<http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/4304187669/in/set-72157623283990308/>This past weekend I gave my Quickbeam its best workout yet. I was invited to a friend's birthday party at the Malaekahana Campgrounds. There are two sites, one is a regular park, the other has cabins and yurts and more facilities for camping. My friends had taken a cabin for the week for family and had invited friends for the big shindig on Saturday night.
Here's some info on the campground: http://www.malaekahana.net It's only about 57 miles from my home to the park though it seems like it should be longer since it's pretty much halfway around the island. If I'd gone only a couple of miles more I'd have been headed home. I probably added a couple more miles on both days running errands before or after the main ride so if anyone asks I'm going with 120 miles total even though it won't show on the route map. Here's the route at MapMyRide: http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/hi/honolulu/812126400898098591 I didn't ride with any particular goal in mind for time. I figured as long as I got there by 4pm (when it was suggested we arrive) I'd be fine. As it turns out, leaving at 9am got me there on time with plenty of time for chewing the fat with some folks on the way, having a great lunch, and basically taking my time to stop when and where I liked for photos. I left town around 9am after packing up my bike. A partial list of what I took includes: Hennessy Hammock Tiny pillow Thin fleece sleeping bag (really a thin blanket with a zipper) Car sun shield for underneath the sleeping bag - this works great, weighs nothing Some fresh socks and underwear Towel Swim trunks Nikon FG SLR (circa 1982) Film Homemade Penny alcohol stove (http://www.csun.edu/~mjurey/penny.html) Some instant oatmeal and coffee Flipflop slippers for running around the camp site All in all it didn't weigh much. I tied the hammock and slippers to the front rack for a total of around 4lbs and the rest fit without bulging into my Sackville Large SaddleSack. The first image in the slide show more or less shows the quickbeam ready to go. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/4304187669/in/set-72157623283990308/ The weather was good but the VOG was terrible. When we don't have tradewinds we often have a lot of volcanic gas blown in from the Big Island. You can see in the images just how hazy it was. The first 15 miles from my home take me from the center of Honolulu out to Hawaii Kai and involve little climbing except for a wee bit around Diamond Head. I'd ridden my QB around Diamond Head before so I knew having only one gear wasn't going to be a problem without gear, but with the gear I figured it might be a little more difficult. I was in the standard 40x16 configuration and never felt the need to change to something else (I've got a 16-19 White on one side and a 22 bailout on the other if I need it along with the regular 40-32 chainwheel set). In Hawaii Kai I stopped at a Starbucks and had a long morning coffee and bought a banana for when I reached Makapuu as a treat for getting over the next two hills. Once past Hawaii Kai, and the climb around Koko Crater (near Hanama Bay), I descended to Sandy Beach and started taking images. I'd chosen the Nikon FG with a 28mm lens (I had a 50mm with me too but no zoom) and Fuji 100 Reala print film as a fitting tool for the ride. I only took one digital image (with my iPhone) and that was of lunch on my way out. >From Sandy Beach there's another climb up to the Makapuu lookout and I managed to drop a tandem on the way up. I was going slow, but they were going slower is how I'll describe it. I never even came out of the saddle on the whole ride as I recall. Once we descended to Makapuu Beach I hung out with the local Heavy Breathers club. They ride out this far every weekend. Some go on to lunch in Kailua, others head back. They were almost all very impressed with the Quickbeam, the fenders with mudflaps, the Brooks, the Saddleville SaddleSack, and the fact that I'd dropped the tandem. I think this was the first time I'd passed anyone on a hill ever, so I was impressed as well. I was continually surprised at how lightly the QB climbed, even loaded, and how steadily it descended. In fact the limiting factor on my descents was me not the bike. The only fellow who wasn't impressed was a young guy in technical clothes, painful looking shoes, and bike that will probably be splinters in a year or two. He said it was just "an expensive copy of an old frame." He wasn't having any of it. Everyone else drooled. I chatted with them for quite a while, maybe 30 minutes. I also took a couple of shots of Rabbit Island while there. Then it was off for a ride through the back roads of Waimanalo. One can follow the main road, but it's a lot nicer through the back route. Actually I didn't go as far back as I could, opting for a pleasant route that is closer to the main road. Next it was up Keolu Hill where I took the shots overlooking Kailua. The next section was the biggest challenge of the ride. Between miles 27 and 30 there's pretty big drop and climb as the road passes through a gulch. I probably should have stopped and changed my gearing but I toughed it out slowly. Then it was through Kaneohe (not really all that pleasant though safe enough if you keep your wits about you) and down to Kahaluu and the Hygienic Store, a local landmark. It's really just a Mom & Pop place but it attracts good business it seems. There are some lunch wagons selling lau-lau, poi, and other local foods as well. I wasn't hungry yet, having had a good breakfast. Now I was on the real scenic part of the route, out in the country as it were. The rest of the ride goes past some of the most beautiful spots on the island (there are many) and is reasonably safe even though there's only one road and shoulders are narrow. I wouldn't try this at night, but during the day folks seem quite used to cyclists. The only real problem areas are the small bridges over streams that have no shoulders at all and generally only a wooden walkway off one side of the bridge. Signs say to walk your bike but no one does. Since they are so short it wouldn't be worth it..just take the lane and go. No drivers complained that I could tell (no honking, swearing, or peeling out once folks go past me). There are a lot of bikers out most days, but fewer and fewer the further afield I got. I stopped for lunch in Kaaawa. Yes, it there are 3 a's in that name. Ka-a-a-va (short a's) would be close if you trying to pronounce it. The location was Uncle Bobo's and I took the only digital image of the trip while eating my well deserved pork BBQ. It was ono (delicious in Hawaiian). And then it was over. I had arrived about seven hours after I'd started covering 60 miles with plenty of rest stops for chatting with fellow cyclists, taking pictures, having coffee, eating lunch, and....remembering to get a birthday card to replace the one I realized I'd left on my kitchen counter. Sigh. I set up my Hennessy and joined the party. The next day I rode pretty much exactly the same route back. One reason for that is there just isn't much of a choice. I wasn't any quicker getting back, but once again I stopped for pictures, lunch, and a visit with some of my family who live in Hawaii Kai. They think I'm nuts, but in a good way. :-) Here's the complete set of images from the ride. I didn't bother editing them so be warned, some are better than others and some are repetitive. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgps-bob/sets/72157623283990308/ Aloha! -- Robert Harrison rfharri...@gmail.com statrixblog.statrix.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
