Volcano Bike Ride????

[CRUZIN 4 SUN]

Is the Haleakala downhill bike ride worth it? I have read good and bad reviews. My wife and I are avid Mountainbikers and I would like to do this but without a "full face" motorcycle helmet and without a guide.

Should I do the sunrise tour? How many hours is the trip up and down?

[jmo1]

I would have to say yes, it is worth it. It was probably our best day the last week I spent at Maui. The tours from the top of the mountain are all guided, because they start inside the National Park. The park requires guides for group tours. There are unguided tours that start near the park boundry that is about 75% of the way up. We took the Maui Sunriders Crater Express ride for less than $40/pp. http://www.mauibikeride.com/options.html Get a rental car or taxi to the town of Paia by 9:00 am, where they take you up to the national park boundary, and let you go down at your own pace. It is all downhill, so virtually no pedaling. You get back around noon, unless you stop for lunch. You're on your own timetable.

[donna@donnaanderson.com]

I saw bic groups at Volcano National Park as well and if I were you I would look into this; it is rainy though, and cooler so bring extra gear.

[KrisCruiser]

We did the sunrise trip a couple of years ago with www.mountainriders.com. I would agree it's a great one-time trip. They picked us up at 2:30AM at the resort, and the sunrise was beautiful - but it was VERY cold up at the top (bring your gloves and head band). The nice thing with Mountain Riders was that they were one of the first ones to start the trip down the mountain - you didn't have to wait. You may not like the fact that it is basically hold on all the way down - not a lot of pedalling - lots of hairpin turns, but not really biking. There are lots of great views on the way down, and they stop for breakfast, and end up on the shoreline.