Cogal Report: East Maui Loop 2013
I didn’t want to climb the Eiger, I wanted to have climbed the Eiger.
– Jon Krakauer, Eiger Dreams
Gianni’s Take
This Cogal seemed like a good idea to Frank. Right up until he understood we had to be riding at 5:25am to meet up for espresso or muffins, or dense fuel omelette loaded with cheese and sausage (Peter only). This ride had been weighing heavily on my psyche for a long time and I needed to get it underway. I needed to have done the East Maui Loop. Long distances and climbing are two of the many weak points of my cycling. This was by no means the Too Much on 100 slog; the East Maui Loop was 50% the distance and 80% of the climbing.
Frank proclaimed he was going to do this cogal without fuel. Frank is other worldly. He is from Mars and I, evidently, am from some outer orbiting pussy planet. I had stuffed one of my rear pockets with Clif products. Hell yes, bonking is dumb and I didn’t need to add that to my list worries. Why would one propose such Rule #91 folly? To meet the Man with the Hammer, a confirmed date with him, to really get it square in the forehead? No, Mr. Body Dismorphia wants to lose weight. With tongue cleanly bitten off I mimed that it was a fine idea.
After a zero dark thirty start we met the other riders, most of whom had no idea what a Cogal was. They were just up for a day of riding through the many climates and geographies of the East Maui Loop, followed by pizza and beer gorging. Frank and I were the only East Loop virgins on this ride. @mauibike was our guide but with one road and no turns, he didn’t have to worry about us getting lost.
Everyone returned to their starting points. Frank suffered a non-fixable flat with five miles to go and had to call in the support truck. He will have to come back to finish this one. It was a hell of a ride. I’m glad to have done it. Everyone else treated it like an easy roll around session. Rob even added some climbing after dragging me along.
The beer and pizza made us whole again.
Frank’s Take
At a cozy 160km with and a few thousand meters of climbing, this ride has been given something of mythical status by Gianni ever since our first trip out to Maui a few years ago. Poor tarmac, dirt roads, loads of climbing, and heat all add their unique elements to Maui’s already unique climate.
Being a small island just big enough to have distinct climates in different areas, there is a tropical rainforest on the north and northeast sides of the island, desert in the south, and normal in the isthmus that runs between East and West Maui. That makes this ride the only ride I’ve ever been on that takes you through all these weather zones in one day. I’d experienced part of this when riding the Kaupo ride with my friend Dave Ezzy on our last trip, and I was thrilled at the chance to ride the whole thing.
Bad roads and peer pressure meant a last-minute change to clinchers, as the wheels I had brought were my Café Roubaix climbing wheels and it was (repeatedly) postulated that I might destroy them when introducing fat ass, carbon, and potholes. I scrambled to get tires and valve extenders sorted out and claimed the VMH’s Zipp 404s for the ride. This turned out to be a bad idea as the extender I bought sucked, and the inner tubes I repurposed from her wheels were old and cracked and destined to fail just prior to us completing the ride. You’ve never been doing this so long that you can’t learn a basic lesson: never change your equipment the night before an important ride.
I had a rough night; I stayed up late writing, and staying up late writing customarily requires ample portions of wine. When I finally got to sleep, it was soon interrupted by phone calls from work when the servers chose to fail. I was awake just long enough to realize how hung over I was going to feel in the morning and how few hours were left before the alarm would go off.
Hangover, no food, and coffee seemed like an excellent way to meet the Man with the Hammer, and though I brought a Clif bar and a few shots by way of escape chute should I need it, I was determined to run the tank empty. This endeavor was aided somewhat by losing a bidon on the Maui Pavé.
This is dragging on, so I’ll stop after making a few final points. First, this is an amazing ride and despite the pouring rain, was one of the most beautiful I’ve done – full stop. Second, riding from desert into rain forest is one of the coolest things you’ll ever do. Third – and this is mostly just for the islanders – that tarmac on the back end of the island is rough, but it is nothing like the Pavé of Northern France and Belgium.
[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/58327050[/vimeo]
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/j.andrews3@comcast.net/East Maui Loop Cogal/”/]
@Winnipeg CycleChick
You are right, pondering is for pussies. Glad you enjoyed the video. In the end those goofy movies are more fun than a photo album but usually the best scenery is not shot riding with one hand on the bars. And maybe I should not curse so damn much on these videos? I have an outdated “Flip” video camera that easily whips in and out of a rear pocket so it’s good for riding and shooting and if it fell in a giant puddle, it would not be a huge loss.
@PeakInTwoYears
In late breaking news – famous cycling website run by obsessives for obsessives causes man in Scotland to buy a copy of a satirical book about mountaineering written before he was born – the power of the interweb
@the Engine
‘kin heck, I could have lent you my copy ! However, Imustreccomend One Man’s Mountains by the late great Tom Patey for maximum climbing entertainment, all of it true as well. I shall LEND you my copy soon.
Hey, lets quit hijacking the east maui loop cogal report with scottish climbing dits eh ?
@strathlubnaig
Agreed ready Tom Patey’s stuff thirty years back and will now read again.
Back to cycling – got the Giordana back today – cycling porn although slight steerectile dysfunction caused by making my stem fit where the quill previously went – picture tomorrow if it stops raining.
The word “dits” reminds me Sailor Andrew must be home shortly
@the Engine
Dark Summit by Nick Heil – Worth reading twice!
Back on topic, I am now ceasing all mountaineering references, you a right, although it is off season this is overshadowing the keepers write up!
I’ll throw one more read out there, and I’m covered since it’s about cycling AND mountaineering: Kropp, Göran; David Lagercrantz (1997). Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey. – Not the greatest tome in either cycling or climbing, it’s a good adventure of a dude trying to go unsupported. The best bits are him cycling thru the Middle East.
That’s pretty funny. I have been listening to Eiger Dreams (audio book) on training rides the last two days. A break from silence and/or music/podcasts.
On long solo rides to do mountain climbs, I often spool up a Krakauer audiobook (I’ve got them all). I don’t do much climbing or anything (the non-bike kind) but the tales of adventure, even his book on Pat Tillman (don’t watch sports other than cycling) connect somehow with the sense of adventure cycling brings.
Maybe.
I love the idea of riding through a whole bunch of vegetation / climatic zones in one day, be like a geography lesson in the saddle. I would worry about stopping too many times to take foties though !
@Gianni @ Frank and @Winnipeg and all others. Well done cogal, the media footage told the story. After the first few post i needed to go back and re-read it, just to make sure i did not miss anything. All of sudden it turned into a climbing post WTF i said to myself. Then it quickly hit me passion is what drives us and makes us who we are. Which also makes this site what it is. Keep it coming !
@Russ M
That is EXACTLY what I was just thinking
@Russ M
I’d postulate that it’s OK to talk mountaineering (especially this time of year, what with only the TDU and whatnot to chat about) on this site. Both sports involve huge helpings of The V and VV and how much suffering you can take physically/ mentally. Really, they’re mirror images of each other. Examples:
3 Point System? Check.
Casually Deliberate? Check.
I could wax poetic for hours about this, but this is THE cycling site, so carry on………..
@scaler911 You’re not actually Ed Viesturs in disguise are you?
@Buck Rogers
ironically Hornbein was emeritus when I was training. He did for us a slide presentation on his route/experience. It was surreal. Of course later it was faculty who brought up the famous (paraphrased) quote from the Unsoeld book “he’d walk over you with his crampons on if he thought you would get in the way of his getting to the summit!”
I never got beyond hiking on snowfields, mountaineering eluded me while I devoured some of the literature. Then Alex Lowe died, found it hard to garner enthusiasm to go down that road. I’ll stick to reading about others’ suffring…
Never too much of a climber myself, rock that is. However, living in Boulder Colorado a good number if my cycling friends also enjoyed climbing and running to the higher altitudes. A fave of two friends was….. leave Boulder (5,400′ elevation) at dark thirty, ride 40+ miles to the base of Longs Peak (8,500 > 9,000′ or so?), RUN to the top (14,259′) and back down, and make it back to Boulder in time for beer:30 at the Old Watering Hole (OWH). The trail up is difficult but not THAT difficult. Problems that people typically encounter are weather and heart attacks. If you’re from the lowlands and packing a few extra kilos it’s probably not a good idea.
@scaler911 You are absolutely correct sir. Also those are some stunning photos there, looks like a good time. Oh and thanks a hell of alot you guys for adding more books to my must read list, it was due for some updating. Now i will not be forced to draw out of the VMH’s library and to that i say thanks. Although i did just finish The Pillars of the Earth …. not bad. Now back to cycling.
@Carl N.
I worked in Durango for a few months a few years ago. Flew in from PDX (elevation 9M) at 2200hrs. Was at the job site at 3400M at 0630 the next morning. Headaches and nausea all around. However, returning to PDX after hard physical labor at that altitude, I felt pretty unstoppable.
@the Engine
Just had to circle back to say that this would have been fucking cool.
@Gianni Saw that! Very very glad you’re getting some use out of them. Now, to get you and Frank over here for the big dance in June, that would be a blast.
@Gianni
Yeah, not like you should be thinking about it if you are cycling in the ‘Peg this time of year….
@Gianni Quite the display of guns. Mine are still pasty white, with an ever so faint line from the bib-knicks.
Mountaineering and cycling aren’t really so different. The boys even did it on this Cogal. The definition in Merriam-Webster says:
@scaler911
I saw in a Patagucci catalog a few years ago a definition of “mountaineering” that I thought was pretty accurate: “Walking uphill slowly while not feeling very well.”
But then I’ve mostly been into clipping bolts and smoking cigarettes while belaying, which I guess is the climbing equivalent of riding a fixie in tight pants with my ass-crack showing. Damn…
@ez
I hope I’m misunderstanding & you aren’t freely admitting to violating Rule #62.
@Buck Rogers
I had just brought my climbing wheels over. My plan had actually been to put the Café Roubaix CX wheels on the bike but circumstances prevented that from being practical.
By the way, I have some FMB Paris-Roubaixs which I’ll mount on those wheels and bring them along to Keepers Tour for anyone who wants to test them.
That is, if you can pry them out of my greedy little hands!
@Nate
As far as one road goes, its got it covered: twisting climbs, twisting descents, long straight climbs, long straight descents, Mauian Pavé, endurance gravel riding, cornering, switchbacks, sun, rain, heat, we even had cold at 6am at Grandma’s waiting to start the ride.
@frank
Ahh, as we say in the Army, “I’m tracking!”
What would you suggest as the ideal wheelset for that ride?
@Buck Rogers
Whatever works for you; the road is rough, but not so long that it will destroy a wheelset. In retrospect, I should have ridden my lightweight wheels – I think they’d have been fine, and I could have just gone a little slower.
I actually think a semi-deep carbon tubular would be the ideal wheel for Maui – good in cross winds, good in head winds, good for climbing, and strong on bad roads.
Its cool seeing the community is also excited about mountaineering. I think its a fascinating sport and think there are lots of similarities to Cycling.
In fact, this reminds me of an old article I did on doping and oxygen use in mountaineering. I can’t remember what my position was on it, but its an interesting question, whether I’m right, wrong, or an idiot.
http://www.velominati.com/general/doping-the-acceptability-of-a-method/
Epic ride and pictures.. nice to see the word ‘tarmac’ feature. I regularly stumble at the word tarmac when referring to the blessed black stuff with asphalt, bitumen and pitch in the mix…
@frank
Frank, I agree that the carbone climbing wheels would have made it around and your 8 bar 23mm tyres would have made it too. You may have eaten it in a wet corner on the way back from Hana but really, how bad could that be? So I do need some semi-deep carbon tubular wheels? Perfect Maui wheel. Oh yes please.
surprised to see so much talk of carbon wheels for a cogal; which is, essentially, not much different than a club run. i understand frank wanting to run them for his climb up haleakala, since he was going for a PR up a huge friggin’ volcano and i’m sure they certainly helped. but as an every day wheel for a club/social/training ride? at least within the circles i ride in, that’s a good reason to get laughed off the ride (comments would especially come from the local racers). it’s like saying “i can’t keep up with you guys without these wheels!” or at least that’s how people generally take it.
i mean, i guess i understand wanting to bring your good kit out for a special occasion. and certainly a cogal would fall into this category. but how common is it among velominati to use carbon wheels on an everyday basis?
@chiasticon
Personally I don’t own any carbone wheels, yet, but we could all be heading that way. If carbone wheels get less expensive then they might be good all around wheels. I don’t know, maybe they just seem cool.
In Frank’s case I badgered him into not using them because I was afraid the wheels or the tires might not hold up on the pavé. Having ridden that pavé the wheels would have been fine, the tires, maybe. The point of all this is, his Café Roubaix light weight climbing wheels could actually be pretty nice all around wheels for a lot of rides. Light and strong is hard to argue with.
This is a good subject for an article. It would generate some heated arguing mostly from people like me with no experience with carbon wheels. I should have borrowed Frank’s but changing brake pads seemed lame, my loss.
Ah, yes, Tom Patey. ‘A Short Walk With Whillans’, concerning his Eiger attempt with Don Whillans, is an utter classic. Gripping, yet hilarious. His exchange with the Japanese climbers…
I had the good fortune to knock back a bunch of pints with Joe Simpson, of ‘Touching the Void’ fame, after his Vancouver slide show some years back. I highly recommend his ‘This Game of Ghosts’ book, wherein we discover his tendency to fall down things began much earlier than one might guess.
I’m highly envious of this East Maui loop. The ex was sick of it all after my Haleakala adventure, and we just drove to Hana. I did a few rides on the West side, including a solo jaunt that quickly turned V courtesy of gigantic raindrops propelled stingingly by crazy ass winds. Dodging cattle whilst blinking away sweaty raindrops was proper fun.
@Ron
No, no… not at all. I would… never… do… that… especially not in ten minutes when I step out the door. ;-)