No, not the IM course, Queen K highway.
Has anyone ridden on route 200 from Queen K and then up to Mauna Kea on the Obsevatory access road?
I will be on the Big Island soon but can’t find much write up on what would be an epic climb and descent. Highest mountain on the planet, almost 4km vetical (from sealevel).
Would like to bag that one when I’m there. I heard there is an off season race/ride from the Hilo side?
Last year GrahamK post this
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1933942;search_string=mauna%20kea;#1933942
believe me it is magical the Big Island.
Interesting. No way I’d ever ride on the Saddle Road. No shoulder for most of the way. Blind corners and people speed like crazy because there are never cops up there. You’re also in the middle of nowhere. Totally isolated from many, many miles.
You should hop over to Maui and do the cycle to the sun race route.
I was on the Big Island last month and I have to agree about not riding on Saddle Road. That would be very dangerous. No shoulder is an understatement. In a lot of areas, it felt like the cars did not even have much room to pass each other.
If you are looking for a good climb, and cannot get over to Maui to climb Haleakala, then you are not out of luck. Go to the end of the Queen K (away from Kona) and turn right. If you had turned left you would be heading toward Hawi. Once you turn right you will have about a 10 mile climb to get to Waimea. With the wind, and a few steep sections, it is a good climb. The cool part is you can get to the top and then head back toward Kona. This is almost all don hill and is really fun.