Maui Bicycle Alliance
Keeping Maui on the right path

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Aloha and Mahalo for visiting the home of the Maui Bicycle Club and Maui Mountain Bike Club.
Our intent is to provide the most complete resource possible for all things bicycle related to the community of Maui.
There is a lot going on and if we are missing something, or you would like to  receive email updates, let us know.

Tenth Annual 2006 Maui Century Ride
Sunday November 19
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Na Ala Hele
Volunteer Trail Crew
 
The Volunteer Trail Crew has regularly scheduled work days Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays, departing from the DLNR Baseyard in Kahului at 7:30 a.m.
 
Forest Starr has created a great Kahakapau trail update page online for this new area. To see some of the sections we have done to date, check it out here.


CYCLISTS: WHAT TO DO IN A TRAFFIC CRASH

"A League member who is an attorney in North Carolina urges cyclists: All bike-car collisions should be reported to police officers immediately for safety as well as insurance reasons, even if you don’t think you are hurt. If you're involved in a hit-and-run crash while riding your bike, be sure to file a police report that same day. Your own auto insurance may cover you. If you delay and injuries crop up at a later date, you risk losing the benefits you've paid for under your own auto policy.

Recently, a North Carolina cyclist was struck and brushed off the road by a passing motorist. Initially, he thought he'd merely sprained his wrist and did not call the police. Five days later, however, when his pain worsened, he discovered he'd fractured his arm. He asked his own auto insurer to pay for "uninsured motorist" benefits, which cover your personal injuries when another at-fault motorist is uninsured or when a hit-and-run motorist cannot be located. The cyclist's insurer denied the claim and the North Carolina Court of Appeals agreed, because the state's controlling statute says you must file a police report within 24 hours of the accident. For more information on the case, see ."



Please report debris on the roadways, mention that it appears to be an unsafe condition or road hazard, and let them know the highway number and the approximate mileage marker.
North Shore Greenway Phase II



Squeaky wheels get greased; Maui bicyclists need to organize
Viewpoint by Frank Hackett

The Maui bicycling community has been organized in various ways over the last 15 years. The Maui Bicycle Club, Bikeways Maui, and the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee have all contributed toward improving bicycling conditions on Maui. Recent events suggest that our cycling community needs to once again get together, organize and re-energize our efforts to make Maui a safe place to cycle and ultimately become a premier cycling destination.

A recent survey of Hawaii residents showed that a large percentage want to be able to ride for fun, exercise and transportation but they won't do it because they do not feel safe riding on Hawaii's roads. The only way the average resident will feel safe, the survey respondents said, is if we build independent paths that are separate from the roadways.

This is not good news for Maui cyclists. We have a number of initiatives to provide these paths,  but for one reason or another they all are stalled. The Kihei Greenway has been ready to go for four years but has been trapped in the county building. The Northshore Greenway - between Kahului and Paia - is partially built but its completion has been blocked. The Outdoor Circle has declared itself the biking authority for the Baldwin bikeway improvements. The Upcountry Trails Master Plan also appears to be lost in the county building.

Adding insult to injury, the state is about to remove the large bike lanes on the Piilani Highway above Kihei, turning them into extra travel lanes for cars and trucks. The existing lanes will be replaced by narrow, substandard and ultimately dangerous shoulders.

If the goal is to improve cycling conditions on Maui, then we are clearly going backward. Meanwhile, the state Department of Health has initiated a campaign to inform us that we are fat and out of shape, that we should eat better and exercise. The question is where.

The federal Centers for Disease Control had an answer to that when it put out its own warning in 2000 about the sedentary American lifestyle. The CDC said we must give people, and especially our children, a safe means to use their bodies - without motors - to travel around their communities.

This is no-brainer stuff. The more we use our bodies for easy-to-do, everyday functions like going to the store, school or the park, the better shape we will be in.
The CDC advised local governments like Maui County to start building more sidewalks, trails and paths to allow their citizens to leave their cars at home.

The experience over recent years suggests that won't happen unless Maui's cycling community organizes and advocates its goals in the halls of government. Maui's special interests and government apparently don't know we exist, nor care what our needs are. If we do not organize, we will be left behind.

The good news is that we truly live in a democracy. The more determined we are, the better organized we are, and the larger our association becomes, the more succesful we will be.

Frank Hackett is the president of the Maui Bicycle Club and owner of South Maui Bicycles in Kihei.

The promoter's of tourism present their perspective in this ad that appeared in a recent issue of Sunset magazine.