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.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/j.andrews3@comcast.net/East Maui Loop Cogal/”/]
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View Comments
@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: