Club Member Spotlight - James Li

Haleakala – November 2006 by James Li

On November 6, 2006, a group of four FFBC members, including yours truly, took on the challenge to ride up the 10,023 foot Haleakala Crater on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The idea of climbing this monster was conceived from a previously planned vacation with my family. Ask me on one of the club rides on how I convinced my wife to let me hang out with three other guys for a full day on a family vacation.

If I remember correctly, on one of the club’s weekend rides during the summer I casually mentioned the idea to Dennis Crovella. I believe Dennis’ immediate response was “Let me know when and I will be there!” The word quickly got out to the club and Kevin Mahana was the next to sign up. And through a magic phone call from Kevin to Barbara, Mike Schoellkopf also signed up to round up the four man crew for this adventure.

Of the four of us, only Mike had biked on Haleakala before and it was a tandem downhill with Barbara in February 2006. The only club member I know who actually biked up Haleakala was Mark Davis who did it in March 2006. Based on feedback from both Mike and Mark the weather condition in February and March on the island was not the most ideal for a ride like this. Rain was the major factor.

Now fast forward to November 6, the day of the big ride. Four of us drove to Go Maui Cycling, the bike shop that supplied the rentals, in Haiku. If you are familiar with Maui, Haiku is a sleepy town just north of Paia, the latter is well known for the big surfs in the windward side of Maui. We had an option to sign up for a fully supported ride from Go Maui Cycling but opted to support ourselves instead. This meant that we had to carry everything from tools, extra tubes, extra layers of clothing for the summit and downhill, food and drinks.

We started the ride at 8:30am from SEA LEVEL because the bike shop is practically next to the Pacific Ocean.

Dennis, James, Kevin and Mike lined up for a group shot before heading out.

I was hoping for a few flat miles before the real climbing begins. There was no such luck as we literally started climbing from mile zero. The climbs were not steep but enough to get our heart rates up right from the start. For the first hour we snaked our way through the back roads of Haiku and Makawao to reach the main highway.

The boys were already hard at work.

At 9:30am we reached an intersection, if not careful navigated, could lead to a dead end road with 5 extra miles of steep climbing. We studied the turn at this intersection multiple times before the ride and I’m happy to report that we made the correct right turn.

The boys still look fresh after one hour of moderate climbing. We didn’t see any altitude signs until we reach the main highway so I can’t tell you how high we were at this point.

We finally reach Highway 377 (aka Haleakala Highway) at 9:42am. The road started to get a little steeper.

Dennis in his usual climbing position. If it wasn’t for the fog the Pacific Ocean would have made a great backdrop.

Finally, an altitude marker. 2,500 feet.

We reached 2,500 feet at 9:53am. The thought of another 7,500 feet of climbing came up many times in my head. With a long ride like this you try to do anything and everything to distract yourself from counting the altitude and remaining miles.

We split up in two groups; Dennis and I were in the front, Kevin and Mike followed closely behind. Dennis and I had good conversation which helped with the boredom and my mind from wandering around. I am sure Kevin and Mike did the same.

Mike and Kevin rounded up a hairpin turn. These pictures were taken at around the 2,500 feet marker.

The first real rest stop came at 10:25am, 22 miles from the crater’s summit. We’d had climbed roughly 3,500 feet to this point. Sunrise Market was the only place to replenish food supply, fuel up and get a little rest before continuing. This is also a popular stop for the down hill tour groups. These tours include a bus ride to the summit starting from your hotel at 2:30am! If you managed to awake and brought enough warm clothes, you will be treated to a beautiful Maui sunrise and a *spectacular* 36-mile ride down the crater for an affordable Maui price of $150.

At 10:25am we had climbed 3,500 feet. This is also the last food stop.

We broke through the cloud line at around 5,500 feet. It was 12pm, 3.5 hours since we left Haiku. The cloud line provided good climbing condition for the first 5,500 feet. By the time we reached the park entrance at 6,500 feet at 12:50pm there was an abundance of sunshine. Temperature was still relatively warm. Basically the temperature drops 3 degrees every 1,000 feet of climbing.

Mike and I at the park entrance.

After a short break at the ranger station, about a mile up from the park entrance, we headed up to the summit. The distance from the ranger station to the summit is about 12 miles with 3,500 feet left to climb. Dennis used Mt. Diablo as a comparison for the rest of the climb. The only difference being that we were starting at a much higher altitude and having already climbed 24 miles. We rode at our own tempo from this point on.

Before reaching the summit there were a few challenges we had to overcome. Fatigue was setting in as we had already climbed more than 6,500 feet over 24 miles. I had cramps from time to time after the ranger station, though I tried my best to take in as much water and GU as I can. Mike also brought electrolyte drops which he generously shared with the rest of us. The high altitude was definitely hampering our breathing. Lastly, the wind picked up as the altitude rose so staying upright on our bikes was no easy task. The last quarter mile from the visitor center to the summit was at a 10% pitch. Though not as steep as the last 100 yard of Mt. Diablo, it was as bad or worst simply because what we had been through up to that point.

In between staying upright and fighting the 20+ mph wind, we finally reached the summit of 10,023 feet at exactly 3pm. I believe the temperature was below 50F with very high wind. But we didn’t seem to care too much at that point. We were just trying to soak in the fact that we accomplished a major milestone. Some tourists asked if they could take pictures with us. That was a first for me!

That’s me outside the lookout point from the summit. The Haleakala crater is in the background. You can also see the winding road leading up to the summit.

We took some more pictures on the top and it was a fast downhill back to the bike shop. Contrary to some reviews claiming that the downhill was boring, we had a blast going down. Actually we were “flying” down with a top speed of 47mph. We were going so fast that cars had to let us through.

The whole day went according to plan. We had no major mechanicals (if you consider a slipped chain a mechanical). NO FLATS! We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to ride.

If you want to see more pictures of this ride please send me an email at james.li@sbcglobal.net.

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