Maui Bicyclists Respond to Haleakala Ride Ban with Proposed New Straight Route

A group of advanced bicycling experts are proposing as new straight road from the top of Haleakala to Hana, to get tourists off the current route which veteran local bikers prefer to have for themselves.

The Maui Zig-Zaggers (MZZ), a group of about 100 road bicycling enthusiasts who frequent the current road down the huge dormant volcano, has submitted to the National Park Service their idea for a new road that would skip the current switchbacks in favor of a nearly dead-straight road all the way to Hana.

“We heard the county was considering changes to the laws pertaining to cycle tours on Haleakala,” said Darrin Woodster, a co-founder of MZZ who lives in Makawao. “We are concerned that the county might go too far and simply ban all bike rides down the mountain. So we did research and have a route they could build to dedicate solely to visitors who want to experience it all on Maui.”

The proposed route through Haleakala National Park would start from the Puu Ulaula Summit and meander for several miles before beginning a serious stretch of crisscrossing switchbacks, which Woodster says were unavoidable. “The terrain is a bit tricky on that one area,” he said.

Then the road would shoot straight down the mountain all the way to Hana, where, just before Hana Highway, there would be a huge jump so riders would not disrupt traffic on the well-used tourist route.

“Sure, we’re a little concerned about the ability of tourists to land a jump of several hundred feet, but we couldn't ask the county to install a new special traffic signal,” said Kramer Ike of Haiku, the other co-founder of MZZ. “But hey, with this road, in one fell swoop they can experience sunrise, the slopes of Haleakala, and the joys of cliff jumping.”

“And maybe even get a helicopter ride from where they land all the way to Maui Community Medical Center,” Woodster said. “Flying in a copter over the Road to Hana, the rain forest and all those waterfalls would be a perfect cap to such an exciting ride straight down a volcano.”

National Park Services officials were a tad cool to the concept.

“It really does not sound like a smart thing to do,” said Harry Kanalua of the NPS office in Makawao. “I mean, what if the bike’s brakes fail?”