Ironman & Sugarlips 2005 "Hawaiian Family" Road Trip

December 5-12 Maui, Hawaii

Road Trip Day One 

Aloha from Maui!

Our annual road trip this year was combined with a family vacation to visit JillMarie’s brother Jamie and nephew James in Maui. Originally in our road trip plan the Hawaiian Islands were to be our big finale with an extended stay to celebrate riding all 50 states. With Lily’s arrival, and Grandma Linda wanting to hold both of her grandkids at the same time our decision to ride Maui early was easy to make. For the first time in our road trip adventures the whole family packed up and we were on our way.

We chose Maui Harley Davidson for our Fly & Ride experience, since shipping our own bikes wasn’t the easiest or most economical choice. There are HD rentals are all over the island however the rates are comparable and we felt more confident riding a bike serviced at the dealership. Rates range from $109 to $149.

We arrived in Maui on Monday afternoon to 80 degree temperatures and Christmas music in the airport. We spent Tuesday at the beach and relaxed before riding on Wednesday morning. Tuesday night we reviewed our itenary, and got ready to make the most of our 30-hour rental. We got our day started out right with a big family breakfast. Our family laughed at us when we packed fleece jackets, extra socks, long sleeve shirts and rain gear, but after traveling over 30,000 miles we knew better. Our destination was the top of a 10,023 foot volcano known as Haleakala. We had heard that the temperature could drop from 80 degrees to 30 degrees in one day, and snow has even been known to fall on occasion. We also knew that tropical rainstorms happen and even though the rain is warm, it’s still nice to be dry when riding.

On Wednesday morning we were dropped off at the Maui HD dealership in Kahului and Lily spent the day being spoiled by her Grandma (Yama) with a day at the beach. Khanhnha (pronounced con-yah) at the rental counter was quick to get us on our way. The gold 2006 Road King was washed, fueled and ready to go on time. We rented one bike this time since we knew that we’d being doing a lot of sight seeing, rather than distance riding. Maui is an island that has so miles of coastline with more of an “S” shape of major roads that travel between two volcanoes. To travel in a “figure 8” pattern around the island the roads are reduced to one lane partially paved red dirt paths. We were not that adventurous and since the shop charges $100 for bikes returned with “excessive red dirt” we decided to stay on the paved roads. There is another challenge in traveling the Maui roadways, and that is the pronunciation of the names. With roads like Welakahao, Honokowai, and Omaopio we found ourselves stopping to double check our maps a few times.

From Kahului we traveled east on the Hana Highway 36 towards Pe’ahi, to the Ha’iku Road 398. Just 20 minutes into our adventure we experienced our first tropical rainstorm and put on our coats & gloves. After 30 minutes of wet riding we stopped at the Paradise Coffee Shop to warm up before climbing to a higher elevation. We intersected with Makawao Avenue 40 and connected with the Haleakalea Highway to begin our ascent up the volcano. When reading the maps for Maui there are 2 points to keep in mind. The numbers of the roads don’t mean much and 20 miles may take an hour depending on road conditions. If there are plenty of twist and turns on the map, be assured that you’ll be taking plenty of corners at 15 miles an hour and your top speed could get up to 40 miles an hour. Being in a rush when riding the island is a good way to get hurt.

At the entrance to the National Park we paid $10.00 to enter, but were given a car pass so that if we chose to go to any other parks during our stay we could use the same ticket. Make sure you’re fueled and have some water or food since there are no services at the top. The 20-mile twisting road leading up the volcano was completely paved and well cared for. From the entrance to mid-way up, the road was still wet from the earlier storm and we took great care to stay off the white line. We would recommend this trek for riders with some experience. This is not for the first time rider. There are plenty of obstacles including groups of bicyclists who pay to ride mountain bikes down the volcano. The gradual increase in elevation can also give a light-headedness and there are signs posted giving warnings. On the way up to the peak at 10,023 feet the clouds began to close in and the temperature dropped down to 40 degrees in less than 10 minutes. Surrounded by clouds we felt like we were on the top of the world. The volcano cone was visible along with a rainbow and blue sky. We stayed for a half hour, reviewed our map and began our descent. We stopped at the Kula Lodge and had lunch before we headed towards the ride through the sugar cane fields. The tempeture quickly went back up into the 80’s and we were able to take off our gloves and coats, but opted to keep our long sleeved shirts on to ovoid sunburn.  We had sun protection on but learned that a little extra shielding from the wind and sun was a good choice. Traveling through the cane fields felt like riding through tall grass. A gentle wind kept the stalks swaying under the incredibly blue sky, which was a relaxing way to return to sea level.

Riding back along the coastline to Kihei as the sun began to set was a great way to end the first day of our road trip. The ride on Thursday will begin at Kehei and travel the Honoapiilani Highway to view the western coastline to Kapalua. Our turn around point will be an Ironman style tourist attraction: The Kapalua Golf Course. Stay tuned!
 

Aloha from Maui
Sign in Paradise Coffee Shop	Map of Maui
Family Breakfast	Rain on the way to Haleakala
Roadmap up the Volcano	View from 10,000 Feet
View from 10,000 Feet	10 MPH Curve
"Top of the World"	Ironman and the Volcano
Haleakala Rainbow	Descent down Haleakala
Sugarcane Fields	Maui Sugarcane
Does this look familiar? What year, what day? Click here for the answer.	Lily & Grandma's Day at the Beach
Lily getting a treat
Click to see Dec 5, 2005	Click to see Dec 8, 2005