Robert: an interesting post and photographs. I fondly remember 2 vacations in Hawaii 10+ years ago when I was married to a physician who could afford such things. Oahu and (?) Kauai, circa 1998 and 2002. Beautiful scenery and we particularly enjoyed Kauai, though I wasn't able to get in the rides I had hoped for. Certainly a very different beauty that the aloof, spare beauty of high desert New Mexico.
Chafing cheeks: a rather weird, forlorn, oddly attractive man who was briefly a member of our Albuquerque Orthodox Church parish, and who lived a sort of bohemian and low-rent marginal existence, told me how, in the 1960s he and his friends would ride from LA to San Diego, this at a time when good bikes and kit were rare and expensive, and, before starting, stick steaks in their shorts for the -- err hem -- protection. Photos: while I very much like the photos posted by listmembers of their trips, I myself rather think that it's important to focus on the experience itself. Or perhaps I'm just lazy. Which tangentially reminds me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dI-WZ5cvM0 On Mon, Oct 12, 2015 at 11:45 AM, Robert F. Harrison <[email protected]> wrote: > Aloha all, > > I've been busy lately and feeling like I needed to get out from under > everything so when a friend of mine let me know they would be camping this > weekend I jumped at the chance. > > Short Version: > > Had a great ride 55 miles out and then back, stayed one night, had a great > time. :-) > > Long Version: > > They aren't cyclists but they did have a campsite at Malaekahana Beach > Campground <http://www.malaekahana.net/> for the weekend so off I went. > My friends were actually there for three nights, Friday through Sunday as > they had off on Monday, but as I had to work both Friday and Monday it was > a classic SO24. Okay, maybe not completely classic as I didn't head out > after work, but it was just one night. > > Malaekahana is 55 miles from where I live on the route I usually take (the > other route involves climbing mountains and going through tunnels that > aren't bike friendly) so it's a full day's ride if you figure in breaks, a > bit of this, a bit of that, and generally remembering it's a bike ride not > a race. > > Naturally I left an hour later than I planned for one reason or another; > always the case. I was riding my Hunqapillar with HAR bags and a Large > Saddlesack. My gear included my Hennessy Hammock, a Trangia stove (good > thing too - my friends gas stove wasn't working and coffee is imperative), > and an ukulele (it's Hawaii after all). > > The ride out was marred by a flat just about halfway. It was a front flat > that happened on a long downhill. It was a leak more than a blowout so > there was no loss of control (thankfully), just a realization that my tire > had gone very mushy. I'm riding Big Ben's so any flat is likely to be of > the slow variety because my tires are never at high pressure. > > Unfortunately with the HAR and bags I had to completely unpack the front > end to get the Pitlock skewer. Hawaii has a very definite stolen part > problem so I take a lot of precautions, though I won't sacrifice my riding > by using a something I'd not mind having stolen around town. > > After find the tiny kiawe thorn (read mesquite), I discovered that my pump > had come apart and the little bits of the head were floating about in my > Saddlesack. I had to unpack that too. Sigh. > > All of this added up to a 30 minute tire change instead of a 5 minute job > but hey, I was on a mini-vacation and wasn't in hurry. I celebrated being > slowed down by stopping at the next cafe and having a big iced coffee and > relaxing for a bit, I still had 25 miles to go so a cold drink break was > definitely in order. > > Soon I was off again and quickly reached the nicest part of Oahu's > Windward shore in my opinion, Kahaluu to Malaekahana. The road here runs > between the Pali (mountains) and the shore and the views can be spectacular > (from an earlier ride: https://flic.kr/p/iXXwCy). > > I stopped again with about 10 miles to go and had a snack of a bit of > cheese. It was the first food I'd eaten so far that day and I wasn't even > all that hungry, it was more an exuse to take another break before riding > the last few miles. I did take picture of my Hunq's setup, though i didn't > remember to get the drive train. Here she is: https://flic.kr/p/yJgWQs > > When I arrived I checked-in (it's a semi private campground ( > http://www.malaekahana.net/) and found our campsite. Only one of my > buddies was there at the time and as his stove was broken he'd been wanting > coffee for a while. I obliged. We actually needed to be a team for this as > his stove wasn't working and I'd forgotten my AeroPress. I had beans and > and grinder as well as the stove, he had preground coffee and a French > Press - between us we had coffee. > > After a few minutes of relaxation I set up my Hennessy, unpacked the stuff > I needed (my ukulele) and camping was on! > > When everyone else showed up we headed the 50 yards down the beach and > swam for a bit, showered, and came back to the campsite to being dinner > prep. I didn't know what the drill wasn't going to be, and in fact I'd made > the right choice and brought my own food. The exception was a buddy who'd > bought some fresh whole mullet. He steamed those with garlic in foil on the > fire and it was ono (delicious). > > The rest of my dinner consisted of a couple of hard boiled eggs, a can of > sardines, some more cheese, a piece of sausage. I'm pretty easy to please > and mostly eat bacon and avoid jogging. To be honest, I wasn't that hungry > even after 55 miles of riding and 30 minutes of pretending to swim (in the > water, mostly be lazy). > > After dinner around the campfire I entertained with the ukulele for a bit, > we chatted about old time (I've had these folks as friends for 25+ years) > and then I headed to bed. They stayed up a bit but I was tuckered out. > > Oversleeping the next morning (which is to say about 7 am), I freshened > up, made some coffee with my friend's French press, and packed up. I wasn't > going to stay long as it's a longish ride and I did have to work on Monday. > > The ride back wasn't marred by another flat thankfully and though the > weather had clouded up (and there'd been flood watches the night before) it > remained dry, though more humid than the day before. I made a couple of > stops, once to visit a friend who is a fireman and stationed a few miles > from the camp. He was in the station and he showed me around (again) and we > had a nice visit. Further down the road I ran into another friend who was > headed out for his Sunday ride and we also chatted for a bit. > > About this time I noticed that I'd, um, managed to rub myself a bit raw on > one nether cheek. The humidity was playing hardball. I wear normal clothing > so I didn't have on my padding. Normally this doesn't happen to me and I'm > wondering if it's because I was using my Cambium saddle rather than my > usual leather Brooks. The Cambium, being rubber and fabric, tends to grab > clothing a bit whereas the leather models are pretty slick. The last 25 > miles or so involved a lot of shifting around, standing up on the pedals, > and doing my best to find relief. It wasn't really that bad, and after > getting back to the leeward side of the island where the humidity was much > lower and the sun shining things settled down pretty well. > > I stopped twice on the way back, once to fill my water bottles and rest > for 20 minutes (during which time I whipped out the ukulele and sat in the > shade amusing myself), and again for an iced coffee while I caught up with > some contacts on the mainland planning our 40th high school reunion. It's > amazing to me that next year it'll have been 40 years. I remember bike > camping back then too - though admittedly there'd been a big gap for this > sort of thing after that time. > > Anyway, that's my ride report. I don't take a lot of photos anymore I'm > afraid. We don't have a lot of choices when it comes to riding distances on > Oahu so I've done this one many, many times and tend not to document it > anymore. It's familiar enough that I know were potholes are 30, even 40 > miles from my home. :-) > > Mahalo for reading! > > Bob > > -- > Robert Harrison > Honolulu, HI > [email protected] > statrix.com > Wu Name: Tha Eurythmic King of Nowhere > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. Other professional writing services. http://www.resumespecialties.com/ www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten ************************************* *The point which is the pivot of the norm is the motionless center of a circumference on the rim of which all conditions, distinctions, and individualities revolve. *Chuang Tzu *Stat crux dum volvitur orbis.* Carthusian motto -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
