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Big Island Trails

85K views 672 replies 30 participants last post by  Specialutz 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I'm kinda new to the mountain biking scene. I've been riding in just random places that I can find. I wouldn't mind trying out some of the more defined/popular trails. I've heard of Kulani (sounds difficult for my skill level), University Hilo Trail (where do I start/enter?), and Kalopa. Are there any other good ones out there? How's the Tree Planters road?


Today I went for another random trail hunt. I found myself above Akolea Rd passing a couple of water tanks. It mostly was gravel stuff, then all of sudden it became a paved/defined road that just kept on going uphill..a semi-steep uphill. According to my gps I was around 1400 ft in elevation. Seems like if I kept going up I would have found myself to the right of Kaumana City. My legs were burning at this point so I decided to turn around. Let me just say that the downhill ride was fast and sketchy at times. But I had fun and found myself screaming, "WOO HOO!":D
 
#441 ·
Well! Just read 18 pages of locals discussing awesome adventures and camaraderie.

I live near San Francisco, and love to ride at places like Skeggs and Annadel. I'm trying to sort through all the places you guys ride and pick one or two epic rides to hit up when we're there November 20-25 (Thanksgiving week).

How would you rank the following rides, in order of epic-ness? Or, what's the ONE ride you'd recommend to some tourist mountain biking nuts:

Mana Road around Mauna Kea
Volcano Escape Road, Volcanoes Park
Kulani
Waterfall climb
Kalopa

Am I missing anything? We're not afraid of long rides. I'm probably afraid of how much moisture is there. Rocks and roots? Sure. Wet rocks and roots? Ugh. Don't mind the learning experience, but probably don't want to show up on the beach the next day looking like my man had to tell me twice.

Thanks so much!
 
#445 ·
Aloha Christieland,

Welcome. Yes, guess there's been a lot of chatter here to read through. Love some of the riding I've done up there in the bay area. I've ridden Skeggs and loved it. Have not ridden Annadel yet.

At any rate, when you talk about epic riding, are you talking about distance, technical, or sites (scenery)? Aikane posted a bit about what each of the trails posses. If you're looking for "Epic" riding (distance, tough ride), then maybe I can suggest this. Park at the top of the Waipio Valley. Ride down to the beach. Hike a bike across the river at the bottom and then the Z trail up to the top of the other side of the valley. From there, it's epic technical riding in and out of many mini valleys over to the next major valley over (Waimanu Valley). I've never actually ridden that yet. I've only hiked it - 7 hour hike.

As for the other trails you've questioned about, other than Mana road, all are just small network of trails that can be ridden in as little as 2-4 hours depending on the routes and fun factors thrown in. I have a ride up in Kaloko that can be 1.5-4 hours depending on how much serious vertical climbing we throw in. From time to time, the scenery can be really awesome up there.

Are you going to be coming out here with your own bike(s)? If you're looking for rental, then pretty much Bikeworks (Kona) is your only choice. If you're the right size, then we have potentials for bikes you can borrow.

Where are you going to be staying while you are out here? That will certainly have an affect on which trail(s) you ride. Drop us a line, I'm sure we'd be interested in hooking up for some riding. To answer your original question, I can't think of a "must" ride while you are here, each of the trails have their fun factors associated to it.

P.S. Was that you that wanted to join up on the FB Big Island Mountain Biking page?
 
#443 ·
17 hour work day....I'm tired. This week at work has been crazy. 50+ hours in four days. This Saturday I might be a little more tired than usual.
 
#444 ·
Christieland, what side of the island will you be staying at?

Mana road- endurance type ride, requires planning, multiple vehicles would be best.

Volcano Natl Park- more scenic than epic, biking is technically not allowed on a lot of the areas.

Kulani- roots, rocks and tight technial stuff. Located on the east side of island.

Kalopa-flowy singletrack, some climbing, nice views. North-east.

Kaloko-sort of a combination of Kulani and Kalopa. Westside.

Waterfall hill-name says it all. Climb up, bomb it back down. See some waterfalls on the way. Eastside.
 
#450 ·
Gmats - thank you for the welcome and advice, yes that was me.

We're staying near Waikoloa Village, but are planning to rent a car because we've enjoyed the adventures we've had all over the island and enjoy road trips.

We're feeling drawn to the Mana Road ride. Probably because, when else will we be able to say, we rode bikes all the way around a volcano. We were thinking of renting hardtail 29ers, and we're good on endurance, not the fastest things in the world, but happy to ride for 6, 7 hours if need be. Probably don't want to seek out the gnarliest terrain, but are comfortable riding over most anything.

I'm curious if the ride can be done without a chase vehicle? If not, was hoping to post up on FB and here about perhaps trying to organize a Mana Rd. excursion for the Friday or Saturday immediately after Thanksgiving. If that's what we decide we'd like to do. Thanks for the bike shop recommendation too.

(I guess to my question, if someone were from out of town and visiting California, I might suggest the Lake Tahoe Flume Trail. Toads or Hole in the Ground might be more technical or interesting riding, but Flume is highly impressive to visitors, and gorgeous from what I hear (I still haven't done this ride).
 
#452 ·
Gmats - thank you for the welcome and advice, yes that was me.

We're staying near Waikoloa Village, but are planning to rent a car because we've enjoyed the adventures we've had all over the island and enjoy road trips.

We're feeling drawn to the Mana Road ride. Probably because, when else will we be able to say, we rode bikes all the way around a volcano. We were thinking of renting hardtail 29ers, and we're good on endurance, not the fastest things in the world, but happy to ride for 6, 7 hours if need be. Probably don't want to seek out the gnarliest terrain, but are comfortable riding over most anything.

I'm curious if the ride can be done without a chase vehicle? If not, was hoping to post up on FB and here about perhaps trying to organize a Mana Rd. excursion for the Friday or Saturday immediately after Thanksgiving. If that's what we decide we'd like to do. Thanks for the bike shop recommendation too.

(I guess to my question, if someone were from out of town and visiting California, I might suggest the Lake Tahoe Flume Trail. Toads or Hole in the Ground might be more technical or interesting riding, but Flume is highly impressive to visitors, and gorgeous from what I hear (I still haven't done this ride).
Mana Road can be done without chase vehicles. I've done it that way a dozen or so times (normal for me). The difficulty is figuring out the shuttle to the start of the ride but it's not difficult in any way.

I've done Flume and Toads. Tahoe rides are great, really enjoyed Downeville when I was out there. The climb for Flume was just slow and steady and then the whole down hill was just mellow and steady, nothing epic for speed or technical. The views are epic though, fantastic ride!!

Look forward to your guys' arrival. Will certainly try to see if we can put something together.

Happy Trails!
 
#451 ·
Hey Christie,

So per my PM I will try my best to track my ride via my endomondo app. I have a back-up battery for my iphone so I'm hoping it will last the 6-8 hours so I can document the entire ride. I'm sure Mana Rd can be done without a chase vehicle, but I'll give a better assessment after tomorrow. ;)
I would be down to join you folks for a ride, but the saturday after Thanksgiving is going to be a little too hard to pull-off for me. I don't think my family would be too happy with me. :eekster:
 
#457 ·
Yup. I was cleaning my bike and that's when I found it. I know it wasn't like that before the ride cause I did a full check of my bike the day before. I would have definitely caught that.
 
#459 ·
Damn, you ate all that?!? The MnMs make me wish I brought that. Yes, same like you , hydrate all week before the ride, need to get it down to the molecular level, not just the day before. I only drank 3/4ths of my 100oz. bladder of water, one small size LifeWater, triple XXX of course, two ClifBars, 3 shots PowerShot, and that great sandwich my wife made.
Had to make room for the killer Mexican food and awesome beers at the end.
Damn, that was a great ride! Kinda felt like I dreamt it when I woke up this morning, until I went to go SUP surf, then felt a lil' jelly in the legs. All good, recovery helps build up for more endurance.
 
#460 ·
Yea, definitely an epic sweet ride all around. Thanks for the pics, and stats, very nice! Sorry to see the bike crack, that looks pretty nasty. Good thing it didn't snap completely off on a downhill.
If you like climbing it's definitely a good spot with nice rewards for all the climbing effort. Definitely worth another run sooner than later.
 
#461 ·
Yup on the climbing and hill bombing.
I park at that place they have Farmer's Market on Saturday in Waimea, right where you exit Mana to the highway. Climb up 12 miles early in the morning, and bomb it down. You can go as far as you want, then turn around. I love getting above the cloud line early in the morning.
 
#462 ·
I really enjoyed climbing those hills. Crazy as that sounds, but I knew that there was a sweet downhill waiting for me on the other side. =) A lot of it did remind me of Waterfall Hill, which is why I'm glad I ride that trail a lot. I think it really helped me on this ride. I seriously want to go back soon too.
 
#467 ·
Maz broken frame

That's a hard way to get a new frame. You're getting quite an MTB education in just a few months. Specialized should pay you to test out their stuff. I only have had a specialized road bike, my only road bike, and it's held up OK.
I never saw specialized MTB until I got here. I don't remember anyone in Texas with one. It was always Trek, Kona, Cannondale, Rocky Mountain, Santa Cruz, etc.. Cannondale seemed to break more though. I think mostly because they were always trying to do new things. Looks like Specialized may be going the same route.
That is a pretty rediculous break location. Must have been bad from the factory.
Ah, well, new is always nice even if it's warranty new.
I rode a Trek Y 5.0 for two years before it broke and I got a nice warranty nude carbon replacement. The nice thing was they had improved the carbon layup and the rear triangle in the mean time, so it was actually an upgrade.:D
 
#468 ·
I swear in just 3 months I would have never guessed I would be this deep into mountain biking. I've been fortunate enough to ride 3-4 times a week. I still have a long ways to go though. I gotta go clipless if I want to keep advancing and improving. I think I just gotta do it.
 
#471 ·
Bruddah, you've come a long way and I've been enjoying being part of the journey. You're enduring all of the same things I went through which I learned over many years. I haven't stopped learning but I guess for the most part, the curve isn't as steep these days.
 
#469 ·
The scary thing about YOU going clipless is that you already can crank up hills well on flats. With clipless you are going to be twice as efficient with the ability to pull on your pedal as well as push (theoretically you want an ideal even rotational pressure circular motion when pedaling, but in reality we all mash). This will enable you to use a bigger gear and cover more ground per rotation.
On technical stuff, upside is the ability to pull up your bike on the stroke over obstacles instead of stalling and trying to reposition for max push onthe pedal.
Downside, Welcome to Timberland! LOL! Part of learning curve on getting your reflex memory in unclipping fast enough not to fall. But we ALL had to go through it, and everybody has funny stories of being clipped in and falling at the wrong moments. LOL! I have tons.
 
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