This climb was one of the toughest physical challenges I've ever done; my body and brain were simply exhausted by the end of the ride. This video shows how visually spectacular the experience was but to know how it feels to go through it you really have to do it yourself. Here's the good news: Maui is beautiful so it's a great place to vacation anyway, and the climb isn't all that daunting for the average cyclist. Here's a quick summary of how I found the climb:
- 5 hours of riding, 6.5 total hours
- 7 energy bars, 3 gels, 4 bottles with Skratch, 3 electrolyte tabs, 3 aspirins, 1 extra chamois butter application
- it's a steady climb with nothing too challenging until you reach the top, at which point the grade picks up sharply for the last 250 meters
- bring some warm gear for the top, it's not freezing cold but you'll need some extra clothes
- get a ride down somehow, the switchbacks don't have guard rails and you don't want to fall off the edge and tumble 10,000 feet (very possible)
- get a half decent road bike for the climb, saw some mountain bikers attempting parts of the climb and they looked ROUGH
- take pictures!!!! This may be the most gorgeous place you'll ever see
- unless you're Ryder Hesjedal don't think this wont take long, it's a long and painful climb that could be the only thing you do that day
- post your photos, video and tweet about it, I rarely see info about the Mount Haleakala bike climb so let's put more up
