Haleakela: Ride up or Bike down?
 

Our dilemma: should we just ride up in our rental car to see the sunrise (then hit the Kula Lodge for breakfast) or should we skip the drive and get one of the bike companies to pick us up so that we can bike down? We found one bike company that has you to meet them at a park at the base at about 7AM, then they take you up the volcano for the ride down, so that way we'd be doing both. I guess my question is whether it's a good idea to try to do both on the same morning, or should we try to do this on two separate days?

Biking down the can be very dangerous. Most of the accidents taking place on Maui are related to the bike ride. Of course, if you are in exceptional health and have the stamina, it may be worth it. I would enjoy the vista w/o the bike ride down. You could wide up in the local hospital, where a friend of mine practices. And you know, the bike ride from the visitors is more than enough to fill his patient panel.

Traveldogg is right. People have died on that bike ride.
My husband and I have done both the bike ride down and driving in a rental car. When you are on the bike, you have to watch the road and the truck traffic so carefully that you will not be able to enjoy the views as much as if you were taking a leisurely ride in the car.

I agree with the others...unless you are an avid rider I would skip it. We enjoyed driving up for sunrise, soaking in the views at the top, and taking our time driving back down again. I would also not advise visiting Haleakala 2 days...it's a long drive and there's so much other things to see and do on Maui.

If you go to the Kula Lodge, go early!

First, you don't have to have much stamina as it it really a bike coast. There is very little actual effort to pedal.

Because accidents can be so severe I would only go down with a bike company.

Many people go down on their own and that's really risky. A bike company has a guide up front and a chase vehicle in back holding up traffic. When traffic needs to get by, the driver radios the guide and everyone pulls over to let the cars go by.

My wife and I have done it and so have my son and his wife. It's a fabulous experience.

While I'm sure that some people have been injured or even killed on the bike ride, you should be fine if you use common sense and have had some recent biking experience. I'm 56 years old and do not have exceptional health or stamina, but I bike about five miles daily during the summer. When I did the bike trip last February, I had not ridden in four months. My hands got very tired from all the braking, but I was able to enjoy the ride. Two days later I drove our rental car down the mountain so that my inlaws could see the sunrise. My ability to view the scenery was about the same on both trips......... obviously much more enjoyable for the passengers than the driver. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to get up there early enough to see the stars in the night sky before sunrise. I live near Chicago and have never seen such a starfield!

Dick, do you think that most of the accident on Maui are related to the bike ride, as stated previously ?

Rusty,

No I don't. Statistically only a small percentage ride Haleakala. I would expect more accidents at the beach.

However, serious accidents are possible riding dowhill( as evidenced by the leagal waiver we had to sign). On our trip only one person fell. We were all told to ride single file and he was trying to pass while on a turn. Hw eas just trying to show off.

In reality you ride your brakes all the way down. Some of the turns are quite sharp so that the only stamina you need is in your hands to maintain the brakes as you ride downhill.

People have died riding downhill...but I don't think they were with a guide. But then again , many people drown in Hawaii, too.

I thought there was more risk of death in a sightseeing helicopter and elect ed not to do it.