Off the Plane

I arrived in Kona at 6:30 AM this morning.  PATH’s Executive Director, Laura Dierenfield and kindly left her organge Honda Element at the airport for me.  Laura doesn’t know this but orange is one of my favorite colors and I was proud to roll in this ride for a day. I only had to  walk maybe 100 steps from the door of the plane to grab my bike box, suitcase of gear and then to the last 4 wheeled vehicle I will be in for about a week.  It was a perfect sunrise as the plane landed and when I stepped off the plane I felt the chill of the morning.  Upper 60’s I think today (I didn’t get to see Hawaii News Now Sunrise weather man Dan Cooks forecast this morning so I’m just guessing).  I hope that every morning is somewhere near to today’s as it felt like a great way to wake up.

Assembly required

As you can see I had a lot to do this morning to turn what is inside these boxes and bags into working tour gear.  Having the car waiting for me was so nice.  I was able to pack everything into the back and head off to the store to get last minute necessities.  Then it was off to Bike Works (thanks Grant and Jason) to have the bike assembled and pick up my Bob Trailer.  (note, my host for tonight is Bob Borns and he says there could be no better trailer than a Bob Trailer.)  Now this will be the first tour I’ve done with a trailer.  It’s funny when you tell folks that you haven’t ridden with one before how worried they get.  Jason actually told me about someone he knew that just suffered a nasty fall because of the trailer.  Grant on the other hand says, “no worries, you’ll be fine.”  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the new experience of riding with a trailer.  I’ll let you know how it goes after tomorrow’s ride to Spencers Beach Park.

After picking up the assembled bike and Bob Trailer, I headed back to the Borns’ to to pack everything up nice and neat.  Bob and I wrestled with the trailer and figured out how to get it on.  (Quick tip- we learned that you may need an extra washer or two to make the one size fits all quick release that comes with the trailer).  After repacking my gear and getting rid of about half of what I thought I was going to take, it’s all ready to go.

We’re about to head out to Kona Brewing Company for a little reception.  Hopefully we can raise a little more money for PATH, have a send off beer and get a little Aloha Christmas Spirit going.

One last thing, a very special mahalo to Bob Borns and Sue Garrod for making me comfortable tonight.  Thanks for letting me crash your Christmas week.