Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Climbing




Decided earlier in the week to go over to Maui and climb Mt. Haleakala. It's not an easy climb. The ride starts at sea level and climbs to 10,000+ feet over the course of 36 miles. Original plan called for a climb in March, giving me a couple of months to work on my climbing skills, but on Monday a couple of the guys decided to go next weekend...so I immediately cashed in a 2-day pass in order to cram in as much climbing as possible over the course of the next week. Today we did a 43 mile ride, covering 5 hills in the Aiea area. The highest elevation we reached was 1200'...I haven't found a road in Oahu that goes above 1500'. What these roads lack in elevation, they make up for it in steepness...we routinely hit grades of 12-15%, and the last climb of the day peaked at 20%. Total elevation gain on the day was 4200', and we spent about 14 miles actually climbing...tough ride, but I have a long way to go. I tried to capture the steepness with these photos, but you don't really know how steep it is until you heart's beating 180bpm and you're struggling to keep your bike rolling in a straight line.

Luckily, our Haleakala trip hit a logistical snag. We built our plans around taking the Hawaiian Superferry in order to have the right support vehicles...however, our Sunday evening return trip was cancelled due to the lack of coordination between the ferry people, the local government, hippy protesters and humpback whales. All our backup options were cost-prohibitive...so now, I've got 2 months to prep.

5 comments:

Louis Winthorpe III said...

Damn, Strap, that's ambitious!

So are you going to post your election analysis?

So when is the last time Mike Goldwater has posted here? He's too good for the masses...

Strap said...

should be fun...a sizable group will probably go over, so we should have some support.

no analysis from me...hopefully Obama can fight back in the next few primaries. really don't want to give the Republicans the gift of Hillary.

Louis Winthorpe III said...

Most Republicans I talk to fear Obama more than they do Hillary. Republicans I know are celebrating Clinton's latest victories.

Strap said...

have you heard the conspiracy theory that the GOP is rigging the primaries to set up a hillary victory?

Louis Winthorpe III said...

No--hadn't heard that one, but it doesn't surprise me. I definitely think the Republicans in House and Senate races will benefit if Hillary is the Democratic nominee. No one will motivate GOP voters to get out and vote like Hillary Clinton. Republicans I know do not seem to hate Obama, even if they are usually underwhelmed by him.