Going Downhill for a Living!

In 1982 Bob Kiger, now known as Cruiser Bob, interrupted his career as a Hollywood TV producer/director and moved to Maui to rent bicycles. He made the decision because, during an earlier Maui vacation, he could not find a decent bike to rent and because it was getting harder and harder to make a decent living in Tinseltown. After beginning Cruiser Bob's Rent-A-Bike he discovered some reasons why bike rentals were not popular on Maui. The roads were too narrow. Maui motorists were actually hostile to bicyclists and there were no bike paths. Bob's fledgling business was in jeopardy because, in 1982, there was no safe way to ride a bike around his island paradise.

In spite of his isolation with a bicycle in Lahaina, there were several views that Cruiser Bob recollects that prompted his vision of a grand bicycle tour. One early canoe ride out into the channel between Molokai and Lanai offered tatntalizing views of Haleakala. Kiger had heard through the "coconut wireless" that there was a road all the way from summit to sea level that could be bicycled. On one occasion he rode through the cane fields along the coast to Olowalu where, in the distance, he could see the giant dormant volcano.

Bob thought to himself, "what if bicycles could be to Haleakala, as skis are to Aspen?" With that simple connection, which he recorded in his 1992 journal, he formulated a business plan for Cruiser Bob's Haleakala Downhill, a bicycle tour that would transport Maui visitors to the 10,000' summit of Haleakala. From the top they would begin their downhill bide ride over a circuitous 38 mile course down the steepest highway on Earth. He told Tom Horton, a journalist friend, about his idea and it was published in Aloha Airlines magazine.

Bob turned 37 years old on January 3, 1983. He gave himself a special gift by hitching a ride with friends to the top of the volcano. During this first ride he tape recorded his comments while descending on the bike. "When I played back the tape", said Bob, "I sounded like a man who had seen God." He realized, at that point, that if the experience made him feel that good, it would also appeal to the rest of the baby boomers. Between January and April Bob took friends to the mountain to test out the road and the bicycles.

Finally on April 15, 1983 the first trip was chartered by the Lawry's Seasoning Company. They declared Cruiser Bob's Downhill to be the highlight of their trip to Maui. From that point the business took off faster than a bike speeding down the volcano. A capital partner was brought in to pay for a van, trailer and some additional bicycles. Over the years Cruiser Bob's has been featured in dozens of TV shows including Ted Turner's Portrait of America, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning Australia, PM Magazine, MTV's The Real World, The Regis and Kathy Lee Show and many European and Asian shows. Magazines as diverse as Better Homes & Gardens, Playboy, Endless Vacation, Bicycling, Modern Maturity and hundreds of others have extolled the virtues of Cruiser Bob's trip. Indeed it has been the gateway through which hundreds of thousands of people have rediscovered the bicycle.

Pictured here at it's tenth anniversary Cruiser Bob's had over 50 employees, 15 vans, 200 bicycles and 7 trailers. Maui's downhill bicycle adventures grew to be a 10 million dollar per year industry with Cruiser Bob's and a score of other companies vigorously competing in this tourist market. Some estimate that as many as five hundred Maui jobs (directly and indirectly) have been created by Bob Kiger's original idea.

Maui is no longer the only site on Earth where gravity assisted bicycle adventures are conducted. Ski magazines report nearly 100 US ski resorts are now opening their lifts during the summer months to allow mountain bicyclists access to high fire roads and trails. Many are now customizing routes that are completely separate from the ski slopes for the mountain bikers. There are downhill bike tours currently operating on the roads of Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Arizona, California and Hawaii.

Overseas, there are downhill bike tours in Crete, Nepal, New Zealand, England (gravity assisted cross country tour) Bali, and most recently in Costa Rica. In 1994 Bob was summoned to Costa Rica as a course designer and business consultant on what he calls "CostaCoasters".

Over the years Cruiser Bob designed a complete line of Maui bike adventures for novice to expert bicyclists including: Sunrise & Daytrippers from the summit of Haleakala and freestyle rides from 6500' down to sea level. For those who sought more vigorous bicycle adventure and were strong bicyclists, Bob developed the Tour da'Maui (3 - 7 day self guided bike tours circumnavigating the Valley Isle)

Bob predicts that "at the current growth rate gravity activated bicycle adventures will be a larger activity worldwide than skiing within ten years!" This prediction is made in spite of a recent setback on Maui, where the National Park Service effectively banned guided bicycle tours after a fatal accident occured very close to Park Headquarters. Kiger believes that the future of bicycle adventuring will not be van guided touring. He foresees new technology motor assisted bicycles will become the rage for eco-conscious and health conscious tourism in the near future.

Please note:

CRUISER BOB STOPPED OPERATING TOURS ON MAUI IN 1996 & IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING HIS E-BOOK "TOUR DA'MAUI" AND "CRUISER BOB'S VOLCANO BICYCLE ADVENTURES" DVD

Bob loves functional bicycling of all kinds, and has acted as a lobbyist over the years to improve the conditions for bicycling on Maui. Through his efforts all the major highways from Kapalua in West Maui to Ho'okipa Beach Park in East Maui now have shoulders for safer bike travel. Bob has also pioneered the development of the north shore section of The Maui Trail, a greenway that has received 3½ million dollars in US Federal Funds through the ISTEA Act of 1992. Over the years he served as an advisor to Maui Mayor Linda Lingle's Bikeways Advisory Committee and to the State of Hawaii's Na Ala Hele Trail and Access System.

In September, 1994 Bob was a guest speaker at the 2nd Global Conference on Tourism & Sustainability in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His concept was "the creation of guidelines for global bicycle tourism".

(Cruiser Bob's Home)

"Cruiser Bob" is a tradename, nickname & alias owned & used by Bob Kiger since 1982