Saturday, July 15, 2006

Oh by the way... Aloha!

(Click on photos to see them full size)

No good bike ride should ever end. But once you've reached the western limits of the continental United States, what can you do?

Keep going west.

After weeks and weeks of trying to negotiate some time off from work, finally the boss came to me at the end of the day and said, "You can take your vacation, but you have to be back early and start tomorrow morning." I'd been tracking my options on www.farecast.com for weeks so had some idea of what was possible on short notice. My only option with this kind of notice was to keep going west. I called the Hawaii Weather Wimps and started packing.

In searching for parking options at LAX, I discovered that motorcycles park in the terminal lots for free, a fairly common practice I should've known before. The winter weather seemed cooperative so I strapped my big bag onto the back of the Wing-a-bago and headed south. I parked a few steps from the terminal and got on the plane for Honolulu.

My good friend in Hawaii has a spare bike--a Magna. When he comes here he always rides my "spare" Magna, and he was kind enough to give me the key to his "spare" in Honolulu. He had organized a group ride for my first morning there. This was the morning of the Honolulu Marathon so about 20,000 runners and walkers occupied East Oahu. So we headed for Yokohama Bay, as far west as you can go on Oahu--the end of the road.


At Yokohama Bay with 2 old friends and 2 new ones.


Winter surf crashing on the rocks.

The next day all those not on vacation had to go to work, so I rode by myself. I hadn't been in Hawaii for about 4 and a half years and it was fun to explore some of the old haunts.

I went up over the Pali Highway, past the hospital where my first daughter was born and into Kailua. Had lunch at L&L Drive-in, drove past the townhouse where we lived when the new baby was born, and proceeded up the coast. Past Kualoa Ranch where years ago I broke a couple teeth on a rock mountain-biking. On into Laie where that same year I bonked doing a metric century bicycle ride, which I somehow managed to finish. I looked the other way as I passed the tempting shrimp vans near Kahuku (L&L provides sufficient cholesterol) and finally dismounted at Sunset Beach. The winter surf was not as high as it can be, but there was some kind of surfing competition going on anyway.


Sunset Beach on Oahu's North Shore

A little further down the road, I stopped to photograph a popular surfing spot.


Waimea Bay

I decided to leave further touring for another day and headed back to Honolulu, but not soon enough to beat the ridiculous traffic as I neared the city.


The view of Diamond Head from my friend's balcony.

Through my short week in Hawaii I rode a lot every day, spending lots and lots of time sitting in traffic, even when the population was supposed to be at work.


Ala Moana Beach -- nearly deserted midweek


Looking across Ala Moana and Magic Island at Diamond Head.


My vacation ride at Ala Moana Park

My last couple days in Hawaii were "cold" and a bit rainy, but we enjoyed a short group ride anyway on Saturday and luckily bumped into a favorite old friend at Lanikai. On the way there we stopped for a photo op.


Weather Wimps (or space men) in front of Sandy Beach

My last day started out with beautiful weather. Accompanied by a couple of "biker babes", we did an ambitious ride, around East Oahu, H-3 to Pearl City, Kunia Road to Mokuleia. After lunch in Haleiwa we still had lots of energy so decided to come back along the North Shore, past Kailua to Queen's Beach, then into Hawaii Kai, completing the circle tour. We rode about 150 miles, but all the traffic made the 150 seem more like 300. We were all exhausted, so I was well prepared for the redeye back to California. I fell asleep before take-off.

I woke up when the pilot announced, "Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for landing." It seemed like a 10-minute flight. Walked back across the street and loaded up the Wing.

It was a clear and sunny day for my ride back over the mountains, but it was also cold. I stopped outside the airport for a cup of coffee and to add some clothing layers for the ride home. It was 7am and 50 degrees.

As I climbed the mountains on I-5 I watched the temperature slowly go down. For about 20 miles at the top of the mountains it was 33 degrees, the coldest riding I've ever done. I could have used some heated grips or gloves, but as I wound down the mountains on the other side, it warmed up again to about 45. A nice December day in California. Back at (shudder) work by noon.

It was a great week, with even less planning than when the big trip started on the East Coast. It was about 900 miles of great riding, but the best part was seeing lots of old friends. I should go back more often.

So NOW is my cross-country trip finished? Hard to say...

To be continued...

4 comments:

Michele said...

Wow, that looks like so much fun! I'm envious of your Hawaii vacation.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Michele... I am envious of your Hawaii vacation and the "biker babes" you rode with.

Donna said...

What a great ride! And of course you had to include Hawaii! I'm jealous (except for the traffic part).

Unknown said...

I have such BRAGGERS for siblings! But I LOVE IT, every minute of it. That kind of vacation is almost a necessary part of life, isn't it. :)
Tons of love Cali way.