Kona week Mauna K & other climb anyone? Oct 8-11 sometime?

Triathlon Forum
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I’m interested in doing this epic climb sometime before the race and am hoping to find a couple people to join me. I’m not racing Saturday but cheering on the wife so I’d like to fit this climb in sometime. Plan would be to climb up to 9000 feet from sea level so maybe start at the pier and depending on weather and other variables try to climb up to the top which is 13 800 feet or so. We would probably need to be picked up at the top or a support vehicle near the end.

Anyone interested? You would need 11/28 gearing at a min with compact and a 11/32 might be better depending on your fitness level.

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Are you going to do this on a mountain bike? The road is not paved all the way and is really loose gravel. The pavement ends at the visitor center and starts again near the top. I drove it in a jeep last year. The visitor center is at 9,200 ft so a good tough ride from sea level to there.

Enjoy!

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I am doing it on a road bike with some beefier tires but if the gravel part is too hard to ride then I’ll stop at 9200 feet. I’ve heard of a few people riding the gravel part on road bikes but I don’t mind stopping at the gravel if its unrideable.

4

Bit more info here on doing just that …

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4124148;search_string=13796;#4124148

5

Contact Dev Paul, he may be doing this.

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I’ve been talking with him a little bit and hopefully he decides to join me but he is racing on Saturday so I understand if he doesn’t. If you know anyone from around kona who’d like to partake just send them my way and we can plan it out.

Cheers

7

Also to note is that the new extension of Saddle Road on the Kona side opened earlier this month which will make your climb much nicer up to the access road to get to the visitors center. No more narrow road to run the bikes of the road. You will have smooth highway with wide shoulders much like what is on the Queen k instead of the narrow bumpy saddle road which is also still open if you want to use that road that will have much less traffic now. I have driven the new road a couple of times now between Hilo and Kona and it should make for an epic ride up to the access road…

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/sections/news/local-news/new-saddle-road-connector-open-sept-7.html

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Thanks for that update! That’s awesome, a new road with wide shoulders will make the experience that much more enjoyable. Where is the best place to start? I’d like to start at sea level so I’m thinking at the pier and ride from there.

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Starting in town will add about 20 miles each way out the Queen K to get to the Waikaloa road to turn up the mountain. I guess if I was going to do all the climbing from sea level I would probably park out at the Waikaloa in the Anaehoomalu Bay parking lot and then head up the mountain from there. Unless you want to use the 20 miles as warm up before heading up the mountain. From A bay you head out to the Queen K and go north about 1 mile and then head up Waikaloa Road till you hit the Mamalahoa Hwy(Hawaii Belt Road) and make a right(south) and back track a couple miles to get to the new Saddle Road(Hwy 200) from here its up the mountain about 30 miles to get to the access road to Mauna Kea observatories. From town just head north on the Queen K about 20 odd miles till you hit the Waikaloa road and then the previous directions apply.

Be ready for cool weather and nasty winds up on the mountain and also note that you will be mostly out of cell coverage. Also, to note that there are no services of any kind on saddle road and I mean nothing, no gas stations, no bathrooms, no food, no water so be prepared. It is a great ride and beautiful views. You will see plenty of wildlife, goats, sheep, turkeys and even wild pigs. The views up and down the mountain are majestic especially early in the morning when the sun comes over the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa and in the evenings going down over the ocean.

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Ok, thanks for the tips. I’ll start from the A bay and I will be prepared for the elements. I think I’ll plan for a support vehicle to come meet up with me before the visitors station and then continue on with me until the top. Just in case I am unable to ride the gravel sections then I’ll jump in the vehicle until the pavement restarts. Do you know how long the unpaved/gravel road is? I’m assuming about 3-4 miles then its paved again for the last 2 miles? Does that sound correct? Maybe you want to join in for the ride :slight_smile:

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I think Dev was trying to get a group to go up Koloko again on the 8th. Do both!!!

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OK we have been in touch, and as I mentioned to dopers.suck, my fitness is barely enough to get an Ironman done so attempting any type of a Mauna Kea climb race week might be asking for a DNF, and I don’t want that on Saturday.

However, I’ll be organizing a Kaloko climb on Tuesday early morning (sea level to 5000 feet in one shot…around 5 pedal strokes of riding on the flats from the pier, then all climbing).

OK for Mauna Kea there are a ton of variables. As GrahamK will tell you it is impossible to make it to the summit on a road bike. And it is basically inmpossible to make it from Kailua Pier to the 9100 foot point visitor center on anything but a road bike from Kailua pier because the weight and wind will kill you.

My conclusion is that if you want to ride from Kailua Pier then you ride a tri bike bike with 34/32 gearing. Once you get to the visitor center you still have a full Alpe d’Huez climb but it starts at 9100 feet and ends at 13,700 feet and it is steeper than Alpe d’Huez. My conclusion is the best way of doing it is jogging/trekking and get someone to pick you off the summit.

Here are the two parts to our recce mission last year during which Jonathan Toker and I had some good fun:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Features/Mauna_Kea_Triathlon_-_part_1_3327.html

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

I am really glad to know that the last narrow part of saddle road before you get to the wide sections before the access road has been repaved.

If you guys ride on Wednesday before the race, I’d leave Kailua pier with ya and ride from the Pier up Hawaii best road to saddle road. I would suggest that this is the best path. Even though the belt road has a shoulder that is only around 2 feet wide it is there and smooth and from 2000 feet up, you are riding parallel to the Queen K and truly is pretty Epic even before you get anywhere close to Mauna Kea. You’re just above the lava flows and you can see the Pacific in the background.

OK you guys have me convinced to show up at least for the first part. Let me see if I can get Tim Carlson out to also do some photography, because the world needs to know that there is an entire world of riding in Kona off the Queen K that is much more spectacular. If I recall it is around 100K out and back ride from Kailua Pier up the belt road to Saddle road and then back. It is around 100K from Kailua Pier up to the Mauna Kea visitor center. From 0-50K you do around 2500 feet of climbing…from 50-100K you do 7000 feet more…definitely not something I want to do 72 hours before a race…but I’ll be glad to sit in a group for 100K and socialized.

Next year, I defintely want to try a summit attempt.

In the mean time, let me coordinate something with Tim Carlson and Herbert and see if we can get a large group for both the Tuesday Kaloko and Wed Mauna Kea sendoff via Belt road. Don’t forget Wed evening is the ST party. Those attempting the summit won’t make it back on time, but if you stop at the visitor center and get a lift back, no problem making it to the party!

Dev

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Just to clarify the lower part of Saddle has not been repaved. They is a completely new road that takes you up the mountain. The old saddle road is still there and open. The new road is about 5 miles closer to Kona than the old road of of Hawaii belt road.

I would agree that the belt road is an epic view of all of Kona along the way and it is smooth as well but the narrow shoulders and the high speed of traffic up there is not all that conducive to bike riding and the drivers up on the belt road don’t have the same awareness that Queen K has for bikes. I still think you would be okay on the belt road just be more cautious.

I also like the idea of leaving from A-bay then you leave from the bottom and head straight to the top if you want to make the attempt to the visitors center.

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I like the views from belt road down on the lava fields and pacific and I think the shoulder is more than wide enough for a bike and very smooth and frankly I found the traffic up there pretty quiet overall when I was riding on a weekday last year…glad there is a new road closer to Kona that cut across towards the the old saddle road. I take it that this new road must have a ton of climbing on it too…probable 4000 feet from belt road to the Mauna Kea Access Road.

Also, can you tell me more about the re paving on Mauna Loa and how far does it go up. I understand it is pristine?

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The climbing is the same as the old saddle road its all straight up the mountain just better paving and much wider. Its just been open a few weeks so the police are making their presence there know to keep the speeding down as well.

As for the road up Mauna Loa, I have not been up there in some time so I am not sure of the condition that road. I spend the majority of my time in the rain of Hilo.

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OK, if you can find out from peers about Mauna Loa, then great , but no rush…there is a future Hawaii Mountains Stage Training event with Haleakala, Kaloko, Mona Loa and Mauna Kea from sea level as the 4 stages in one week…but that week will not be this year. I’ll need some serious training to tackle that, but a man has to dream.

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Wouldn’t this be ideal for a CX bike? 48/34-12/25 gearing would suffice for a strong rider?
28-33mm randonneur or CX tires, pump them up hard for pavement, and let some air out for the gravel.
Put on a rack to carry extra water and supplies.
Might not be the fastest option, but…

18

My other half rode last years Kaloko ST ride but is racing this year and will probably skip it. If you ride Kaloko on Tuesday take the last street on the left on Huehue St. just before the end of Kaloko where you guys stopped last year. This goes higher than Kaloko and is the end of a few local climbing races.

The Hawaiian Cycling Club held a TT on Mauna Loa Observatory Road in July. You can check with Mike Wolfe thru the club page or FB for condition info. Grant Miller from Bikeworks has also led some rides up there this year.

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OK, if you can find out from peers about Mauna Loa, then great , but no rush…there is a future Hawaii Mountains Stage Training event with Haleakala, Kaloko, Mona Loa and Mauna Kea from sea level as the 4 stages in one week…but that week will not be this year. I’ll need some serious training to tackle that, but a man has to dream.

If this happens…count me in. Just give me a year notice…LOL.

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Me and a mate are up for any of the big hilly rides. Keep me in the loop.