Riding volcanoes in Hawaii

[mojomonkey]

My brother and I are looking at taking a trip to Hawaii for riding this year - anyone have any experiences / advice they can share to help make the trip successful?

We'd like to ride Mauna Kea - 40+ miles from sea level to the top of a volcano seems like a fun challenge. I know there is ~4.5 miles of gravel after the visitor's center and road bikes are not recommended. We'd be looking to rent bikes out there, and that we'd like to ride Haleakala as a warmup.

With Haleakala and Mauna Kea on different islands - is it easy enough to hop islands with a bike, or better to daily rentals on each as needed?

Looks like we could start in Hilo, or from the West like the Sea to Stars race - anyone have experience with either route ans recommend one over the other?

Any tips on good places to rent bikes from out there? Thoughts on what bike would be appropriate for Mauna Kea? How rough is the gravel section? Is a full-on mountain bike is necessary?

Any thoughts on the best season for weather? Looks like sometime from October to December might be best.

Any other things I should consider?

 

[Ruby60]

Went to Maui a couple of years ago for my daughters wedding. While there I wanted to ride from the ocean to the crater of Haleakala. Rented a bike there on the island... C'Dale. Cheaper than shipping my bike over and back.
So I dipped my bikes wheels in the ocean at Piai (spelling?) and started off. I'm a roadie, so I'd normally carry a couple of water bottles only, but realizing this would be an all day affair, I decided to wear a hydration backpack. Stuffed it with power bars, jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers...
Down at the beach, it's 75* F and humid.
On the road now.. it's constant climbing...climbing...climbing. I get to 3000' and it's cooler with a slight misting going on. Climbing... climbing... climbing... up to 4000' now and there's a light rain...climbing... climbing... 4500'. It's a steady rain... and getting cooler. I put on my arm warmers, leg warmers and jacket. Climbing... climbing... heavier rain now, I'm getting pretty wet. 5000' and I'm pretty cold, but still climbing. Climbing...climbing... 6000'... I'm freezing..soaked to the core... legs cramping... still 4000' feet to go.
Nope... not gonna happen. At 6500', I'm done. I turn around to go back down. It's freezing cold on the descent... can't go too fast cause the roads are soaked and there's a lot of twisty road curves. get back down to 3000' and it's clear, sun drying me out... 2000' and have to stop and take off arm and leg warmers and jacket... toasting again.
Well it was a memorable ride for me, even thought I didn't reach the crater.
If you try it, be sure to carry warm clothing, and a rain jacket. Even though the sea level temps are warm, at 10000' it's going to be cold.
Have fun!

 

[Race Radio]

I have ridden both.

Don't bother with Mauna Kea. The ride up sucks, no shoulder. Nothing special. Pretty boring. After 4-5 hours you hit the turn up to the tourist center. 3 miles at 15-20%. After that you hit dirt roads that are unridable for 3-4 miles. Not worth it, unless you need to tell your friends you rode Mauna Kea

Haleakala is awesome. Done it 4-5 times, excellent ride. Not too hard but when you hit the visitor center at 8,000 feet it gets really hard due to the lack of Oxygen.

 

[mojomonkey]

Thanks for the info. I'm still considering Mauna Kea - even if I don't have any friends to tell that would care I like the idea of riding from sea level to the highest point in Hawaii. We'll have to dig around a little more to see if it is worthwhile.

When you say unridable - does that just mean on a road bike? Cross bike with knobby tires? Mountain bike?

 

[MarkvW]

My brother and I are looking at taking a trip to Hawaii for riding this year - anyone have any experiences / advice they can share to help make the trip successful?

We'd like to ride Mauna Kea - 40+ miles from sea level to the top of a volcano seems like a fun challenge. I know there is ~4.5 miles of gravel after the visitor's center and road bikes are not recommended. We'd be looking to rent bikes out there, and that we'd like to ride Haleakala as a warmup.

With Haleakala and Mauna Kea on different islands - is it easy enough to hop islands with a bike, or better to daily rentals on each as needed?

Looks like we could start in Hilo, or from the West like the Sea to Stars race - anyone have experience with either route ans recommend one over the other?

Any tips on good places to rent bikes from out there? Thoughts on what bike would be appropriate for Mauna Kea? How rough is the gravel section? Is a full-on mountain bike is necessary?

Any thoughts on the best season for weather? Looks like sometime from October to December might be best.

Any other things I should consider?

On Maui, the West Side Loop (60 miles) is really, really fun. It's one of my favorite rides, anywhere.

 

[winkybiker]

On Maui, the West Side Loop (60 miles) is really, really fun. It's one of my favorite rides, anywhere.

Is that the one that goes up past the resorts, then takes that really narrow road around the North and comes back across the middle? Yes, it's a fantastic ride.

 

[MarkvW]

Is that the one that goes up past the resorts, then takes that really narrow road around the North and comes back across the middle? Yes, it's a fantastic ride.

Yes! I rode it a few times in February. Had to get up really early to beat the road closure!