I will be in Maui for work in November. I have carved two extra days of free time and I am planning to rent a road bike for some rides of 3-5 hours. Based upon a quick search here on ST and the internet more broadly, it seems like my two best rides might be the West Maui loop (about 60 miles) and the Haleakala climb. I will be in Kaanapali for part of the time and Wailea for the other part.
So, do these two rides seem like the right ones?
If I do Haleakala, where should I leave from (is there a good place to park and start from)?
Can I actually cirle the whole portion of West Maui? I had thought that the northern part of that route was rough.
Check out www.gocyclingmaui.com - I have ridden with them twice and highly recommend them; otherwise, you can just rent a bike from them. The climb up Haleakala is awesome.
West Maui on the Northern part is rougher. I live in WI where winters tear up the road so I didn’t think it was all that bad. It was the best part of the trip in my opinion. Stop for banana bread and drinks at huts/houses along the route. Also, coming from WI, I thought the traffic was brutal on the west and south sections of the ride. I got up early and rode south from Lahaina before ‘rush hour’ and I was pretty surprised.
I’ve ridden Napa/Sanoma and Europe (casually) as well and I’ve come to realize that cycling paradise is actually here. Still worth doing though.
I would rent a bike from the Maui Cyclery shop in Paia (gocyclingmaui.com). They have good info on their website and are helpful in person. You can rent and go on your own or they do fully supported rides. I was there in August and rented a bike (they have Scott bikes with Ultegra). I brought my own shoes, cleats and saddle. I also did the Cycle to the Sun Race up Haleakala (36 miles and over 10,000 feet of climbing- so be prepared if you do this ride! I did the race on having ridden only about 50 miles per week due to lack of training time- not a recommended approach). Another great ride is from Paia to Hana and back. You may run into Ryder Hesjedal from Garmin out on the roads. Enjoy-
I’ve ridden the roads north of Kapalua multiple times. This is a must do if you are a biker staying in Kaanapali. I actually prefer to ride North and then turn back as the roads are mostly low traffic and the scenery is unbelievable. Going South is a different story. The traffic is not good and there are far more car incidents. The difference in those two rides is night and day as far as being able to ride in any kind of solitude. There are some great climbs north. It is fairly flat going south.
I have done the bike ride down Haleakala, but not up. I think riding up would be a lot of fun.
One other ride that I would like to do is out to Hana and back. While it is a difficult drive in a car, I think it would awesome on a bike. The only issue I see is that the traffic could get a little dicey with the narrow roads. More cars than north of Kaanapali also.
There is a parking lot on the south side of Paia you can park in to start the climb. There is a small park you can walk your bike through to dip you tire in the ocean just across the street. I rented from the shop there in Paia and brought my own pedals, shoes & helmet.
Check out www.gocyclingmaui.com - I have ridden with them twice and highly recommend them; otherwise, you can just rent a bike from them. The climb up Haleakala is awesome.
+1
If you’re only riding the two days, just do the Maui Cyclery (gocyclingmaui.com) tours. It’s a little more expensive than just renting a bike and heading out on your own, but the extra support is worth it. I’ve been to Maui twice and rode with them once the first trip and 3 times the second trip. The very first thing I’m gonna do on my next trip is call them and get my rides scheduled.
Haleakala is an absolute must-do. Leave from Paia, there’s plenty of parking right on the street. If you do the Maui Cyclery ride you’ll leave right out the door of the shop.
Another really cool ride they do leaves from Kula and wraps around the base of the volcano to the south side of the island. They drive you from the shop up to Kula (~3,000 ft elevation), then you head south on a ~4mi twisty descent down to about ~1,000ft or so and start working your way around the volcano. Once you get out onto the lava fields on the south side the wind just cranks. I did this ride twice and one time the wind was easlily 30+ mph right in the face on the way out. If your group can get a paceline organzined and willing to work its epic. We turned around about 25 miles out and had a blast sailing back on that tailwind and then hammering the climb back up to Kula. A bonus with this ride is that most of it is in the rain shadow of Haleakala, where they get like 1" of preciptation a year, so even if the weather is crap up at the shop in Paia it will be nice and sunny on this ride.
x2 on the Kula route with gocyclingmaui. I did that ride with them on my first trip, and Haleakala the next time. Both were awesome, and the Kula ride is everything you described. To the OP, highly recommended.