We previously eluded to the enormity of the challenge that Darrell was taking on, but now we finally have his story of an epic day that took Darrell to some dark places and beyond as he tackled the cold, extreme heat, gradients of over 20%, impenetrable gravel as well as the effects of altitude.

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Take a deep breath, saddle up and settle in with Darrell as he recalls in his own words, a not so relaxing holiday in Hawaii.

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Now that's a climb

 

Words and story by Darrell Girdler

 

Equipment: Specialised Diverge 105 groupset

Gearing: 50/34 11/32 gearing

Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes

Tires: 32mm wide slicks

 

Total Elevation (vertical climbing) 4,186 metres

Distance from sea level: 68.6km (this doesn’t include riding down to the start point from the visitors centre

Average gradient 6 % (over 68.6km)

Maximum Gradient 22%

Total time taken: 8.15:15

 Average speed: 8.3km

 Date: 28/07/16

 

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While in Maui on a previous holiday I ended up driving up the incredibly long and steep volcano Haleakala. Once I reached the summit I started to wonder if there was possibly a harder climb than that.

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And low and behold, there it was on The Big island. It may have been the altitude and rarefied air making me dizzy and not thinking straight, but it was there and then I set myself the challenge of riding to the top of Mauna Kea.  65 km ride from the coast to the summit and 4200 meters of vertical climbing. How hard could it be, right?

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So after a brain fade where I committed to doing it, months of research, preparation, training and painful solo rides through the Waitaks (it’s hard to find good riding mates on these training rides when you commit to something like this) , I ended up back in Hawaii to tackle the beast that is Mauna Kea. 

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I hired a bike locally and as it was going to a be an unsupported ride, I decided my best option was to drive up to and leave the hire car at the visitors centre at the 55km mark at an altitude of 2800 metres. 

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From there the plan was that I would ride back down all the way into Hilo on the coast and start the climb proper from there. That’s where the Strava segment starts from and we all know if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen.

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I woke early around 0430 on the Friday and after some final last minute prep I drove to my starting point which took about an hour. 

As daylight gradually broke the weather looked great but when I arrived at the visitor centre it was very chilly. 

 

It was 50 odd km back down the mountain to the start point so I knew it would be a cold ride.  Being one who feels the cold at the best of times, I decided the smart thing to do would be to leave the thermal undershirt and arm warmers on.  I filled my pockets with food/gels and set off.

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Wow! what a ride down - super fast, but bloody cold.  In the back of my mind the whole time I was thinking to myself, this descending is all very well and good, but I’m going to have to ride all the way back up this thing. 

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From the Mauna Kea access road, it’s a left onto saddle road the main highway into Hilo.  The road is super smooth and fast.  It was there I reached my top speed of 91.1km and this wasn't even trying. Thankfully as you continue down the temp starts to get warmer and the body started to thaw out. 

 

On arriving in Hilo, I found my starting point for the segment of Strava. 

 

So, here we go.

 

I felt good and had a bottle before setting off, as there is nowhere between Hilo and the visitors centre to refill. 

 

The climb out is a steady 5% and after just a short time I was already heating up.  Before long I had to pull over and remove my arm warmers and thermal undershirt.  My pockets were bursting at the seams and with so much in them I felt like a pack horse. Where’s the team car when you really need it?

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As you ride along on saddle road, (the main connection between the eastern and western side of the island) you can see the might of Mauna Kea looming on your right hand side. But from this distance, it still looks a long, long way off. 

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It is still early morning but already the temp is hot, easily in the high 20's.  I was sweating buckets and as I reached the turn off onto Mauna Kea access road I was surprised to see that I was already down to my last bottle. It didn’t take too long to realise that it wasn't going to be enough to last me until I got to the car.  

 

A couple of cars were parked at the entrance road to Mauna Loa the other mountain on the island so I pulled over opposite the access road.  Thankfully it was here that a young couple were able to refill my bottles as they had spare water.  It was a relief and I felt better knowing that I now had plenty of water, but also knew that I would be carrying more weight up the hill.

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Up until now the gradient has been fairly steady and effectively, had been climbing all of the way to this point. That wasn’t about to change.

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It is here that the climbing starts to get a lot more serious.  I had planned, trained and prepared for this and I knew this ride would test me, but only now was I really beginning realise the enormity of this challenge and discover just how hard it was going to be. 

 

Already at over 2500 metres altitude, (and yes the air is thinner up there) I was already in my lowest gear. I was having to constantly focus while continuing to push extremely hard. It is this last 1.6 km before the visitor centre that is one of the hardest sections at an average of 13% and in some places it even peaks well over 20%.

 

So being on the limit it was of course inevitable that this was when the cramp hit and hit bad. Both my quads cramped and even after using the cramp spray I had with me, I had no alternative but to stop and walk for a bit before trying to ride again.  I had no option but to keep going as the car was just ahead, but it felt oh so far ahead. 

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I was so incredibly relieved to finally get there; I was completely knackered.  The heat and all the extra weight had really taken it out of me, but at least I had made it this far.

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To be totally honest, it was here at the visitor centre that I nearly gave up going any further. Hell, I had already reached 2800 metres, (that’s well over 2000 metres higher than my previous best climb) surely that was enough. If not for some well-timed messages from friends’ back home, I may have just bailed right there and then. 

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With the encouragement from friends processed, I decided to press on which meant changing over my pedals and shoes to the mountain bike ones as there was a good chance I’d possibly be walking (albeit briefly) on some of the sections further up.

A few visitors came and spoke to me about where I was from and what I was doing.  I told them the aim had always been to reach the top.

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After probably 1/2 hour, I was back on the road again, but unfortunately that didn't last long as just around the corner is a 7km section of gravel.  Now this is not your usual gravel that we are used to back home in NZ, being volcanic the surface is like sand and doesn't pack down. Trying to keep the momentum and getting any sort of traction proved to be extremely difficult.

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It wasn’t long before I was off the bike and walking.  I just couldn't get traction and my legs were exhausted.  Even walking wasn’t easy as the front wheel of the bike was constantly sliding out as you push on up the steep gradients.  It was tiring having to constantly pull the front of the bike back on track.  A couple of times I managed to get back  on and turn the pedals, but riding those steep grades and into the corners eventually proved impossible for me. 

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I honestly don’t know how other riders have done it.  The gravel was hell.  There are mile markers beside the road which helped me calculate just how much of the ride I still had to go. But despite having just one mile to go, with the sheer exhaustion and mental fatigue, I was so close to giving up. Your body is completely exhausted, but you have to keep telling yourself to just keep moving. 

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I was so relieved to finally get off the gravel and onto tarmac again.  The summit is about 5.8km further up but due me riding the extra kms (down the hill to the start), I was never entirely sure exactly how far I still had to go. Not ever being able to see the very top, was taking its toll on my mental will power.

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It was so steep, I was having to weave back and forth across the road to make any headway up.  I don’t remember how many times I had no alternative but to get off and walk, but it was quite a few.

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Eventually I came across a few parking areas and I vaguely recognised some of the people I had spoken to earlier.  They had driven to the top and were now making their way back down.  They were amazed that I had made it this far and said it’s only a mile to the top from here. 

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You would think that knowing you only have approx. 1.6km to go would make it easy, but I came so incredibly close to packing it in right there and then.  Both physically and mentally, I was absolutely exhausted.  A combination of the high altitude and probably not eating enough, wasn't helping either.

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This is where you learn just how far you can push yourself.  I'm not sure if I will (or ever want to) experience that again, but something in your head says if you just keep turning the pedals and putting one foot in front of the other, you can do this.

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So I finally managed to get through this section and could see the domes of the Gemini observatory at the summit ahead.  From somewhere dark and deep down I got my second (or was it seventh) wind and began to realize that I might actually just make it. 

I can’t begin to describe the relief on finally reaching the top. The agony was finally over. At 4200 metres there was no more climbing to do.

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A lot of my friends and family knew I was going to attempt this climb and I didn't want to let them down. This is why as I breached the summit, I was immediately overcome with relief and a huge sense of accomplishment.

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Even as I’m writing this, the emotions of that day are flooding back to me.  I will fully admit that a few tears were shed that day. It took a while to really take in what I had actually achieved.

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Only after I had caught my breath did I realise just how chilly it was at the summit, but regardless it was a fantastic day, the view was fantastic, you could clearly see Mona Lo and outer islands in the distance. Everything was fantastic.

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As it turned out I couldn't really stay long at the top because I knew I still had to get back down to the car. Oh well, at least it was downhill.

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I was so looking forward to a high speed descent on the tarmac section, but soon realised the large cracks in the road surface at speed wasn't such good idea at this stage of the day.  

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And then there was the having to descend on the gravel which was even worse going down. Just managing to stay upright was hard enough and any sort of speed was impossible. I pretty much had one or both brakes on for nearly an hour. How cruel.

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But once this final challenge was complete, it was an oh so welcome site to finally arrive back to sanctuary of the car.

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All that was left now was for a slow, comfortable and steady descent in the car, to get lost in my own thoughts and reflect on how I had just ascended the hardest climb on a bike, in the world.

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Who’s next to try??