Biking in Hawaii | Biking on the Big Island | Biking in Kauai | Biking in Maui | Biking in Oahu
The Maui Country Bicycle Map, available at Maui’s bike stores will help you plan rides that are scenic, safe, and — depending on your level of expertise — relaxed, hardy, or butt-kicking. The map has an easy-to-use color code indicating the suitability of highways and roads for bikes, describes the trade-wind patterns, and marks out terrain features, road hazards and areas where traffic may get tricky.
The map also has an excellent list of safety tips, foremost of which is to keep in mind there are people from all over the world here — left-side-of-the-road drivers, right-side-of-the-road drivers, and some New Yorkers and Los Angelinos, who are somewhere in between. Always signal turns, wear light-colored clothes to be visible — along with a helmet and gloves — stay in the bike lane, and go with the flow of traffic.
Make sure to take water, and if possible a spare inner tube and tire-repair tools. Stores like South Maui Bikes put sealant in their tubes in case of flats. If you have your own bike, you might want to do that as well.
Be aware of the trade winds. Morning winds are light, but afternoon gusts can reach 20 mph, and on Maui’s northern and eastern shores they can make your ride a lot harder. Get advice from local bike stores on the best way to do certain rides. For example, on the Wailuku-to-Wailuku loop, West Maui Cycles and South Maui Bicycles advise cyclists to go clockwise around the island to tackle the headwinds early, then head downhill to get the tailwind on the way back to Wailuku. They also advise riding with caution due to debris, passing pineapple trucks, and motorists, who don’t honk their horns when approaching blind turns.
Finally, bicycle stores in Maui serve as focal points for bike-related events like the April 22 Jim Stewart Memorial ride (named for a champion Hawaii cyclist) around the northwestern tip of the island, or the Maui Century Ride from Makena to Kailua November 18. There are also regular Sunday-morning rides from Welakahao to Pi’ilani Highway to Lahaina at 7am. Such group rides will further enhance your enjoyment of bike ways on Maui.
If you are looking for bike rentals on Maui, check out the following:
- Extreme Sports Maui (808) 871-7954 (877) 376-6284
- Island Biker (808) 877-7744
- South Maui Bicycles (808) 874-0068
- West Maui Bicycles (808) 661-9005