Month: October 2009

Today, I biked about 50 miles on the beautiful isle of Maui. Unfortunately, almost half of those miles were unintentional and extremely difficult – so much so that at one point I really thought I was going to die in a ditch by the side of the road.

Some lessons learned:

1. Kihei to Lahaina is 24 miles, not “about 12.”
2. Measuring mileage on a tourist map while Tweeting and using the “thumb and forefinger” method almost guarantees inaccurate results.
3. There’s no reason to believe that the ride will be mostly flat and you’ll have a tailwind, just because you hope it will be. In fact, the opposite might be true.
4. If you leave at 4:30ish to catch a 6pm sunset and it turns out your mileage estimate is wrong, you will be riding in the dark for a good portion of your trip. Also, Maui highways aren’t lighted.
5. Just because the highway has Bike Route signs doesn’t mean you’re not riding in a shoulder with cars zipping by at 50mph just a few feet away from you.
6. If your ride is an hour longer than you expected and it’s around dinner time, you will be hungry for a good part of your trip.
7. If your ride is much harder and longer than you expected, you will finish your one bottle of water long before you reach your destination.
8. Catching the last bus out of Lahaina will be a big relief, but means you will still be riding 9 miles from Ma’alaea to Kihei because it’s too late to make the connecting bus.
9. You will earn both admiration and embarassment-inducing disbelief when you tell your story to the Maui Bus driver.

(Ahihi-Kina’u Nature Preserve, Maui, HI)