Has anyone done this ride with their children? Our girls are 13 and 15. I was considering doing this tour until Maui Revealed indicated they don't recommend it for anyone under 16.

It's much more difficult than people let on. I wouldn't do it with my 12 year old and she's an accomplished "biker".

The bike companies have done an excellent job of keeping the tallies of their customer injuries under wraps. Maui County is starting another investigation of the companies which operate the tours:
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=14568

It really depends upon your daughters' biking experience. Are they comfortable riding different bikes or has the sum of their biking experience been on their own custom fit vehicle? Have they ever ridden on a bike with w-i-d-e tires? Are they comfortable riding in traffic? Have they ridden down steep hills with curves? Are they afraid of heights? Are they strong enough to hold the right hand brake partially down for the entire trip? Will they be able to keep their focus on the distance between the bikes and do they have enough riding experience to anticipate potential problems before they occur? Do they follow directions well? Most importantly, will their sense of pride allow them to admit that they're not up to the task and ride in the back of the van if they find the job too difficult or scary?

I took the ride at age fifty-six and was the oldest woman in our group that day. We often reached speeds over 35 mph on the decent and we had to keep a lookout for cars which passed us without warning. My right hand ached from the constant pressure I needed to apply to the break. Don't get me wrong, it was a great experience and I'm glad that I went.... but there are risks involved that you may have not considered.

My 41 year old best friend did this and she really had a hard time and she's in excellent physical shape.

I'd say no just from what she said, heavy traffic, constant breaking, and the heights.

"...cars which passed us without warning."

Just out of curiosity, what kind of warning does a car driver receive when being passed by another car driver?

All the tour companies provide full-face helmets for the riders' collective safety. Bring your own gloves & sunglasses, if you like.

We went with Aloha Bicycle Tours and had 2 teens with us--they were 16 and 18. Aloha doesn't do the sunrise (we did that on our own)and they only start at the entrance to the National Park(not all the way at the top. The greatest part however is you go at your own pace and bike down with just your family or group---there were just the 4 of us. Marc Friezner, the owner does follow in a van and will help you if there are any problems.

We drove up the mountain after meeting in Rice Park for a continental breakfast. Marc took 12 of us up the mountain and we started biking down at about 9:00, when a lot of the bikers had already headed down. We did not have a lot of traffic. Marc also recommends just pulling to the side of the road when a large group of bikers flies by. We went down at our own speed, stopped when we wanted and had a great time.

Marc meets everyone at the Sunrise Protea Farm where he takes your bike(if you wish) and drives you up the one mile hill. You continue riding through Keokea and the Ulup....Ranch, where you have spectacular views of Wailea. You meet for lunch at Tedeschi Winery.

It's one of our great family memories.

Marc also lets you cancel if it's raining--at least he did when we did this in 2000. He would tell you if he thought your 13 year old was too young.

His website is www.mauibike.com

As a point of clarrification to Pis_Pistofferson, apparently my comment with regards to the "...cars which passed us without warning" did not provide an adept description of the problem passing vehicles create for the bikers. A company van follows the last biker and tries to block vehicles, many of which are unfamiliar with the highway, from passing unless there is adequate distance for the car to get around the entire group. A problem occurs when a vehicle gets around the van, does not have enough time to pass the string of bikes, and then abruptly cuts in front of a biker in the face of oncoming traffic. This happened twice during our descent and it creates a very dangerous situation for all involved. Yes, the bike companies do provide helmets and rubberized raingear too, but neither of these offer much protection to a bicyclist who might happen to go down on the lava surfaced highway.

Bike down the crater.... then we'll talk.

You are dealing with 10,000 foot altitude, probably why they only allow you do ride down and the traffic problem, especially if you have a cloudy,rainy or foggy day is really dangerous.
If you have to see the summit, do the drive or better yet, the helicoper ride if you can afford it. Take the all around island flite, not the Kahalui, Hana, disembark and van ride back to Kahalui.You are at the mercy of the weather as the cloud can cover the summit.

retired teacherWe're already talking. I have biked down Haleakala after viewing the sunrise from the observation point. I will email photos for you to see us on the bikes. As I mentioned above, I brought my own gloves and amber lenses froom home. Used their helmet and raingear.

Along the way, we stopped and fed the "leftover" breakfast muffins to some goats/pigs on somebody's farm. A bit further down the road we had lunch at a mexican restaurant decorated inside from floor to ceiling with photos of famous surfers & surf locations, including Jaws - with it's 60-foot high waves. Great food.

Within reason, the job of the van driver is to block those cars from passing him. After viewing our driver's photo portfolio (some were published) I handed him my camera to take excellent photos of our downhill ride.

Perhaps "your" van driver should have honked as a signal to inform you that a vehicle had passed him. My original post on this thread is suggesting that you must follow the rules of the road, whether on 2 wheels or 4.

The primary rule of the road is to be aware of other traffic at all times. Same as when you drive at home.

Pis

I don't recommend the guided tours for anyone. They are more dangerous because they have large groups riding way too close together, they disrupt traffic with their vans and their route that goes right down Baldwin Avenue into Pa`ia Town. If anyone reads that Maui News article, the traffic issue, especially on Baldwin Ave is the issue at hand, and it has been an issue for a long time.

Haleakala Bike Company does unescorted tours, they do not go through the NP, the do not go through Pa`ia Town and they do not block traffic with a van. They also tell you before you head out to keep a good distance from your partner and do not send riders out in clumps, like the escorted tours. Rich Goodenough, owner of Maui Downhill has a generally selfish attitude and has earned a reputation for caring little about his customers. I hear repeated stories of people who have bad experiences on his tours and when they tried to contact him about it, he ignored their calls. When he says he's not getting those calls, it's because he choses to ignore them. I dare you to try to get a refund, even if bad weather cancels your ride.

OK...well this sounds like the worst travel idea yet!

Pis_Pistofferson, apparently you have forgotten that the original poster inquired about a 13 & 15 year old riding down the crater..... These kids are not licensed drivers, nor do they have the benefit of the driving experience that you seem to assume they should have. I stand on my original statement!

I know 3 people (one a bike-every-day athlete) who have crashed on that ride; one of them was badly hurt on the rocks. I wouldn't do this with children that age. And if they "don't" recommend, don't you think that's a heads up?

How about an alternative idea? A company called Pony Express does a great horseback trail ride down into the Haleakala crater. It's a very easy ride, not fast, follow the leader trail ride. Never knew a teenage girl who didn't love horses. When I did it there were half day and full day rides. The half day started about 9AM and finished about 2PM - included a box lunch on the crater floor. Was expensive [what isn't in Hawaii] but one of the neatest things I have ever done. You can Google Pony Express to find their website.

Hello all. I'm the original poster with the 13 and 15 year olds. Long ago within this chain of comments, I decided not to do this trip. Just thought I'd let you know!

This article is old, but still has some importance:
http://starbulletin.com/98/11/24/news/story6.html

This is more up to date-
The Maui News, Thursday, November 24, 2005:
"...Kiefer Gier, operations supervisor at the park, said about 85,600 bicycles launched from the top of the mountain in 2004 with 72 accidents reported, only 13 of them serious enough to require hospitalization. That’s down considerably from the late 1990s when the park was averaging 100 accidents a year out of 56,000 riders."