World Travel Guide Online

Don’t Fall Asleep on Your Bike – The Easy Way Down Maui’s Mountain
Maui, Hawaii, USA

“Don’t fall asleep on your bike,” says Russell. I don’t know whether to believe this or not. Russell Reinertson, our guide from Maui Downhill, is a six-foot ex-marine with a wicked sense of humour. He’s seen it all, guiding thousands of tourists down the crazy hairpin turns of the road from Haleakala Crater to the sea.

“The last guy that fell asleep rode right off a curve into a sugar cane field. The cane held him up on his bike and when I came to get him he was still sleeping.” OK, I believe it, but what I want to know is – how could anyone even close their eyes on this ride?

Maui Downhill was started in 1984 offering bike tours from the lip of Hekalaka crater. Since then they’ve had over half a million riders and are still going strong in spite of the pressure from competitors pressing half price rides on every passing tourist. As Josh Nelson, the Communications Administrator from Maui Downhill says, “You can ride down the mountain for $39.00, but what you’re really getting is a 4 hour timeshare presentation. We focus on the riders and their safety. All our cruise leaders take a 40 hour First Responder 1^st Aid course. Then once a year they take a 20 hour refresher course and I happen to know that Russell took a full week this year, just ’cause he’s into it.”

Listen to the Safety Lessons!” src=”http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/images/usa/05/may13_hawaii1.jpg” width=”142″ height=”220″ border=”2″/>

Listen to the Safety Lessons!

While Russell drives the van, due to a knee blow out, Pat Medeiros, our lead rider, has a head-full of knowledge about Maui that he’d like to give you. And he does, in a rapid fire fashion, whenever we stop. It’s not that he’s rushing you, he just has so much to say. He’s an expert on the views that you’re gasping at, at the flora and fauna and the history of the ranchers that live on the volcano’s slopes. Pat is a native of the Big Island and he loves his work.

Here’s a way to think about the sheer pleasure of this ride. Just imagine that you’re 10 years old again, riding your bike around the neighbourhood, looking for the sweet stretch of summer pavement with just enough of a hill so you can coast. But there’s never enough of it and you’re back to pedaling in no time. Now flash forward. You’re in Maui, on your bike, the sun is just rising over the mountains and you’re about to start the longest coast you’ve ever had. Like Russell says, “It’s all downhill from here”, one of his classic bad puns. No wonder that by the end of the first hour we’re all remembering that dream of a never ending glide. I see the riders in front of me starting to lean into the curves a bit more, relax into their seats, accelerate out of the corners and grin with pleasure.

Of course we weren’t all that pleased to get up at 3:00 a.m., some of us were noticeably cranky, but hey – you have to go up to get down and it takes a while to drive up the crater through the black night sky of Hawaii. On this cloudy night there are only a few tiny stars to see and later the lights from the Big Island of Hawaii twinkle out a greeting across the water. While some of us catch up on our sleep, Russell gives us a brief history of the island of Maui, followed by some safety tips. These include 3 good reasons not to drive through cow patties: #1 You might slide off the road, #2 There are no fenders on these bikes and therefore, #3 No one will want to sit next to you at lunch. He also has at least 50 different names for cow patties collected from his clients over the 6 ½ years he’s been leading these groups. “Organic frisbees, meadow loafs, pasture pudding, Maui moon pies…”, you get the idea. Those of us who are awake are cracking up.

The crater we are going up to see is surrounded by farms, forests and a National Park. The ride takes you though 5 climatic zones in 38.5 miles, the most zones in the shortest drive anywhere on the planet. Besides the great view, there are ample opportunities for aromatherapy experiences as we pass through a pine forest and a eucalyptus grove on the way down to the sea.

Sunrise at Haleakala is somewhat of a Maui visitor’s rite of passage. This morning as we shuffle to the railing on the crater rim the only light comes from the occasional camera flash or the dim glow of a digital screen. You literally cannot see your hand in front of your face, but when the clouds part, the milky way shines out like frost on a midnight windowpane and then disappear. The High Altitude Observatory sits just off to one side and word is that NASA is now using the observatory to plan a part of its Strategic Defense Initiative (aka Star Wars).

When the sunrise begins it rips a red slash through the ash gray clouds at the horizon before it’s overcome and gives off only a gun metal glow of a dawn. It’s cold up here, even with the yellow rubber lined pants and jackets we were given that make us look like a bunch of lost fishermen. At 9,740 feet it can be 30 degrees colder than the temperature at the beach. We’re anxious to get moving and once we have our motorcycle helmets and ski gloves we take a few shaky practice runs around the parking lot.

“Has anyone ridden a bike this century?” Russell calls out. No hands rise. We’re a mixed group from across the US and Canada ranging in age from 15 to 75. There’s Ed and Linda, on a real second honeymoon, since they divorced for 2 years after a 35 year marriage and have just remarried. Four university students from TO in their twenties are with us as well as Don and his Hawaiian auntie from the Big Island.

Fooling Around

My daughter is the youngest one on the trip – there’s an age and height restriction (minimum 12 years old and 5 feet tall) and although you’re coasting, you have to be in reasonable shape to do this ride. The bikes are heavy and the handbrakes let you roll to a stop, not to stop suddenly. You don’t want to experience a “rectal/cranial inversion” as Russell calls them, on this trip.

When Russell competes with other local Maui riders in the Midnight Full Moon Bonzai Run he fills his bike with lead. In the last race, a Hawaiian lad named Kaulana who weighs 380 lbs. came in the winner. Gravity is king on this ride. Racing in the dark with only the moonlight and their intimate memory of the road to guide them, they reach top speeds of just over 100 km per hour. But that’s only for experienced riders. Our group comes down the switchbacks at a more manageable 25 kph. There’s a break for lunch at a laid back golf and country club where we’re all encouraged to relax and indulge in the brunch buffet. After that it’s another 45 minutes of gliding, this time through Maui suburbs where everyone has a garden or at least an hibiscus or palm tree or two in the front yard.

At the town of Pa’ia we stroll to the beach to watch the surfers while the bikes are loaded up and wait for our ride back to the hotel. Now is the time to fall into a lounge chair for a well earned nap in the warm Hawaiian sun.

Contact Information
Maui Downhill
199 Dairy Road
Kahului, Maui 96732
1-800-535-BIKE
www.mauidownhill.com

Haleakala National Park
P.O. Box 369, Makawao, HI 96768
808-572-4400
www.nps.gov/hale