The above two photos are of Halekoa Drive and they really DO NOT do justice as to how steep this hill truly is. From the base to the top, it's roughly 3 miles of the absolute steepest hills on this island. It's no wonder you don't see many riders doing this hill; mainly, you need to be light, agile and an all around masochist for pain because it doesn't let up. Those may look like flats, but rest assured there's nothing but trouble there. Here is a quote from one of the residents that lives on that ridge where accidents from cars are commonplace:
"It's very steep there and I think people's brakes just give out."
My all time favorite though is from Hawaii's strongest cyclist, Mike Zagorski:
"Halekoa Drive is probably the worst. It's nasty, it's just steep and never flattens out. On Halekoa, you never get to relax."
Make no mistake with this hill, it is straight up filth but one that I have grown to love and enjoy doing repeats of. I see folks walking their dogs only in their driveway because it's too steep for them to walk down and walk back up again. The first time I did that hill, I had to stop because it was so damn hard and brutal - my early days of cycling [hah! going on 3 months now so it's like my early early days really]. Tim, that's the beast of Oahu, probably harder than willow pass road too.
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