Mana Road: the wrong way 'round
Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 11:44 pm
Here on the Big Island the state highway department has been tearing up a lot of the best twisty roads for motorcycling... bummer! The thread where the Aussie guys go riding off road had inspired me to go looking for a new challenge, and I found it, in the Mana Road. This is a dirt road going around the eastern flank of Mauna Kea, approximately 80 miles. To get to it, first you have to get on the Saddle Road between Hilo and Kona. Here's a shot of the Saddle Road looking roughly northeast up some of the newer pavement on the island, with Mauna Kea to the left: 
The Saddle Road is at about 6500' elevation across most of the flat area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Here is the beginning of the road to the summit of Mauna Kea: 
In the above photo you can see the non-native trees surrounding the old sheep station in the foreground and another dark patch of trees further up the slope. That is where the Mana road starts and crosses into the clouds on the right. Further up the mountain, the road to the summit is visible as a zig zag grey line. 
Note the sign saying "4WD recommended", we'll get back to that. I've ridden this road many years ago in a 4WD, and didn't remember it being all that hard... Well, the road started out easy enough at about 7500', mostly large gravel, easy going through an area of old cinder cones. I passed an old greybeard like me on a dirtbike going in the opposite direction, smiled and waved. 
Not sure how many photos I can post at one time, so more in next installment...
The Saddle Road is at about 6500' elevation across most of the flat area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Here is the beginning of the road to the summit of Mauna Kea: In the above photo you can see the non-native trees surrounding the old sheep station in the foreground and another dark patch of trees further up the slope. That is where the Mana road starts and crosses into the clouds on the right. Further up the mountain, the road to the summit is visible as a zig zag grey line. Note the sign saying "4WD recommended", we'll get back to that. I've ridden this road many years ago in a 4WD, and didn't remember it being all that hard... Well, the road started out easy enough at about 7500', mostly large gravel, easy going through an area of old cinder cones. I passed an old greybeard like me on a dirtbike going in the opposite direction, smiled and waved. Not sure how many photos I can post at one time, so more in next installment...
I should mention, while I did check all my bolts and fluids prior to this ride, I was running street tires and had very notchy headstock bearings. This will be a factor later on... Nearing the halfway point the road road goes through the top of the native forest, which is mostly Koa Acacia. Here is the first grove I encountered: 
At this point the road turned from gravel to ROCKS, with very steep gullies. A couple times I had both brakes on and a foot on the nearest boulder, and still I was sliding down! One one particularly nasty downhill, 4WDs had dug out the slope going up and left a series of 1' vertical drops seperated by 45 degree slopes covered in loose gravel. My rear wheel dropped off one of these drops and the bike threatened to highside me down the hill so I did a rapid faceplant between two boulders, and the bike slid down the hill ending up almost upside down and dripping gas. I wasn't hurt, I thought, "Cool, the gear did it's job." (sorry, no photo, I was very busy at this point) The rough road continued, with many places that I had only a 4" track between huge boulders and motorcycle eating holes, I'm thinkin' "sheeit, it can't get any worse..." Do Or Die was becoming my motto for the day! In the middle of the Koa forest I stopped for a break at the Doctors Pit, the first real shade and the scene of an alleged murder in 1834. For more info Google: David Douglas Mana Road. He was a Scottish botanist, and only the second white man to reach the summit of Mauna Kea. 
The Koa is a high altitude tree, growing mostly between 4-8000'. This is beautiful forest, grassy pastures, very few mosquitos, wild pig and turkey hunting. After the Trials section, the rocks gave way to loose powdery sand and I reached the midway point, the Keanakolu Ranger Station at about @8500', the highest point on the journey: 
Not too long after this, I was riding happily along and looked a little too long at the scenery. I swerved to miss some rocks in the road and down I went again: 
This time I had the time to take a picture, because I was having a hard time picking the bike up. It doesn't show in the picture, but the tank, seat and subframe are all resting on the berm. There was only one place I could stuff my leg under the bike at an angle, so I used my leg as a lever. This got it up enough to use my leg as a prop, so I could reposition my other leg for more leverage, and I finally got it back upright. Unfortunately the clutch perch had rotated on the bars, and it had put a tiny ding on my tank, a couple deep scratches and broken fins on the valve cover too. ...gotta remember to put the crappy valve covers on, next time... Not bad really, and off we go, More coming....
Here's a nice shot of my new custom rear rack, and looking up towards the ridgeline of Mauna Kea. This is looking roughly southwest, and is located almost directly opposite the first shot of the new pavement road section: 
There were miles and miles of this pea gravel, and let me tell you son... it ain't no fun, when your headstock bearings are shot, and your tires are bald... Keeping this thing going in a staight line was a BEAR.... (do or die... do or die...) 
Now, the deeper I got into cattle pasture, the more herds I encountered. It's funny, several times I came upon a herd in the road who could have split and let me pass, but no, they just turned and ran down the road in front of me. I chuckled to myself, the the forty cow escort leading me along... At one point however, I came over a rise and in the small valley in front of me, maybe forty feet away, were two young bulls fighting on one shoulder... and directly opposite them.... the BIGGEST bull I had seen all day. I contemplated digging out my camera to get the shot, but that old bull was looking at me like, "You're NEXT!" So instead I gunned the engine, laid on the horn and aimed for the gap between them all... (DO or DIE... DO or DIE!!!!) The two fighting bulls didn't even notice me, the big bull turned tail and ran away from the road. (phew!) 
Further along, I found this big old Koa lying dead way out in the middle of the pasture. This area used to be heavily forested, and was in turn logged heavily in years past. There must have been some history associated with this tree, for it to have remained untouched for so many years. Now, we are getting closer to Kamuela town, treelines surrounding old homesteads, more water tanks, and I passed the third car I had seen all day on this road. 
In this photo you can see the west side of the Kohala mountains dropping out of the clouds in the far distance. My place is right about under that spot, so this photo is about 15 miles from my home. Finally, here we are entering the green area on the east windward side of Kamuela, still about 8 miles from home. These big old eucalypts were planted back in the 1940s: 
...and home. I've rebuilt the forks and put new headstock bearings since this ride. If any of you have bad headstock bearings, change them! It's amazing the difference they make in the way a bike rides and feels. I was a bit sore for a couple weeks, and my Omega ignition went on the fritz, but all in all it was good fun. I want to do more, maybe Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa summits, or the river crossings in Waipio Valley...? Has anyone ever put knobbies on a /5 before? Hope you all enjoyed these... Thanks Rob for showing me how to upload photos and start my own pbase.com account!