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For 2 years now my brother, who is also a cyclist, has been talking about the 2 of us taking on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. But first he wanted me to visit him in Maui and climb Haleakala. So I met up with him in April and climbed!!!

Haleakala is a long gradual climb that starts at the ocean in Paia and finishes at the summit of Haleakala volcano. At just over 35 miles from sea to summit, it’s pretty much non-stop climbing for 10k feet. Average gradient is ~7%, so it’s nothing too bad. There are some short pitches of 10%+, but the challenge is that it’s non-stop climbing. And the last 1/2 mile has several 15-20% pitches that just seem cruel after over 5 hours of pedaling!

Knowing that I was not trained for this type of ride, my plan was to stay in Z1/low Z2, take my time and just finish. We had already done some riding since our arrival to get acclimated and spin the legs out. One ride we did, the West Island loop, was a real struggle for me. It’s 63 miles and 4,800 feet of climbing. The humidity over there made it hard to get enough fluids in to keep my legs turning. And it was during this ride that my brother decided to bail on me for Haleakala. He hadn’t been training much and felt I would be better off going on my own. I disagreed but kept with the plan to climb the volcano. I wasn’t going to leave the island without reaching the top!

I had the route loaded on my Garmin, and I made a point of keeping a close eye on my power numbers. I also had set reminders to make sure I ate and drank on a schedule. There are a few places to stop to grab hydration and food, but I packed everything I needed in my hydration vest, with plans to make one stop at the visitors center at about mile 25.

I did have the benefit of having my husband out there with a vehicle in case I had some unfixable mechanical, or just blew up! We woke up at 4:30am, left my brother’s house by 5am, arrived in Paia and I set off solo at 6:20am. My husband had many hours before he was to meet me at the top, so he did a couple of hikes along the way. After my send off I saw him once about halfway as he passed me in the vehicle, asking if I needed anything. Nope, I’m good! Next time I saw him was at the top parking lot, just 1/2 mile from the very top.

The bottom portion of the climb was beautiful with lush, green, fragrant flowers with views of the climb in the background. The first half I could see the top of the volcano where I was heading, which was cool but also daunting because it looked sooooo far away!

Eventually I made it to the switchbacks, which I really enjoyed because I could see them on my bike computer, and also could see where the road shifted back the other direction. It was a nice distraction since this was starting to feel like a really long ride. The scenery became more volcanic, there was much less foliage (if any at all), and eventually it turned to just volcanic rock with cloud cover moving in and out.

I had the most perfect weather. That’s part of the challenge of doing this ride, you have to watch the weather and pick the right day. It never rained on me, which is a common concern. The wind, which can sometimes be pretty strong, was quite mild. The temps never got cold enough that I needed a jacket (which was good because I had left mine in the car!). I really lucked out with a beautiful day.

Reaching the top felt really good. We took some photos, I bought a pin in the gift shop, and we headed down and eventually made it to a brewery to celebrate!

The jury is still out on whether or not we will do Mauna Kea. It will definitely require more planning, most likely 2 different bikes, and certainly lots of training. But we’ll see….