We're biking Haleakala at sunrise - what to wear???

We will be doing the sunrise downhill bike of Haleakala in May. To anyone who has done that, how can you advise us as to what to wear? I%26#39;ve heard of people wearing gloves? hats? I do understand it is cold, and I will need to bring a coat, and sweatshirt, and long pants, but isn%26#39;t it hard biking in all that clothing????? Any sugesstions????? I come from Wisconsin.....I know how to do cold :o)

TIA

We're biking Haleakala at sunrise - what to wear???

You should bring layers that you can easily shed as you work your way down the mountain. When you are at the top you will want to be as warm as possible, because it will be cold. I would plan on it being in the 40s at most, maybe colder (it can get down to freezing, even in May), and there will be wind. Don%26#39;t think that because you are from Wisconsin you can tough it out. My wife%26#39;s family is from Wisconsin and they didn%26#39;t want to get out of the car when I took them up to the crater. I have seen a lot of the bike companies supply coats and pants, so you might want ask the company your going with about that. And you will want a warm hat and gloves. Your hands will get cold once you are on the bike and the wind is blowing by. Once you get down Crater Road and into Kula, you will probably loose the coat and just want a sweater and jeans. Then as you keep going down you%26#39;ll shed more layers. The bikers I see finishing up in Paia are usually in T-shirts by then. Since most of the ride is downhill, you should not have too hard a time riding with all those clothes on. Now all that being said, you could get a warm day and be just fine in a sweater the whole time, but I don%26#39;t recommend chancing it.

We're biking Haleakala at sunrise - what to wear???

Ditto on Humpback%26#39;s info. We did this in May of 1999 and it was around 30 degrees at the summit. I think we went with Maui Downhill and they provided windbreaker jackets and pants and motorcycle helmets. The clothing was not enough on its own. We tried to stay warm with layers of shorts/t-shirts, sweatpants/sweatshirts and then the windbreaker outfits but we were still cold mostly because we stayed out of the van to watch the sunrise. That combined with the fear factor of going down a very steep road, well lets just say that my teeth were chattering for various reasons until we hit the tree line (you will not need to pedal your bike until you are about 10 miles down the mountain). If you wear contact lenses, I would consider bringing some type of eye protection like goggles to cover your eye area completely. That dry, cold air will s*ck the moisture right out of your eyes. After about a half hour, the air gets warmer and you can put you excess clothing in the van or a backpack. I know Wisconsin is flippin%26#39; cold in the winter but try riding your bike at about 25 mph for 30 minutes when its about 30 outside and you can determine what you%26#39;ll need to stay warm. The sunrise is beautiful as long as you have the proper cloud layer.