This has always been a dream ride for me. Sea level to 10000ft in 38 miles, the single longest paved ascent from sea level (or so I'm told). I had done the tourist "thing" several years ago by coasting down the 38 miles. This whetted my appetite.

As always, a big ride requires planning and training. The planning mainly consisted of finding a place to rent a road bike and putting together a list of items needed for the ride. The rental bike was found at West Maui Cycles in Lahaina. They have road bikes for $25/day, with the rate dropping to $20/day after three days. The list consisted of the usual items, clothing, food, and bike stuff. I chose to bring my own pedals and seat w/seatpost, which the bike shop recommended. For fluids, I planned on a 100oz hydration pack and two large water bottles. For energy, three various bars and a collection of gels just in case. In addition, I include my secret weapon, chocolate covered expresso beans and Motrin!

The training consisted of my normal 3 or so rides per week. In addition, I did a ride up Mt. Hamilton during the week as part of my commute home. This was a bit arduous as it came at the end of a work day commute. I did it at an "OK" pace, but suffered some bad cramping near the top. I also did a double "Hammy" the weekend prior to leaving. I have never done the "Death Ride", so I have not done the traditional double ride up Mt. Hamilton before. This turned out to be more grueling than planned. To start, it was on the last weekend in July, which had forecast temps in the high 90s. I started out early with a friend who would only do the first leg and doesn't climb much. This was a blessing in disguise as it forced me to a more ideal pace for the first leg, about 8-9mph average. We started at about 7:30AM, and after the first trip up and down the mountain, I felt pretty good. By halfway thru the second ascent though, I was beginning to suffer. The temperature was around 95 and I was drinking like a fish. At Smith Creek, I was toast, and seriously considered turning around. I managed to get to the top after stopping twice more. After about 15 minutes at the top, I managed recover enough to go back down. This was both encouraging and discouraging for me. I had made it and it meant that the climb/distance was achievable for me. I could only hope that heat is worse than altitude!

I arrived in Maui on Wednesday, the 2^nd of August. I should have rented the bike then, but more on that later. I did do some LifeCycle workout at the hotel one morning in an attempt to keep the legs fresh. I picked up the bike on Sunday, the 6^th of August. The bike was a Cannondale R300, with 7 speed STI. . It looked a little worse for wear, but would do the job. The frame was a 58cm size. The reason I mention this is that the larger frame bikes are older models. If you take a smaller size, maybe a 54cm, there were some newer road bikes available. I checked the usual, hubs, tires and such. I also took it for a short spin in the parking log and it seemed OK. Later that night, I decided to do a longer test ride. This is where I discovered that the drive train was a little too sketchy. Upon looking at the cogs, I realized they looked like shark fins and the chain was definitely a little worn. It made loud snap-clunk sounds when serious power was applied, but didn't skip. I was more than a little concerned about chugging 38 miles up a mountain with a bike in this condition. I took the bike back on Monday and conned them into replacing both the cogs and the chain. It wasn't perfect, but more than adequate to the task. Another "anomaly" was that I was used to Ergo Power not STI, and the shifting is sort of backwards. But once on the mountain, I probably wouldn't be shifting much.

I started the ride at 5:55AM on Baldwin Ave in Paia. It was 71 degrees ,very humid and the road starts to climb almost immediately. The map profiles say 5%, but my legs are saying a little more. I suspected that the shopping with my wife had taken its toll! I didn't take Baldwin Ave as far as I could, instead crossing the sugar cane fields on Halimaile Rd. This took ne to Hwy 37, which is the main highway upcountry. This would not be my recommended route, as the Halimaile Rd had some serious rollers that I would suffer on coming back. I would recommend continuing on Baldwin Ave to the town of Makawao and taking Makawao Ave out to Hwy 37. Traffic was a bit heavy with tourists on Hwy 37, but not overwhelming. This lightened up a little once I turned on to Haleakala Hwy. The ride was pretty uneventful up to the 3200ft level. At that point, to continue up, you make a left turn. I rested briefly to eat and continued. At about the 6000ft level I started to run out of gas. It probably was a combination of getting tired and the altitude. I definitely hit a wall and was doubting my success. When you look up, you realize you still have at least a Mt. Hamilton climb ahead of you. At that time, one of the tour operators had stopped and asked how I was doing. He seemed to sense my suffering. He was very friendly, offering coffee and encouragement, as well as some gloves for the descent. It turns out he was a previous record holder of the Haleakala ascent (which I later verified). Starting out again, I felt much better and realized I could do this!

I hit the clouds at about 6500ft and this continued intermittently to 8000ft. You go in and out of the clouds, depending on which direction on the switchbacks your on. At around 7000 ft you enter the Haleakala National Park. You have to pay a day use fee of $5, even if you are on a bike! The lady in the booth regretted having to collect a fee from someone who made the effort to ride up. From here to the top I stopped very briefly at each 1000ft elevation marker to take a picture.

All the way up the mountain, the tourists coming down on the tour bikes were amazed to see someone going up. Got a lot of kudos from many of them.

When I got to the top, I was almost treated like a celebrity! This felt kind of strange, as I am not a strong climber. I enjoyed it just the same. At least two people wanted there picture take with me. One young guy was so overwhelmed, I thought he was going to start a fan club.

It took be 6:20 to reach the top. This was slower than I wanted, but I did finish. Just for the record and to keep me humble, the bicycle record is just under 3 hours. The record running up to the top is under 5 hours!

I never really felt much affect from the altitude, other than some deeper breathing. Although I did feel a little queasy just before I started back down. The descent was uneventful and took me 1:49, as I stopped to shed clothes as well as return those gloves. The road is in pretty good shape most of the way. The only exception is some gravel near the top that was a little treacherous. Other than that, it was easy to maintain near 30+ speeds most of the way down. The only drawback to the return trip is my choice to use Halimaile Rd. The steep rollers and severe head wind were more than I wanted at the end of the ride. The dust in the early afternoon in Paia was a bit much.

Because of the time of year, I only needed a jersey, undershirt and shorts for the ascent. I brought a woolly jersey for the descent but didn't use it. I did wear tights and a wind breaker for the descent to the base of the clouds. I pretty much consumed the 100 oz bladder and both water bottles and ate about 3 energy bars. I didn't use my secret weapon either.

Maui Topo Map
 

Ride Elevation Profile

Average grade is about 5%. It increases gradually to about 6000 ft, up to 6%. It then decreases back to about 4-5% the rest of the way to the top. The only exception is the last little climb to Red Hill.

Some tactics and strategy:
 

•  I would definitely do this again given the opportunity with some changes in planning.
• I would ride a 50 miler the day before leaving, something like the local reservoir loop, just to keep the endurance thing.
• I would rent the bike right away and try to do the climb within a few days of arriving.
• I would also try to avoid the stop N walk stuff from the shopping (wears me out!).
• I would keep the bike for up to five days so that after a short rest, I would do a ride in the West Maui mountains as recommend by the locals. This is supposed to be a nice and very scenic ride and is their typical metric century.
• I would take Baldwin into Makawao to make the return trip better.
• I would eat a little more.
• I would try to get to the top in under 5 hours! If someone can run to the top faster than I can bike, I have work to do.