My wife and I are travelling to Maui and Ohau in 1.5 weeks and are looking for tips on triathlon trainining in Maui and Oahu (Maui in particular). I’d most like to hear if anyone knows of good road cycling routes on either island (low traffic, challenging terrain, decent quality roads) and where a good place to rent road bikes is. We’ll be staying on West Maui and then Waikiki in Oahu.
Any good swimmin’ hole tips would also be appreciated.
If there is actually someone out there that lives in either of these places and is looking for a good training partner - let me know! We’ll be there between May 6-16.
Sounds like fun. West Maui Bikes rents some bikes, not too sure about roadbikes. Riding clockwise around the West side of the Island and is hilly and rural. There is a pretty good shoulder on the main road heading back toward the airport from the resorts. You can climb up Haleakala if you are a hero. Start pretty early as traffic gets busy in the day. I have never really swam on Maui other than in an event.
Oahu has several places to rent. Bike Factory, Boca, the Bike Shop, and Island tri all rent bikes. From Waikiki ride East toward Hawaii Kai is probably the easiest to find route. If you can find Makiki Park there is a really cool climb up Tantalus drive. Good hiking trails up there too. The road is getting rough so be careful going down. Swimming at thebeach by the old WW I memorial is great, we also have several free 50 meter pools around town. There is a park for running and swimming right in front of the big mall. You can swim while the family spends money. Not too sure what the race scene is that week, but I am sure Kahuna,Tai or big Larry will kick in some words as well. Welcome to the Islands G
West Maui loop: ride completely around the west Maui mountains, ride time approx 3.5-4 hours. Amazing ride. I recommend doing it clockwise.
South to Kihei, then continue to La Perouse Bay, look at the funky lava flow and turn around. Stop in Kihei at the health food store for great eats.
Highway 37 from Kahului up to to Pukalani, then head south … Tedeschi winery is about 40 Miles. Stop there for eats (and wine tasting if you like), then head back. Round-trip from Kahului… ~4 hours
Ride to the top of Haleakala. Friggin amazing. 4-5 hours to the top from Kahului. ~6-7hours round trip. Start early… bring cold weather gear.
Feeling crazy? Ride to Hana along the north shore. About 110 Mile round-trip. Bad roads, narrow and twisty in parts.
crazier yet? Ride AROUND Haleakala. From Kahului about 220km (130 Miles?). Same as Tedeschi winery route… but continue around the mountain. bring plenty of water and food…there ain’t much on the backside…
Every major town on Maui has great outdoor 50m pools that are FREE! Swimming in the ocean completely kicks ass though… but can be dangerous if your unfamiliar with currents… and then there are the sharks and jellyfish…
Here’s a pretty nice ride on Oahu. Starting in Waikiki, go through Kahala to Kalanianaole Highway. When Kalanianaole Hwy ends at Koko Marina, go up the hill to Hanauma Bay. If you have some time, park your bikes and go down to Hanauma Bay - it’s a marine life sanctuary. Purchase some fish food and when you and your wife go swimming in the water, you’ll find hundreds of finned creatures who want to be your friend. After you’re done at Hanauma bay, continue along the coastal road (some of most scenic on Oahu), past Sandy Beach (to your right) and Hawaii Kai Golf Course (to your left). Shortly after the golf course, there is a gate on the right. Carry your bike around the gate and you can ride up a short (1.5 miles or so) up to the Makapuu lighthouse. Have a nice lunch up at the lighthouse and if the weather is clear, you may see Humpback Whales and some of the other Hawaiian islands. Approximately 35 miles for the round trip.
Feltgoods ride is the most popular and probably the best ride you can do from Waikiki. It’s the ride I did this morning without the stops. A few notes though. To start you just ride from Waikiki towards diamond head and go along the ocean side of Kapiolani Park, you’ll then hit a 4-way stop at the end of the park, head right and you’ll go around Diamond head. Keep going straight and you’ll be on Kahala ave which is also great for running. About a mile after diamond head you’ll hit the first stop, another 4-way and take a left here. You’ll see the golf course on your right, right at the highway and you’re on your way. After the 5 miles or so on the highway you’ll go up the big hill to Hanauma bay, the descent down is pretty twisty and fairly steep but the best part of the ride. Gorgeous views but don’t look for whales while flying down at 40mph or you might barely miss the guardrail as a friend of mine did.
If you want to go farther just keep going past the gate where you can hike up. The gate is in the middle of a big uphill btw just so you know where to look. At the top of the hill is a popular tourist lookout and a lot of cyclists use it as thier turnaround pt. If you turn around here and go back down the hill DO NOT USE THE SHOULDER on the bottom of the hill. Take the lane as there is a bunch of rock in the shoulder. If you keep going you’ll get to ride right along the ocean for a while (my fav part). It gets a little narrow as you hit the town of Waimanalo about 3 or 4 miles past the big hill. Locals usually cut to a back road at this point but it might be hard to give directions so just go straight through and be careful. You can keep going until you hit a T intersection at which point go right and you’ll drop down into Kailua which is also a nice place to ride. If you want to go further PM one of us.
That tantalus loop that was mentioned is also a great ride and fairly easy to get too from Waikiki. Riding to or from Haleiwa on the north shore is great too.
I was on Maui in December '03, and I did a road ride with this company called Go Cycling Maui (www.gocyclingmaui.com). They offer fully-supported road rides, as if you were on a pro road team, with domestique and follow vehicle. They provided a Litespeed road bike (Classic?), and you can bring your own shoes/pedals. I did a 40-ish mile ride, and it wasn’t cheap, but it was a lot of fun. Nice route, beautiful scenery. Their website lists some of their routes.
If you’re not interested in the catered ride, you might contact Donnie and see if they will just rent you the bikes.
Becareful of the wind this time of the year. The tradewinds can make crossing the middle of Maui unpleasant anytime after about 10 a.m.
Synchronicity lists most of the good rides, but I prefer to ride the West Maui loop counter clockwise, do the hills first.
Start the ride to Hana at Twin falls or the Haiku community center and it is a nice trip. Start at first light and miss most of the traffic.
Rentals are expensive, bring your own if you can.
If you have questions, I’m in the phone book or email me.
All good rides, so far. You could also do the Honolulu Tinman bike course, which is some of what Tai and feltgood described. Go to http://www.tinmanhawaii.com and the click on the “race course” link, and course maps will appear.