Winter Training in Maui: A Slice of Paradise on a Budget

By Josh Liberles

Although more pros are learning the secret, Maui, Hawaii, remains an under-discovered gem as a cycling training ground. The rides are spectacular, challenging and shockingly diverse. You might think that training camps are only for sponsored riders or the wealthy, but a winter trip to paradise will jump-start your offseason preparation — and it can be surprisingly affordable.

Although I’m on a tight budget these days, I couldn’t ignore the most recent, rock-bottom airfare options: less than $300 roundtrip from the Northwest. After adding that to my growing hankering for warmth and to reconnect with the sun, I hastily threw together a DIY training camp in Maui.

I’d been to Maui to train and escape winter once before, several years ago. Based on that experience, I knew that I could do the trip on the cheap. I planned a nine-day journey, determined to ride my face off while there. If you can find a travel mate willing to share a room — which shouldn’t be too hard, given the destination — you could put together a similar journey for around $1,000, depending on your point of origin and the creature comforts you require. The food portion of that can be on par with your at-home budget.

Winter Rejuvenation
When I was in my late teens, a longtime friend of mine had just come back from adventures in Hawaii and used a term that likely sent me scurrying for a dictionary, but perfectly captures the islands: fecund. This place is hyper-alive. It’s an interesting blend of native and invasive plants, animals and–some would say–people. During a ride, I saw a sapling growing out of the top of a telephone pole, presumably the result of an errant bird dropping. On the island’s northeast side, wild-growing coffee abuts rainbow eucalyptus trees and bamboo in the rain forest, while cacti bask on the leeward side of the volcano. Mongooses, feral cats, hundreds of wild chickens whose ancestors must have flown the coop, boars and chameleons and a variety of other lizards prosper.

Fresh fruit stands, which dot the island, are the perfect, inexpensive supplement to your in- or post-ride nutrition. Enormous avocados — as big as four pounds each, a family’s guacamole supply — are easy to come by, as are fresh mangoes, “apple bananas” that will make you realize how this fruit should always taste, coconuts and freshly-baked banana bread, whose main ingredient was on the tree scant hours ago. Maybe one day you’ll skip the Gatorade and mimic superstar surfer Laird Hamilton’s preferred on-the-bike beverage: crack and drain a coconut or two for your tropical electrolyte fix.

In the water, a couple of thousand humpback whales come join the abundance of turtles, sharks and dolphins for the winter. Take a listen while snorkeling and you’re likely to hear whale songs; keep your eyes peeled during coastal rides for some up-close viewings of their antics.

When was the last time your bare legs and arms felt the sun’s warmth on a ride? Such an escape can be a rejuvenating investment in your fitness and mental health. It can make a tough winter bearable, as something to look forward to on early winter gray days and as a boost of energy to keep you going until spring. Maui is a cyclist’s Prozac, with a side of endorphins and vitamin D.

The Rides

The great year-round weather may top the list of reasons to ride in Maui, but the quality of the terrain and the gorgeous views in every direction are constant inspirations to keep pedaling — you’ll have to make an effort to stop at the end of each day. Most of the good routes are tough, too. To get the most out of your trip, train before you get there; use it as the motivating sunlight at the end of your tunnel. My trip, for example, was an overload block at the end of a long build training period, with my goal to ride as many quality hours as my body could handle.

FILED UNDER: No Spoil / Road TAGS: Hawaii / Maui