Road rides on Oahu and Kauai?



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Pat Wang

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Does anyone know of good road rides on either Oahu and Kauai on decent roads with not tons of
traffic - 40 to 50 miles? Has anyone had any experience renting bikes on either island?
 
Kauai really only has two roads of note; the main road that goes about 2/3 of the way around the
island, and the road that heads up Waimea (may not have spelled that right) Canyon. During high
tourist season, both roads could get a bit crowded. When we drove up Waimea Canyon, there weren't an
awful lot of cars on the road, and it seemed like a killer ride (if you like steep grades and
spectacular views) but with almost no shoulder. The road around the island is much better in terms
of having room for bikes, but not as scenic and a lot more traffic.

I didn't spend much time on Oahu so don't really have much idea how the roads are for cycling, but
the congestion around Honolulu was pretty nasty.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Pat ****" <c-p.****@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone know of good road rides on either Oahu and Kauai on decent
roads
> with not tons of traffic - 40 to 50 miles? Has anyone had any experience renting bikes on
> either island?
 
"Pat ****" <c-p.****@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Does anyone know of good road rides on either Oahu and Kauai on decent roads with not tons of
> traffic - 40 to 50 miles? Has anyone had any experience renting bikes on either island?

(mostly repeating a previous posting:)

The Hawaii Bicycling League's page, www.hbl.org, has a Bike Route Maps link for Oahu road riders,
plus various other helpful/interesting info including upcoming events.

The Windward (eastern, more or less) coast and the North Shore between Honolulu and Haleiwa are the
most popular for longer road rides on Oahu. Too much traffic for my taste, but plenty of great
scenery. Less traffic once you get past Kaneohe.

At the edge of town, the Makiki Tantalus loop (10 mi.) is not to be missed, and the short ride
around Diamond Head is also fun...

Rentals are available at the Bike Shop on South King St (www.bikeshophawaii.com) and (I think) at
Island Triathlon and Bike (www. trybikes.com) on Kapahulu Ave, but I have no experience renting.
Both are good LBSs anyway.

J. Cohn Honolulu, HI
 
In article <[email protected]>, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Kauai really only has two roads of note; the main road that goes about 2/3 of the way around the
> island, and the road that heads up Waimea (may not have spelled that right) Canyon. During high
> tourist season, both roads could get a bit crowded. When we drove up Waimea Canyon, there weren't
> an awful lot of cars on the road, and it seemed like a killer ride (if you like steep grades and
> spectacular views) but with almost no shoulder. The road around the island is much better in terms
> of having room for bikes, but not as scenic and a lot more traffic.

I've never ridden on the around-the-island road. The crazy tourists who are in a hurry to get to the
beach and who are looking at the scenery rather than the road make me nervous. The ride up to Waimea
Canyon Overlook is a nice climb of about 3000 feet in 10 miles. The road is steep, winding, and
narrow, but the traffic is slow because the road is so steep and winding, and there is less traffic
than on the main island road. There are two ways to go up: Kokee Road is more of a continuous climb
than Waimea Canyon Road, and Waimea Canyon Road has a few steeper pitches, but they both go to the
same place. Coasting back down is lots of fun.

>>Dave
 
David Newman <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

>
> The ride up to Waimea Canyon Overlook is a nice climb of about 3000 feet in 10 miles. The road is
> steep, winding, and narrow,

Now there's an understatement...I biked up that road and wow, the thing was like a crazy roller
coaster. There were some really _steep_ parts at the beginning of the ride, though once you gain
some altitude it gets less steep. The best part of the ride, actually, isn't the views of the Canyon
but where it dead-ends with stunning views of the Na'Pali coast. (The other fun part is the first
rest-stop where all the tourists applaud you for making it up the hill.)

In general, the main highway circling the island has a lot of traffic and the views are only so-so
(because the coast is quite a distance away). The northern stretch (toward Na'Pali) is ok, though.

As for Oahu, it has some outstanding road biking. Just head out from Wakiki and circle around in the
direction of the north shore. The island has a very good bus transit system -- with bike racks --
which I used to get back to Wakiki. Biking through Honolulu itself can be difficult, but there are
good bike routes if you have a bike map or know the area very well. I've also ridden along the
south/west coast and that was ok too. It dead-ends at a trail that supposedly loops to the north
shore, but I wasn't able to use it since it was closed due to high surf.
 
bikerider7 wrote:

> David Newman <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
> >
> > The ride up to Waimea Canyon Overlook is a nice climb of about 3000 feet in 10 miles. The road
> > is steep, winding, and narrow,
>
> Now there's an understatement...I biked up that road and wow, the thing was like a crazy roller
> coaster. There were some really _steep_ parts at the beginning of the ride, though once you gain
> some altitude it gets less steep. The best part of the ride, actually, isn't the views of the
> Canyon but where it dead-ends with stunning views of the Na'Pali coast. (The other fun part is the
> first rest-stop where all the tourists applaud you for making it up the hill.)
>
> In general, the main highway circling the island has a lot of traffic and the views are only so-so
> (because the coast is quite a distance away). The northern stretch (toward Na'Pali) is ok, though.
>

The road doesn't circle the island, so you can't do a loop ride. The road ccw from Lihue to
Princeville has good pavement and a decent shoulder, but there is an unpleasant several mile stretch
thru almost-always-congested Kapaa. The ~10 miles from Princeville to Ke'e Beach (road's end) is
narrow, winding, w/o shoulders, often wet/muddy in places, has limited sight distances, and can have
lots of often-inattentive tourists.

Ken
 
A nice circle tour for an early Sunday morning is Kailua to Pali Highway through town past diamond
head East along coast and back through Waimanalo and back to Kailua (start anywhere on that loop).
Caution-I would only do Pali Highway early on a Sun AM when traffic is very light.

You can also do a nice Century via the North and Windward and East Shores and cut through the center
of the island through pineapple fields.

I agree-Tantalus is a beautiful ride. Make sure you stop at the State Park. To die for views of the
Pacific and Honolulu/Waikiki/Diamond Head.

>Subject: Re: Road rides on Oahu and Kauai? From: [email protected] (J. Cohn) Date: 5/4/2003 4:36 PM
>Eastern Daylight Time Message-id: <[email protected]>
>
>"Pat ****" <c-p.****@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
>news:<[email protected]>...
>> Does anyone know of good road rides on either Oahu and Kauai on decent
>roads
>> with not tons of traffic - 40 to 50 miles? Has anyone had any experience renting bikes on either
>> island?
>
>
>(mostly repeating a previous posting:)
>
>The Hawaii Bicycling League's page, www.hbl.org, has a Bike Route Maps link for Oahu road riders,
>plus various other helpful/interesting info including upcoming events.
>
>The Windward (eastern, more or less) coast and the North Shore between Honolulu and Haleiwa are the
>most popular for longer road rides on Oahu. Too much traffic for my taste, but plenty of great
>scenery. Less traffic once you get past Kaneohe.
>
>At the edge of town, the Makiki Tantalus loop (10 mi.) is not to be missed, and the short ride
>around Diamond Head is also fun...
>
>Rentals are available at the Bike Shop on South King St (www.bikeshophawaii.com) and (I think) at
>Island Triathlon and Bike (www. trybikes.com) on Kapahulu Ave, but I have no experience renting.
>Both are good LBSs anyway.
>
>J. Cohn Honolulu, HI
>
>
>
>
 
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