Other than Daino, who I’ve already pinged offline, I’m wondering if anyone here has any direct experience with muni trail riding on Oahu.
I went here: http://content.mtbr.com/pscTrails/United,States,Trails/Hawaii/PLS_4543crx.aspx
to get some basic info on trails, and it looks like there are a few options to choose from. Any direct experience would be great. Otherwise, I’ll figure something out and let folks know how the rides go.
TB
Other then me, I only know of two other riders on this forum from here. One is TheBadger587 and the other is racingnismo. Badger posts once in a while, but racingnismo hasn’t been on in a while.
Personally, I don’t know of very many places to ride here :(. I just got a MUni, and I’m just looking for some time to start riding it.
From what I understand, you are going to be staying in Kapolei. That area is very flat, but the mountains above might offer some nice MUni. I would look into an area called Makakilo. Another place you might look into is the air force satellite tracking station. The station is on top of mount Kaala. If you are looking in a mountain biking book, look up peacock flats. Normally, you would access it from the North side of the island, but you can drive up from the south. If you do go from the south, you need special permission from the air force. I forget how that is obtained.
Another good ride is Kaena Point. This is the western most end of the island. The trail/dirt road is a few miles long and mostly flat. I’ve never unied it, but I have biked it. This time of year, there is a good chance of spotting some whales too.
Daniel
Carl Hoyer rode trails on Oahu in November 2001. I was there with family and friends, but did not bring a unicycle. Carl hooked up with a guy from a bike shop in the Honolulu area, I think, and may have written about his experiences here. Try a search.
To find more trails, keep researching the mountain bike stuff. Find the most gnarly singletrack trails, and talk to mountain bikers if possible, because there are a lot more of them to get opinions from. Maybe you can reach some other Oahu riders on a mountain biking forum, or by contacting bike shops there.
I know one of the places Carl rode was in hills surrounding Honolulu. Makiki Heights or very close to there. That’s all I know, other than be prepared to sweat a lot more than in Moab!
We were recently on Maui and did an ATV tour on Mt. Haleakala. If I could, I’d take my MUni on that trail. I’m sure it would be a blast, and weather permitting, has real nice views.
That’s great! I know the guy he’s talking about. In fact, the MUni I just got was his. He quite Uniing because a chronic knee problem. After he sold it to me, he said that I was the right person for it cause he knew that I would ride it like it should be riden.
I think I know the trail he spoke of. I did it once on my 24 torker LX. It was very fun, but real short. It was a pain cause it’s too steep (for me) to ride up. My friend left his motorcycle at the base of the hill, I picked him up and drove to the top. We both rode down, me on my uni and him on my bike. At the bottom, he picked up his motorcycle and rode up to get my car. Once I had my car, I had to drive up to get his bike. All in all, it was a pain, but very fun. The alternative is to take the bus. That’s what I’m going to do next time.
Daniel
when i was there several years ago, i talked to bikeshop people near the northshore of oahu. that’s where some of the hard-core trails are, although i didn’t get a chance to ride them.
one important note - rental cars are frequently broken into on the northshore of oahu when you are parking in a relatively quiet spot (like at some trail heads). i know this from experience and had to buy auto glass and replace it. be careful. it is sometimes better to take everything with you and leave the doors unlocked.
-eric
It is a good idea to take all you valuables with you, but I wouldn’t recommend leaving the doors unlocked.
Daniel
I rode on O’ahu in 2001 with a fellow named Layne. There are a lot of great trails around Wikiki. Here are some pictures from my trip …
I picked up a Mountain Biking Guide to O’ahu from a local bike shop which turned out to be an invaluable resource. Unfortunately, I don’t have it handy and can’t give you the exact title or the exact names of the trails I did.
The trails I did most were around Makiki Heights and are featured in the pictures above. They were a ton of fun and there is a bus that takes you from bottom to top, as daino mentioned. On weekends I hooked up with a bunch of downhill mountain bikers and got rides up in a pickup truck.
There are a number of tough technical trails towards Diamond Head. If I find the trail guide book I’ll post the names of the trails.
I never went up to the North Shore, but I heard bikers saying that there were a number of good trails in that area.
We also did an urban trials ride at the University of Hawaii which, like most universities, has amazing stuff for trials.
Hawaii was an amazing place to ride. It’s one of the places I really want to ride again and explore the other islands. I would really love to come out to a MUni weekend in Hawaii as some people have brought up.
Have fun Tom and everyone in Hawaii,
Carl
It’s possible that i will be riding the Wa’ahila ridge trail this weekend. it’s all downhill and a bus can take you from the bottom to the top, like a ski lift. Layne at the bike shop has some real experience with MUniing, so you might want to drop by. he’s a good guy.
From all the different things I’ve read, I think I’m pretty much set on trying the place with the bus ride back to the top. After all, I’m on vacation.
Two questions: which bike shop, and where? Will weekend be better for riding that location (i.e. more frequent bus)? I’m there through Wednesday, so could ride weekday as well.
Thanks to all for the great info.
TB
It’s the Bike Shop Honolulu (they have several locations).
Here is their address:
1149 S. King St.
Honolulu HI 96814
And here’s their phone number:
(808) 596-0588
It’s not all that far from the Wa’ahila Trail. Actually, I don’t think that is the correct name for the trail. The Wa’ahila goes up, you will be riding a connecting trail down the mountain.
The busses run more frequently during the weekdays. depending on what day you go, I might be at the University of Hawaii. It’s very close to the trail, so don’t forget to tell me if you go!
Daniel
Thanks for the bike shop info. A weekday ride it will be…not only does the bus schedule sound better for multiple “runs”, but that will give me a couple days of solid weekend family vacation time before I try to go sneaking off to ride unicycle. If you’re at Univ either Monday or Tuesday, let me know or PM me. I may be able to lock down on that day. It would be great to ride together.
T
Hey Daniel, not sure if you’ve seen my PM. I’m planning on riding that trail this afternoon. It would be great if we could hook up.
Check your PM for my cell phone number.
TB