Kaloko Climb from Kailua Kona

Posted by Conor Collins           

            A day after riding up Mauna Kea, I planned a ride with a very successful Kona Triathlete. His name is Penn Henderson, and his accomplishments include racing in Three Kona Ironman triathlons, being invited to compete in Japan, and other foreign countries, as well as placing second overall in the “Cycle to the Sky” race up Haleakala.

            The ride began at 6:30 a.m. Hawaiian time, at a local coffee shop. Penn arrived a little early, and was waiting for me, all ready to go. He decided to go about 11 miles out and back on the Queen K highway as a little warm-up for Kaloko Climb. The climb is about 11 miles long starting directly off of the highway. After our warm-up, and a left turn onto “Hina-Lani Drive” the climb began. Starting off quickly with a 10+% grade, our heart rates skyrocketed. We continued on Hina-Lani road for about 4 miles. Climbing constantly at 10%, this “little” section of road was challenging. Once we reached the stoplight at the end of Hina-Lani, there was a recovery section of road at about 5% for a half a mile. During that time I asked Penn how the section of Hina-Lani compares to the 6 miles remaining on Kaloko road. He replied, “A nice warm-up.”

            With a sharp right turn onto Kaloko road, the final 6 miles of the climb had begun. Once again, around 10-12%, the road shot to the sky. As both of us were pushing each other, the pain was incredible. I probably shouldn’t have told him I was 15… because at the start of the ride we made a deal to keep our heart rates “Low” during the climb. HA! Not quite. Unsure of how long I could hold this pace, I fell back, and let Penn climb off. All alone, I was able to “enjoy” the ride, while at the same time pushing myself to catch Penn.

            As the climb persisted, so did the average grade. The exceptionally wide switchbacks added an additional challenge. As always, the grade increases dramatically while traversing a switchback. This time was special, since the stretch of road in between each switchback was already averaging 8%; the switchbacks averaged around 17%. The second to last turn before the top was the most difficult stretch of road I have ever faced, as the road began to turn, I kept an eye on my Garmin, especially the percent grade. 15%...17%...20%...22%...25%... it climbed higher than I have ever seen it, I really couldn’t believe my eyes. I was going about 3.5 MPH, and could barely keep the front wheel of my bike on the ground. Finally after what seemed like 10 minutes, the road “leveled” out at a nice 8% grade.

Shortly after, the road came to an end. But, Penn was not there. I remember looking at Strava, and seeing a segment continue up for about 0.8 more miles before officially ending. I figured I would turn up the smaller paved road at the end. Sure enough, there was Penn, zigzagging across the road (once again around 17%). I saw him look over his shoulder, and quickly get back to business as he saw I was catching him. Luckily, for him, the road ended. I still had about 0.4 miles of climbing left, which went faster than I would have thought. Once at the top, the view was remarkable looking out over the Pacific Ocean, and Kailua Kona.

Tire completely ripped off the rim

 After a quick bite to eat, we began our descent. Descending on a  -10% slope is not fun, and I was constantly on my brakes. Going about 35 MPH out of the first turn I was convinced I could stay with Penn throughout the entire decent. Until… Bang! Something like a gunshot rang out from my bike. I quickly realized my rear tire had blown out, and another challenge had arisen, coming to a complete stop without crashing. For what seemed like eternity, but was only 12 seconds, I slowed my bike from 35 MPH to 2 MPH before unclipping, and hopping off to inspect the destroyed tire. Penn, did not hear, nor see that I had stopped, and continued to descend. After calling for help to my parents, I had to find a way to get to the base of Kaloko Road. Thankfully, a local lady in her pickup truck started down the road. I flagged her down, and got a “comfortable” ride to the bottom where Penn was patiently waiting. After showing him the rear tire and wheel, we were both thankful for each other’s well being.

My parents arrived, and we drove directly to the bike shop to have professionals inspect the rim, and put a new tire on. Thankfully once again, the expensive wheel was okay, and once again I was ready to rock.