Quote:
Originally Posted by look 171
10,000' is one hell of a grind and a long day in the saddle
|
4 hours, not so long. I had no knowledge of the climb and should have asked but didn't. At the top i realized I was overly conservative but I wasn't going for time. Some pros do it in 2½ hours. With about 6 miles to go I called my friend and said ok come get me. No way I was going to ride down. You'd need long fingered gloves and warm apparel. Haleakala produces its own weather up top and it snowed on me for the last 2 miles. It felt great because I was climbing but at the top i put on a wind breaker (I stuffed one in my jersey pocket just in case), layed the rental bike in the lava and waited in the little hut at the top for my ride.
The climb was long and I saw the same van pass me 3 times. Each time it was full of people and pulling a trailer full of mountain bikes for the tourists to descend. The last time the he passed me he gave me the pinched fingers telling me I was close to the top. When I was riding past one of the scenic look outs near the top a local couple watched me shaking their heads, I asked "dis da way to Paia yeah?" they thought that was pretty funny.