep that i had to coast, i was never quite spun out, but i repeatedly called for another gear that was not to be found. that said, i'm not sure my legs would have wanted to push a bigger gear.

the descent was longer than the climb, a glorious 17.97 miles! i decided to stay with 377 to the end at Pukalani. there were gangs of tourists on cruiser bikes with drum brakes plodding along in their organized groups, many of which would have driven by my as they were shuttled up the hill. they were rabbits that kept me on the rivet during the descent. finally, i reached hwy 37, which did not look inviting, so i pulled over and called it a day.

all i can say now is that i need a massage and a burrito and that was one helluva ride. you guys were right, it was easily worth the cost of a rental bike, thanks for the shove. i'm glad wifey and the shopkeeper conspired against me, as well. we are on our honeymoon and decided last week that we will return to Big Island for the Five Year. maybe, just maybe, we will be back to Maui, as well.

cheers,
kev

tagaproject6

Way to go!!!!

f4rrest

Wait, wife SAG'd on your honeymoon? Keeper!

You know what's on the Big Island... Mauna Kea.

kevrider

bonus: she has four bikes, herself >>> she has the sickness!

ya, mon!!! i saw a video of a guy climbing that beast, i am intrigued....
this thread is bookmarked so i can review the rm-rf approach to hill climb training.

manapua_man

The most fun route is from Waikoloa up to Waimea, then up Mana Rd. to the Mauna Kea access road.