If you are looking for an amazing Hawaiian adventure feast your eyes on Maui’s Haleakala volcano and the thousands of bicycles that stand at its summit. Then, image yourself hopping on board one of them and taking off on the 10,000-foot-winding road, which leads to the base of the mountain. It’s a thrill ride that captures the fancy of thousands of visitors to the Valley Isle, but the chance to feel the tropical wind flow through your hair on two wheels may now be in jeopardy.
Recent biking accidents and deaths on the road that leads down Haleakala could lead to stricter safety rules, which could severely cut down on the number of opportunities to take the ride. According to news reports, state officials are considering whether they should “restrict the number of biking tours, the number of bikes in each group, the spacing of the bikes and perhaps the total number of tours themselves.”
I grew up in Hawaii and have seen first hand how popular these bike tours are. (More than 80,000 visitors completed the ride in 2005.) Tourists (and some locals) jockey for the chance to ride from 10,000 feet to sea level. Basically, you rent a bike, have it hauled to the top of the mountain by the tour operator and coast down the paved, two-lane highway. Most people opt for the sunrise tour where you can watch the sun slowly creep above the clouds while sitting at the peak of the legendary volcano. Then you ride down the road and have breakfast on the beach.
Sounds like the perfect way to start the day doesn’t it? Unfortunately, the ride wasn’t as kind to some. According to park officials, within the past seven months, a man died of a heart attack after hitting his head during a downhill ride, a woman died after riding off the edge of the road, a bicycle tour leader severely injured his leg and hip when he failed to negotiate a turn and careened into lava rock, and a 13-year-old boy also failed to make a turn and cut up his knee and side.
Officials at Haleakala National Park say they are currently evaluating what commercial services are appropriate and whether they compromise public health and safety. In addition, county leaders say they are looking at requiring the industry to maintain spacing between tours, setting a minimum age limit to address safety concerns and capping the total number of groups allowed.
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