Maui 2008: Thursday April 10

We were a bit concerned about the weather but we took a chance and did it pay off. This was a great ride, maybe my favorite on the island. The north side of West Maui is wrapped with a road that winds in and out of each bay. It goes up and down over ever mountain. And it narrows down to a single lane for about 8 miles. This ride is remote.

The ride around Kanaha Harbor is a bit industrial and the traffic is bad. Go Cycling Maui starts on the west side of the harbor to avoid this. As we rode north the scenery change quickly and it wasn't long before we were climbing. The fist part of this ride climbs fairly steeply to the high point of the tour which is just over 1,000 feet. This is a bit misleading since the rest of the ride climbs and descends steeply without much in between. In the roughly 60 miles that we did, the total elevation gain was just under 5,000 feet.

Just before the high point, this road narrows to a single lane. It remains a rugged single lane thread winding through the mountains for 8 miles. Just past Kahakuloa the road grows another lane and a bit of a shoulder. The surface is excellent as well. We rode out to Keonehelelee or what we think is called Punaha Beach which makes this ride a just little less that 60 miles. We saw whales, a blow hole, Olivine Pools, dead pigs, a little town that is truly paradise and many spectacular views.

There are a limited number of places to get water and food but there are enough. Curly's Fruit Stand, Julia's Best Banana in the World, the smoothie bus, etc. Take lots of cash. Water can cost $2/bottle. The best deal is the banana bread. It really is quite good and at $5/loaf it's a power food bargain. Here's a view of the area that we're biking to today (distant shore across the harbor). I've always wanted to check out this remote part of the island. These mountains way off in the distance have always looked so surreal to me.

Here's a view of the mountains from just above. This area was settled by ranchers in 1932 so it has a different feel from the next section of road that is more wooded and tropical feeling.

Where are we?

We stopped in at the ranch house which is now a gallery for over 100 local artists. The view from up here is spectacular. On one side is the lush valley of Kahakuloa. On the other side is the grasslands that produce the fattest cattle I've ever seen.

Here's Laura in Kahakuloa tasting the worlds greatest banana bread. Julia's bread stand has (expensive) ice cold water, banana bread (of course), candied coconut and candied papaya.