Dave here... Although Maui is a relatively small land mass, there are some great road rides to do that cover an incredible variety of terrain.
Perhaps the king of Maui road rides is the sea-to-summit ride up and down Haleakala. This is a 10,023 foot dormant volcano (though scientists say it'll blow again).
Starting from a very cool hippy/artist/surfer town called Pai'a, one rides steadily uphill for 38 miles to the summit. On the way, you are treated to fantastic views, changing climatic zones and very tired legs. The views along the way and from the summit are truly awesome. Then when it's time head downhill, it's 10,000+ feet of descending fun on great curves and very nice road surfaces.
One funny aspect of the ride was watching the downhill-only tour groups come down in waves with their shiny cruiser bikes and full-face motorcycle helmets as I sweated my way in the opposite direction.
About 7 hours after leaving the car, I arrived back in a somewhat less energetic state. But, I was pretty buzzed from having done the best single day ride ever. A couple of days before that, I did a very nice ride that essentially follows the shore on both wide and *very* narrow roads around West Maui. I finished the ride in Iao Valley (where Jurassic Park was filmed) where Callie was waiting for me.
I rented a bike to ride two days on the island. BEWARE that in my experience, West Maui Cycles has the lamest customer service of any bike shop I've been in. This on top of renting broken and dangerous bikes. Not a great combination. Instead, I do strongly recommend the Maui Cyclery in Pai'a. A much more professional shop with better equipment and employees who actually give a @#!@! about the customer.
Dave here... Although Maui is a relatively small land mass, there are some great road rides to do that cover an incredible variety of terrain.
Perhaps the king of Maui road rides is the sea-to-summit ride up and down Haleakala. This is a 10,023 foot dormant volcano (though scientists say it'll blow again).
Starting from a very cool hippy/artist/surfer town called Pai'a, one rides steadily uphill for 38 miles to the summit. On the way, you are treated to fantastic views, changing climatic zones and very tired legs. The views along the way and from the summit are truly awesome. Then when it's time head downhill, it's 10,000+ feet of descending fun on great curves and very nice road surfaces.
One funny aspect of the ride was watching the downhill-only tour groups come down in waves with their shiny cruiser bikes and full-face motorcycle helmets as I sweated my way in the opposite direction.
About 7 hours after leaving the car, I arrived back in a somewhat less energetic state. But, I was pretty buzzed from having done the best single day ride ever. A couple of days before that, I did a very nice ride that essentially follows the shore on both wide and *very* narrow roads around West Maui. I finished the ride in Iao Valley (where Jurassic Park was filmed) where Callie was waiting for me.
I rented a bike to ride two days on the island. BEWARE that in my experience, West Maui Cycles has the lamest customer service of any bike shop I've been in. This on top of renting broken and dangerous bikes. Not a great combination. Instead, I do strongly recommend the Maui Cyclery in Pai'a. A much more professional shop with better equipment and employees who actually give a @#!@! about the customer.
Enjoy!
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