Cruiser Phils Bike Rides (section 2 of 2) - Tom Barefoot
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Cruiser Phils Bike Rides (section 2 of 2) - Tom Barefoot
"Cruiser Phil Section 2 The second section of the bike ride takes you through the more inhabited parts of upcountry Maui starting with the eucalyptus forests at the 5000'-4000' levels of the mountain. The smells and scents of the mountain during this portion of the ride are sure to be something you'll notice as the camphor scent of the giant eucalyptus trees is almost intoxicating as you are lured down the mountain. Rob and Josh from Cruiser Phil's provided the most protective environment on the day we went pulling the entire group off to the side periodically to allow cars that had built up behind us to safely pass. There were also a number of pull-offs where the whole group stopped as we continued our descent which allowed for the best of picture taking. When houses started to appear and whoosh by as we passed they appeared to be placed in the most idyllic of environments, many looking like ginger bread houses in a gentle setting during the crisp hours of the early morning. As people began to stir and wake up in their private Maui hideaway's we could smell the aromas of freshly brewing coffee and indeed the pristine nature of the pure air at this altitude seemed to make your nose keen to the smells of virtually every natural scent. Later we passed by fields of lavender and rosemary and the scents were unmistakable. Later our glide down the mountain took us passed the cowboy town of Makawao but Cruiser Phil's staff had us return to the van for this short period as they did not want us to interfere in any way with the traffic flow in this area and at a spot just on the other side of town we re-mounted our bikes and began the final descent along Baldwin Avenue down to the town of Paia just stopping short of the town at one of the churches Father Damien founded during his brief time on Maui before he reached his ultimate assignment which became known as Father Damien's Leper Colony on Kalaupapa Molokai. Within a couple minutes of dismounting we were in the sea level town of Paia where we were left to explore the multitude of interesting stores and shops and find one of the many restaurants offering breakfast for our well deserved morning meal. "
