While on Maui I was able to rent a great road bike for the week from West Maui Cycles in Lahaina. I highly recommend them. I picked up the bike, strapped on my helmet and headed right out the door. There is really only one road to ride any distance on the west side of the island so I headed north. The road had a nice wide shoulder but was fairly busy with cars and trucks through the resort areas.
It didn't take long to get out into the jungle. The road followed along the ocean through fields of sugarcane and pineapples - and gorgeous golf course grounds. There were plenty of turn out to stop and take in the views. It's Hawaii - I took my time.
On the guardrail of one hairpin curve were these 4 strange furs. They caught my eye so I doubled back for a look. I couldn't decide what animal they were - possibly boars? They were still wet so since there had been no rain that day, they must have been tended to by someone.
Just past the weird furs I was faced with an impassible road. Impassible in that I didn't think I could climb the 22% grade of the road! After crossing the steam, a sharp left turn planted me smack in front of this huge long climb. I figured I would put my head down and give it a go. You can make out the road on the far side of the bay in this photo.
I was doing well until about 3/4 of the way up I looked back to check for any cars. The angle of the hill I'd already climbed scared the hell out of me. Not because of what I had yet to climb. No, I was frightened by the idea of having to go down it later on! So I stopped right there figuring I didn't want to coast/fall any farther then I had to. The road was so steep that when I put my foot down it started to slip down hill. I composed myself, let my heart rate come down from 196 (I'm not kidding. I have the data), then started to walk down the hill. Yes, I wimped out and walked. I wasn't going to risk a fall way out there while on vacation. When I got closer to the bottom I mounted up and coasted to the bottom near the truck pictured above. There, I found another biker waiting for there companion. We joked about that hill for a while then I headed back south to my condo in Kahana. A great first day ride in paradise.
Only 23 miles round trip but about 2000 feet of climbing according to my GPS. It was only a taste of the climbing to come later in the week.
I was doing well until about 3/4 of the way up I looked back to check for any cars. The angle of the hill I'd already climbed scared the hell out of me. Not because of what I had yet to climb. No, I was frightened by the idea of having to go down it later on! So I stopped right there figuring I didn't want to coast/fall any farther then I had to. The road was so steep that when I put my foot down it started to slip down hill. I composed myself, let my heart rate come down from 196 (I'm not kidding. I have the data), then started to walk down the hill. Yes, I wimped out and walked. I wasn't going to risk a fall way out there while on vacation. When I got closer to the bottom I mounted up and coasted to the bottom near the truck pictured above. There, I found another biker waiting for there companion. We joked about that hill for a while then I headed back south to my condo in Kahana. A great first day ride in paradise.
Only 23 miles round trip but about 2000 feet of climbing according to my GPS. It was only a taste of the climbing to come later in the week.
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