Cycling Up Mt. Haleakala
Copyright c2009 Trygve Isaacson. All Rights Reserved.
Watching the Tour de France on television can be so inspiring that you attempt things you wouldn't have considered, and maybe shouldn't. There's an Armstrong, or a Contador, or a Hincapie, cruising up a steep mountain road, working hard but looking determined, comfortable, tapping on the pedals. You remember when you used to ride a lot more, and even remember the satisfaction of reaching the top of a tough climb.
One idea that popped into my mind when brainstorming about where to travel for part of my sabbatical was Hawaii, and specifically to see if riding up Mt. Haleakala on Maui -- to 10,000' elevation -- was possible. Overall, the grade of the road up Haleakala is not unlike the hill climbs in the east bay; but it's non-stop for a much longer unbroken uphill stint. Perhaps the biggest unknown to me was what effect the thin air at such high altitudes would have; some things I read said it was a big problem, others not so much. Although in pretty good "cardio" shape from running, but not having been doing a lot of riding, I questioned my ability to raise my legs' hill-climbing fitness up to the necessary level in the 8 weeks I had before the trip. But I decided I would give it a try and see how I felt by the time of the trip.
I rode Mt. Diablo the first two weekends, and a third time later. The temperature was in the high 80s, so they were tough rides. I'd never been to Mt. Diablo before, and the first time on a new route always seems longer because nothing is familiar. The entire ride is in dry grassy hills with scattered trees; little shade, and any cooling breeze depends on the weather and which section of terrain you are on. Not including a short water break at the mid-point where there's a ranger station and water fountain, and another short stop at around the 9.6-mile mark when I felt a bit nauseated, the first ride up took about 1:45. The last tenth of a mile to the summit is a brutally steep driveway, and I had to unclip after a few dozen meters and walk it up; I was wiped out at the top. The next weekend, I started back at Blackhawk to add another 4 miles each way. Knowing what was ahead made the ride easier mentally; by the third ride I tried riding in slightly higher gears since my legs were getting better. And I made it over half-way up the final driveway before my legs gave up. But I wasn't exactly confident about surviving the equivalent of 3x Mt. Diablo and finishing it at extreme altitude.
Looking north from the top of Mt. Diablo
Mt. Diablo south approach profile
On my first trip to Hawaii about 17 years ago we did one of those sunrise Haleakala downhill rides. This is where the tour company takes a group of people in a van up to the crater to watch the sunrise above the clouds, and then gives you downhill cruising bikes (hauled up in a trailer), full rain slickers, and a full face helmet, and then leads you back down, slowly, single-file, at the pace of the slowest rider in the group. It's not a bad experience to do once. The bikes are totally unsuitable for anything but a downhill or slow cruise. In late 2007 the National Park Service banned these downhill tours when there were two deaths of tour riders in a year. As a result, it seems that the tour companies now start the downhill ride just outside the park boundary, which is about halfway down the twisty part of the ride.
A few years later on my second trip to Hawaii, I rented a road bike on the big island from what seemed to be a big, reputable bike rental shop. I found that the bike was a real letdown compared to my bike at home. This made me concerned about the availability of quality bike rentals, and I did a lot of web searching to scour the rentals on Maui. I really did not want to incur the expense and hassle of shipping my bike.
There's only one paved road up the last two-thirds of Mt. Haleakala, and that's Haleakala Highway. The question is where to start. The summit is 10,023'. The annual Cycle to the Sun race starts at sea level in Paia and is about 36 miles. Another logical place to start is the crater road turnoff in Kula at around 3,400' elevation, which is about 22 miles from the summit. Overall, the gradient of the climb is between 5% and 6%, with a few steeper short sections, which is comparable to the local hills I ride. I think this must be a gradient that road engineers aim for on long uphill sections.
At some point my friend Bob, who seemingly rides a hill climb almost every day, suggested that Mt. Hamilton in San Jose would be an even better test of my climbing fitness. From the start of Mt. Hamilton Rd. at Alum Rock Ave., it's about 19 miles up and 4,500' climb (you end up doing a full 5,000' in a round trip). After my second Mt. Diablo ride, I did a mid-week ride of the Pinehurst loop in the Oakland hills, and then headed down for Mt. Hamilton on the weekend. Sure enough, Mt. Hamilton was harder than Mt. Diablo due to the extra distance and extra climb.
It took me about 2:02 from the base of Mt. Hamilton Rd. to the James Lick Observatory at the top, and the last 3 miles or so were really grueling; my legs were rubber as I reached the top, and I rested for about 20 minutes at the top to recover before heading back down. Having started later than I planned, it was dark by the time I returned to the bottom. At one of the mini-summits on the way down, I slowly pedaled past a haggard, scrawny coyote standing at the side of the road. I felt like he looked!
Looking back at Mt. Hamilton from 2/3 of the way back down
But the next weekend I rode it again, and felt better even though the temperature was in the mid-90s to start and I forced myself to ride in a higher gear to put some extra "virtual miles" into my legs. Mt. Hamilton is a similar grade to Haleakala but it contains two short downhill segments in the middle so you have a couple of non-climbing miles that throw off the average gradient of the whole ride, and give you a brief rest on the way up, but an extra bit of work on the way "down".
Mt. Hamilton profile
With my time to train coming to an end, I concluded that I was ready to ride Mt. Haleakala, if I started at Kula. My reasoning was that I could stretch myself on the big ride to go further than any of my training rides (similar to how a marathoner doesn't run a full marathon to train for a marathon), but with the big unknown of the high altitude effect I didn't think I should attempt the sea level start and attempt its full double-Mt. Hamilton size. I just wanted to make it to the top. So I chose the Kula start which would be about 22 miles and 6,600' vertical climb, covering all of the twisty climb but not the lowlands; about 50% more climbing than Mt. Hamilton, no downhill or flat breaks, and most of it at much higher altitudes.
Mt. Haleakala route
Mt. Haleakala profile
When I mentioned my trip and the solo Haleakala climb to my mom, she thought I was crazy and offered to help out as SAG driver on the ride, and that turned out to be very helpful -- I didn't have to carry cold weather clothes with me up the mountain, nor food and extra water.
There are several places on Maui that rent bikes. I settled on Island Biker Maui because their bikes looked as good as or better than the others, and their weekly rate plus mountain bike availability worked out best for me. They also looked like a real bike shop, which made me more confident that the equipment would be in good shape. I arranged with the owner, another Bob, to rent for a full week but use a mountain bike for the first couple of days, and a road bike for the rest. It wasn't strictly necessary to do, but I brought my own pedals, helmet, seat, and water bottles. The shop is located one block away from the airport, which made pick up and drop off convenient at both ends of the trip. The mountain bike option allowed me to do a little exploration on mountain trails.
Indeed, the Specialized Allez Comp road bike they gave me was at least as good as my own bike (a now ancient 1991 Trek 2300 with carbon fiber tubes and the rest in garish yellow aluminum; photo below, I found one posted on Ebay for $499). I felt better knowing that I wouldn't be struggling up the mountain on a clunker. My bike is a double chainring with a lowest gear of 39 x 28. The rental was a triple chainring with a lowest gear of 30 x 27, which put my bike's low gear between 2 and 3 of the rental. In retrospect, my bike's gearing would have been tolerable, but I did use 2nd gear a fair amount, and dipped into 1st on a few rare occasions, so the rental bike's gearing definitely made things easier.
The trusty old ride (facsimile). And a nice rental.
While I had the rental mountain bike (a Specialized Rockhopper Disc, probably comparable to my Kona A-A but with the addition of disc brakes), I took a trip up to Poli Poli Forest Reserve. The drive up was a lot longer than I expected, on a 4WD-only dusty red dirt road at the end, and there was almost no one out there. I didn't have time that day for a long ride, but I went up the Haleakala Skyline Trail until I hit a fenced-off dead end (that actually was not the correct way to head further up). It was a nice, tough, ride up the ridge road, but if I had to do it over I'd try the Makawao Forest Reserve first (it was also recommended), and then, separately, go back to Poli Poli with more time to spend and try going as far up the correct Skyline trail as possible. I think that for hardcore mountain bikers, riding up the Skyline Trail all the way to the summit -- assuming the trail is actually rideable -- could be an amazing ride.
The Skyline Trail
7000' Elevation
End of the line
The weather reports for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday all looked good and similar, so I stuck with my Tuesday plan. I was allowing for weather to push me forward or back by a day, but there was no need. Monday morning there was not a single cloud in the sky near Haleakala, but I went snorkeling. And managed to wash away the sunblock with the snorkel fins, and sunburn the tops of my pale feet! I worried it might spell trouble for Tuesday, but it looked worse than it felt. And the weather held, so Tuesday morning the view from Kihei up to Haleakala looked outstanding, with just a few wispy strands of cloud.
View of Mt. Haleakala from Kihei at dawn
I started the ride at the Haleakala Highway turn-off in Kula (intersection of highways 377 and 378) at 7:30 AM, with pleasant, cool, sunny morning weather. There were only wispy clouds above on the northwest face of Haleakala where I would be, but on the east side more clouds were gathering at high altitudes on the mountain. I planned to take a break for food at the Visitor Center just inside the Haleakala National Park entrance, which would be about half way to the summit.
Ready to climb
The first part of the climb is a long series of switchbacks, starting in lush residential and farm upcountry, briefly through stands of Eucalyptus, and then primarily through grassy cow-grazing territory. Oh yes, lots of cows, free to cross the road but constrained by the metal cattle grates (which would be a bit treacherous to ride over on the way down when wet). When I stopped to get a photo of a couple of cows standing a foot from the road behind a guard rail, they ran away. During this section of the ride, group after group of rainsuited, crash helmeted, downhill guided bike tour groups coasted by on their way down from watching the sunrise at the crater, tailed by the vans and trailers that had driven them up. Probably thought I was crazy.
The grade seemed similar to my training rides, and I made sure to pace myself with my heart rate in the low 150s. I wanted to make sure my legs would still be good for the second half of the ride at high altitude.
At 5,700' the lower switchbacks make their last turn left, and the road climbs straight to the northeast at a slightly easier grade for a mile or so. This was the point where the mass of clouds from the east was rolling across to the northwest side where I was. At 6,000' I found myself suddenly riding through a very wet fog, and quickly got soaked. Fortunately, the ambient temperature was still OK, and because I was working I didn't get cold. The straight section ended, the road turned right and in a few minutes I hit the park entrance. It costs $5 for a bike to ride in. About 1 km later I reached the Visitor Center at 7,000' as the clouds dried out a bit, and I stopped for a snack break. Half a PB&J sandwich and finishing off a bottle of water seemed like enough. It took me exactly 90 minutes to reach the Visitor Center at my modest pace.
Almost as soon as I started the second half of the climb, the clouds and fog got thicker, and a slight wind picked up, but the clouds were drier. I'd call it "pleasantly cool", less than 70°f. This section of the ride resumes switchbacks, but each segment is several times the length of the switchbacks on the lower section.
I continued to pace myself up the mountain, and soon the scrub brush vanished and the terrain turned into a bare Martian rockscape. Periodically the road cut through ancient lava flows stacked in layers. Passing 8,000' I still did not feel any ill effects of the altitude, although it could have just had a subtle effect of making the ride harder than it would have been.
Pretty soon I punched through the top of the cloud layer and found myself back in the sun and comfortable cool air, with amazing views overlooking almost 360° of clouds below and the blue sky above me. Almost no part of Maui below was visible. Pretty spectacular.
The 9,000' sign brought a smile of relief, and at around 9,100' the final left turn switch back afforded a brief glimpse at the distant ridge leading to the summit, where the white dome and the reflective metal cylinder of the Haleakala Observatory and MSSC stand out brightly against the red volcanic rock on the skyline.
Shortly after that I passed a pleasing little sign that reads "Summit -> 2 mi." and knew I was going to make it the rest of the way to the summit without any trouble.
The largest parking lot at the top is first, at the crater overlook (facing east over the crater rim), but you have to turn right on the road there and continue about another kilometer up to reach the actual summit. A few moments after you make that turn, the road suddenly and annoyingly tilts upward at a much harsher grade, to give you one last test of your climbing legs and lung capacity. I flicked the shifter down into low gear for the final time and just toughed it out at a slow steady cadence without pushing hard. I think I stood up on the pedals a couple of times, but it was manageable and my heart rate stayed around a comfortable 150 bpm -- nothing at all like the crazy steep driveway at the top of Mt. Diablo.
The Last Kilometer
At the summit parking lot entrance is the 10,000' elevation victory sign, but the highest point is up a stairway where there is a small building; fortunately there is a paved walkway as well, so you can ride all the way up to 10,023'. As I entered the parking lot, I pulled my iPhone out of my jersey without stopping, and recorded video of that last minute of the ride. The second section of ride took me 109 minutes, making the total ride time up 199 minutes.
I actually felt fine upon reaching the top. Much better, in fact, than I felt at the top of Mt. Diablo or Mt. Hamilton. The only explanation I have is that my preparation was good, I paced myself sufficiently, and must have simply made the ride easier by riding a little more slowly. Knowing this now, I think starting at Paia would have been doable. Maybe next time!
The ride down was much less fun! The top section in good weather was OK, but soon my hands were getting tired of non-stop clamping on the brake levers. Then as I descended further, I entered the cloud layer, which made the road wet and the visibility poor as my glasses misted up. The cold weather jersey I'd put on at the top was sufficient, but I wished I'd had full-finger gloves and maybe even booties; my fingers were freezing and cramped, and my feet were getting numb from not pedaling. The cattle guards were slippery in the wet and had to be taken very cautiously. Once I got below the cloud layer, it was warm and pleasant again but my hands and feet took some time to recover.
So, all in all, it was a great experience and a good challenge. The hardest moments were not on Mt. Haleakala itself, but rather on the heat-scorched climbs up Mt. Diablo and Mt. Hamilton where I was also pushing the pedals more aggressively. On the hard climbs, when feeling tired and weak, with my legs crying uncle, I would occasionally motivate myself to keeping going, rather than turn around and head back downhill to the car, by remembering a Lance Armstrong quote:
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
