3.29.2008

maui revealed, day 2

Day 2 was the "bike ride down a volcano day". We left early and headed to the city of Paia where Aloha Bicycle Tours is located. When we first started discussing the idea of doing this excursion, I was really excited. That is until I read what our Maui Revealed book had to say, which then totally freaked me out. The book was very honest about the safety risks, however we decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. There are several different companies that offer this activity, but what enticed us about Aloha Bicycle Tours was the "at your own pace" concept.

We left the bike shop with about 10 others and headed for the Haleakala National Park, reaching a summit of just over 10,000-feet. We had some time to peruse the area before they shuffled us back in the van to prepare for the bike ride, leaving us on our own to cruise down about 8,000-feet. To say I was Nervous Nelly would be an understatement. The brakes on my bike squeaked the entire way down and the palms on my hands from the hand brakes are still sore. Not to mention it was freezing as we biked through the clouds. That being said, it really was an incredible journey down the mountain.

By the time we arrived back to our condo, it was the perfect time to watch the sunset from the hot tub. Before dinner, I also squeezed in an impromptu yet totally necessary massage. Funny story: when we arrived to the bike shop earlier in the morning, I bent over to get my backpack out of the back seat of our car and seriously strained my back. We hadn't even gone on the darn bike ride and I was already injured. I thought for sure it was some sort of sign to abort our plan. I didn't want to be a wimp, so I persevered through it. Despite having a hard time walking, or even sitting up straight for that matter, I'm really glad we did it. I'm even more glad we made it through alive.

At the volcano:




To the right of me is top secret NASA stuff...


Getting ready for the big ride:




While on the ride, we saw...
A fruit stand
A pretty blue house
Magnum P.I.'s house
Oprah's house (seriously!)
horses, goats, cows, oh my!

Aloha!

10 comments:

Lo said...

Sounds amazing and totally scary. How wide was the volcano road? I love the pictures of you on the top of the mountain and Rob with his pink backpack. Cute!

dapotato said...

looks fun!

That Girl said...

I am so impressed you did this! I would be way too scared.

weezermonkey said...

The scenery is awesome, and your short hair is looking pretty awesome, too!

Sarah said...

Sunrise at Haleakala is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I thought the bikers were crazy though!

wan said...

dude, when we went to maui in november everyone told us that the biking trips were all cancelled because the bikers kept getting hit by the cars driving down the mountain. glad you had fun!

~ Jolene said...

the pictures are amazing! wow!

delovelydetails said...

beautiful!

amber said...

that book freaked me out about the bike ride too!

poor thing with the back injury :( i hope you're feeling better.

R said...

Oh man, I can't believe your back got hurt before you even started the ride. You are a trooper! :)