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erik nilsson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In June, 2008, I rode from Hilo to the Mauna Kea Visitor's Information Station. This is a climb with almost no descending from sea level to 9,000 feet. A road race called "Sea to Stars" was run on this route in 2007, and may be run again. I wrote this page because I couldn't find much information about this ride online, and what I could find was out of date.
In the following description, some of the mile marks and elevations are estimated. Also, the ride begins on Highway 2000. At about mile 6.5, Highway 2000 ends, and we pick up the route on about mile mark 6.8 on highway 200. So, for example, at mile post 20 of Highway 2000, we've actually ridden 20.3 miles. To make this less confusing, I ignore the difference, and round the mileage on Highway 200 to the nearest mile. (Furthermore, I rode 5 miles to get to the "start" of this route, but never mind.) 
Just after this point, we cross a small bridge of land that has not been engulfed in lava in the last few centuries, then back onto lava that flowed from Mauna Loa in 1935. Naturally, the vegetation becomes yet sparser. We will stay on this newer lava until after the turnoff. The trade winds are beginning to blow, so we have a significant tail wind. Not enough to push us up a hill, of course, but it becomes more significant as the road becomes flatter. The last two miles before the turnoff are comparatively flat, giving us a chance to make sure the big ring is still in working order.
The Access Road starts with a beguilingly gentle grade. About a mile onto the Access Road, we hit the first of two cattle grates. We don't literally want to hit these, because they are made of a dozen or so railroad rails on about 8 inch centers with at least a foot-deep ditch under them. About the only thing you'd get from trying to ride these on a road bike is a broken front wheel and maybe a broken wrist or elbow to go with it. They aren't even that easy to walk your bike over. The cattle grates are four miles apart, so when you get to the second cattle crossing, you have about a mile to go. (I wish I'd known that on the way up.) 
The trail just gets steeper from here. Somewhere in next mile or two, I bonked. I ran out of water. My guess is, I got dehydrated, which kept me from being able to metabolize food fast enough. The altitude and the steep grade pushed me hard into anaerobic metabolism, which only compounded the problem. Then the grade really gets steep. Seventeen percent. The road is also canted into the hillside at almost as steep a grade, which means you can't zigzag your way up. Turning a little left lessens the slope considerably, but when you turn back to the right, the grade is over 20%. The last mile up the hill took me 40 minutes. The grade and altitude mean I wouldn't have done it real fast anyway, but on an empty tank, it seemed to take a very, very long time. 
You'll probably need to add clothing for the way down. I put on a skull cap and a waterproof vest. I ended up wearing everything I brought, and wishing I'd brought more clothes. Don't forget about those cattle grates. In fact, you have to watch your speed the whole way down the Access Road. I didn't have a computer on my bike, so I had to manage my speed by feel, but in any case I recommend observing the speed limit of 35mph. Some of the curves should be taken considerably slower. Nobody is out sweeping gravel off of the road for you, after all. In what seems like no time, we are back on Highway 200. If you had somebody meeting you, you could continue west on 200 to Waimea or the Kona coast, but this is a blue-collar ride, so we are going back where we started: our front door. We turn left and head back down towards Hilo. We hit a stiff headwind. The tradewinds are really blowing by now, pushing storms up the mountain. We descend into the cloud layer, and visibility drops to about nothing. Soon, we are in the first of our rainstorms. 
In short order, we are back in Hilo. I was back at my condo east of town by 3pm. There are five major areas of challenge in this ride: climbing, altitude, temperature, traffic, and isolation. If a friend asked me if they should do this ride, I would not recommend it unless their current skill and fitness level made them well-equipped to handle at least four of these five challenges. The climbing part is pretty obvious. Nine thousand feet of climbing isn't something I do every day, but it's not a big deal for me on a properly equipped bike. If you've never climbed that much in a day, this probably isn't the ride to try it. Altitude is an additional challenge to the climbing. At 9,000 feet, the partial pressure of oxygen in the lungs is less than 60% of the value at sea level. Your body can partly compensate for this difference, but that ability to compensate responds to training. If you have not been exposed to altitude recently, you may find yourself surprisingly weak on the last climb, especially if you are hungry and thirsty. (It happened to me.) Obviously, this is not a good ride to do the day after you go scuba diving. Another effect of altitude is more UV exposure, even on cloudy days. Put on the biggest SPF sunscreen you have. Twice. Everywhere. The end of your ride back in Hilo can easily be above 30 °C (90 °F). The top of the ride can be freezing. Furthermore, you may run into bone-chilling, windy rainstorms on the way down. (I hit two of these.) Bring something long-sleeved and waterproof for your upper body and a helmet cover or balaclava. Bring an extra base layer. With so much climbing, it's tempting to go light. You can buy a windbreaker at the top, but they don't sell bike gear. Take more clothes than it seems like you could possibly need while sitting in Hilo. Traffic is generally light. Saddle Road used to have the reputation as the most dangerous road on the big island, but much of this road is currently in good shape with broad shoulders. However, mountain roads deteriorate quickly, and there is a lot of truck traffic. If you are not confident riding on a narrow highway with zero shoulder and large trucks, you may not have a good time on this ride. Most of the ride is not like this, but some of it is. Paradoxically for such a well traveled road, isolation is both part of the attraction and part of the challenge. Many times, for a half hour or longer, the only sound I heard was the wind in the trees and the hum of my drivetrain. Oh, and my breathing. (And, of course, the voices of small happy children talking somewhere just out of earshot, but that was only climbing the last grade.) I doubt anybody would let you die out there, but nobody is going to throw Hammer Gel at you as they pass either. Getting stuck up on this mountain would make for a long, long day. You can buy food at the Station, but you have to make it up to the Station to get food. The good news is, at any point on the ride, you can bail and have almost continuous downhill to Hilo, as long as you don't freeze and are in good enough shape to control your bike. Bring plenty of water. There is nowhere to get water on this ride until you get to the Station. You have to bring it all. I would suggest at least 4 liters in summer, but I bet on a hot day you would still run dry unless you brought more. Bring plenty of food. Bring a cell phone and have a plan for somebody to come get you if you have to bail. Cell phone coverage isn't good the whole way, but I had plenty of bars once I got close to the turnoff for the access road. This will be more fun with a triple ring up front. Make sure your brakes are in good shape. Road tires are appropriate. I didn't bring lights, but on the way down, I wished I'd had, due to the fog. I rented my bike at Mid-Pacific Wheels in Hilo. I'd rent from them again. They don't have a huge range of road bikes to rent, but the staff are knowledgeable and friendly, and my bike was in good shape. Moreover, they recommended I check out Saddle Road. My kind of people. The route up is mostly just steady, hard work. Except at Komohana St., there is almost no opportunity to get lost. There aren't even that many side roads. The way back down is more technical. The main challenge is to keep your speed under control. On the Access Road, the cattle crossings come up very fast at 30mph or faster. It might be possible to hurdle them, but if you can't, you could wait half an hour for somebody to come by, then another hour for an ambulance to get up there from Hilo. It would not be a happy way to end the trip. The shoulders look inviting on the way down, but they are treacherously strewn with fine gravel and vegetation. Choose your path carefully. If you are going to pull over to let traffic past, dump your speed on the road and then pull over. It can rain hard on the mountain, to the point where you could get flooded out. I wore mountain bike shoes instead of road shoes, and was happy I did. It made walking over the cattle grates easier, and I knew if I had to walk a flooded section of road, I would have halfway decent shoes to do it in. | |
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| copyright © 1999-2008, Erik Nilsson | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||