Haven't done it, but Mauna Kea is rated on several sites as hardest in the world. I instead did Mauna Loa, directly across Saddle Road. If you do either from sea level, you're looking at 45 to 62 miles depending on where you start. I didn't have that kind of time, so I rented a bike and drove up to a state park that's about 6 miles west of the the start of the last sections of both. Didn't decide on which one until I got to the base of them, and was sucked in by the a'a lava field of Mauna Loa. A'a is just a crazy jumble of giant blocks of lava, which forces the paved road to make an incredible number of twists and turns on the way up. You often can't see more than some tens of yards of road in front of you before it disappears around the next obstacle. You can't see the top, either, and you really have no sense of where the weather observatory is (the finish) until you're more than halfway up. The day I went it was really cloudy and cool, so I only encountered maybe 6 cars the whole time I was there, and no other cyclists. That kind of aloneness is unusual, Passo di Gavia or Umbrallpasse are similar. It got a little foggy as I went up; I can only describe it as spooky, in a road to Mordor sort of way. I loved it.

From Saddle Road, it's 17.5 miles, 4,474 feet of elevation & 4.8% average. From sea level, it's 62 miles, 11,029 feet & 3.4% average. Mauna Kea from the same point is higher, steeper and the last 6 miles or so are unpaved. The ride from sea level to the turn-offs from Saddle Road is scenic, but you'll see a lot of the same thing as you drive around the island. So you're not missing much in my opinion if you start higher up to suit the time you have. Be cautious of the weather. It can be a fabulous sunny warm day in Hilo or Kailua and be snowing at the top of either.

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Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

You sure make Mauna Loa sound very appealing! And those other two sound incredible. Thanks!

Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa have already been mentioned. Both are worth it if you have the time. Mauna Kea is epic and requires really low gears and wide tires. Mostly for the gravel that starts after the visitor center. But even the road after the gravel is steep enough to where most people will be a lot happier with at least a 34x32. (Unless maybe your sea level FTP is like 6.0 W/kg) At that point you've been going for several hours, it's steep and you're up at 12,000' where there isn't much air.

Over on the Kona side I'd recommend Kaloko Drive. Kaloko is kind of a fucker. It reminded me a lot of the Mortirolo both in steepness and in look and feel. You'll be a lot happier with a 32 on the back for Kaloko also.

https://www.strava.com/segments/1102803


Or if you really want to have fun, all the way from Kona for over 4,000' of climbing. https://www.strava.com/segments/885309


Palisades. Short, but sweet, again right out of Kona. https://www.strava.com/segments/377723

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

I rode from the pier up to Kaloko. It's nasty. Definitely a 32 as the wide sweeping switchbacks are well into the 14-17% grades. The descent was fun and really scary at the same time. You can carry a ton of speed if you want to.

I think as far as safety goes, Maunakea is the best you can get since the shoulders are nice and wide. Scenery is arguable, I for one love it but others may not consider dry shrub land followed by black expanses of lava as scenic.

My plan is to *TRY* the climb from Maunakea recreation area up to the visitors center (since I won't have a gravel ready bike) on the Sunday following the race (obviously, I am spectating). It is nowhere near the full climb since that would properly start down by the water where the Waikoloa resorts are (some start from the pier...) and the more truncated version would start from the bottom of Saddle Rd. I just don't have the legs to do that kind of climb in one day!

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

This^^^
Kaloko road is right above town (off 190)- It goes over 4000 feet. It is steep and very close to town.
The saddle between town and 180/190 is littered with 15ish minute climbs. Just search google maps.
Also- Go south and climb out of the captain cook area- several ways up. 15-20 minute climbs depending on how fast you go.

Kohala ranch road

That kaloko climb seems fun!

The north side of the island is quite scenic, from Hilo to Waimea and back. Actually possibly the most scenic, lots of tropical flora and fauna. 100+ miles with over 10,000 feet. Not exactly a climb though, but it’s not flat, lots of up and down.

I suppose I'd have to drive over to Hilo to start that ride. Ever traveled to Waimea from Kona area?

Back in 83-84 Mauna Kea had a lot of snow. Flew over from Honolulu to Hilo stayed with a friends. We rode up MK the girls were our water and food support they drove the jeep with all our skis. We got to the top and skied back down to the road going from cinder cone to cinder cone. Truly was an epic day. We did multiple runs. Skiing was awesome.

Ah Kaloko "I forgot which switchback I'm on because this hurts so now I got no idea how much more climbing is there left". That climb? Edit: there's a pretty neat hike with a trailhead at the next to last switchback. Saw parrots playing there last time we were there.

Yes. You can take upper belt highway direct or take Queen K to to Waikoloa Village Road or Kawaihae Hwy. I’ve used all these routes. The upper road hwy can be kind of tight going north if there is a lot of traffic and the roadside vegetation hasn’t been brushed. Though it is a great ride. The climbs from QK are solid grinds. Not sure what the work schedule is for intx of QK and Kawaihae Hwy. Might be shut down thru IMWC. I am on the island fairly often and ride thru this area so I’m not looking forward to this intx being under construction. The construction company on the project is terrible and I’m afraid the project will drag on forever:(

We actually stay in Waikoloa Beach area and climbing up to Waimea and over to Honakaa is one of our favorite rides. Old Mamlanoa Hwy route to Honakaa is scenic with low traffic. From Honakaa you can ride to Waipio or add to climbing with the ride to HI Vanilla Company. Love these back roads and scenery. If you have a car, driving to the Beach Resort area could give you some options for extending rides thru Waimea, up the Saddle Road or to Hawi and over Kohala Mountain Road.

Kaloko is a must do climb. Near the end of the climb is a side road that climbs even higher. Last road on the left. Local Pedal til You Puke race ends there.

I think you’re describing the rain forest trailhead. Very lush. Local mtb’rs also ride parts of this trail system and it now links back to the cinder come park further north along the belt highway.

The road I mention above off end of Kaloko also offers access to trails that link to the summit of Hualalai. I had a chance to do this hike a couple of years ago and it was spectacular!

I rode up Palani today to get to 180/190 and while I have a high tolerance for dicey conditions, I will say that some of the other recommend ways up to there are a heck of lot more safe. Friday late afternoon probably didn't help my cause. I took this shot looking back down at the ocean. Definitely some nice views.

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I have not done the Mona Loa. I did Kaloko three different times from Kailua Pier. That ride is interesting. The first 2000 ft of vertical until you turn right off Palani to get to Kaloko are pretty easy, then you have an Alpe d'Huez worth of climbing to get to the summit. What is interesting that on most climbs around the world, the switchbacks are the least steep and the sections in between the switchbacks are the steepest. Kaloko is the opposite. The engineers did not dig into the mountain to design switchbacks, they just paved on top of lava, so they end up being the most steep sections. This is why people on this thread say the downhill is fun, but also dicey. The switchbacks on the downhill are crazy steep and not properly banked, so just keep that in mind.....if you are used to doing normal switchbacks, you pick up speed in between decelerate in the switchback and then get on the next steep straight. On Kaloko, you just end getting sucked in a gravity induced negative banked section right when you are turning....some of the switchbacks even had a thin layer of green moss on top of the pavement since it is so lush and not a lot of cars drive through there.

Mauna Kea, I would just ride from either saddle road to the visitor center. Without a gravel bike, you're just sinking into the gravel lunar dust from 9100 ft up to around 11,000 ft. When I did it, I dumped my bike at the visitor center and put on my running shoes and ran up the gravel. We were thinking of running all the way up, but we noticed that our friend who came by car to take photos was getting altitude sick (which was surprising since he lives in Boulder). My 2 cents if I do it again would be ride to visitor center at 9100 ft and then run to summit and back down. Honestly at that altitude and steepness running is no slower than biking. You have the added benefit of infinite gearing for running (take the shortest step you want). Biking you are stuck in your lowest. I did it on a 34x32. I did Kaloko twice on a 34x32, but in 2013, I rode it on race week with my racing bike setup so I did it with a 34x28 (I would have normally ridden the 25 tooth 11 speed for Kona, but I wanted to ride Kaloko when I was there, so I gave away a smaller tooth cog in the mid range).

Here are article arouond the adventures:

https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_-_part_1_3327.html


https://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/Mauna_Kea_Triathlon_-_part_2_3338.html


https://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/Kona_High_above_the_Lava_3164.html


We had Chris Lieto show up for the Kaloko ride, but the slacker did not come to the summit with us.


Next year, I am planning to go back to do Kaloko, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (both from Saddle road) assuming my disc rehab goes well and I continue to make progress on riding. I was almost thinking about going this year, but my rehab is not there yet, and I am too busy with my tech startup.