It’s after 8:00 PM on Wednesday December 23, 2009 and I’m sitting down to dinner with the Bell family.  After a two days of riding I’m finally able to update the blog and there is a lot to share with you.

The ride got a big send off Monday night with a PATH hosted recpetion at Kona Brewing Company.  I loaded up on some carbs with a pale ale and a giant plate of lasagna.  Excellent beer and great pasta put me in the right mood.  We had a great time talking about the trip and how we can all pitch in to make bicycling a more fundamental part of Big Island and Hawaii.  We reminded one another what this trip is really all about- raising awareness about safe, convenient, accessible bicycle travel.  I’m not a touring athlete, I’m just a guy that wants to ride his bike around Big Island for Christmas.

I was really glad to hear that Kona Brewing Company is a major supporter of PATH.  There commitment to being an environmentally friendly business and a part of the Chamber of Commerce Kuliana Committee is exactly the kind of information I wanted to discover on this trip.  Way to go Kona Brewing Company, keep supporting PATH and show great leadership on the Kuliana Committee.

The night ended pretty early as far as beer drinking nights go.  Bob and I headed back to his house and sat in front of the TV to watch White Christmas.  The perfect sleepy time medicine.

Tuesday morning December 22, 2009 around 8:30 AM Laura Dierenfield, Executive Director for PATH showed up at Bob’s house to send us on our way.  The picture above was taken outside Bob’s house in front of the newly donated PATH bike ed. van.  This gift from the Iron Man folks has really made a huge difference for PATH’s visibility as well as their ability to meet the community need of safe bicycling education.  I was so proud to shoot this photo and start my journey from this spot.

The big question remains, how was the trailer?  Well to be truthful I freaked out a little bit the first 10 minutes or so.  I had never been on the bike with a trailer or pulled 50 plus pounds on my bike.  The trailer really shimmies and you can feel it in a very big way.  The sensation of being moved by something your dragging was a little overwhelming at first.  Not to mention all the input I got from just about everyone on the subject.  After about 2 miles I stopped and looked at Bob as if to say, this isn’t good, I’m not comfortable.  All it really took was to get psyched up and mentally prepared for the change in the ride.  Once I let the shimmy happen and stopped trying to correct it the trailer was fine.  I got used to it pretty fast after that.

Bob stayed with me for about 17 miles before heading back home and to work.  I trek’d onward until I got to the first scenic outlook point.  This seemed like a great place to stop to enjoy the orange I picked the night before and look at the ocean.  Little did I know that I would be watching 3 whales dance around in the water.

I met a man named Kent visiting Hawaii from San Francisco.  He had rented a bike when he flew in and was trying to get some rides in while here on vacation.  Super friendly guy and he was great to just relax with for a few minutes.  Thanks for the conversation Kent.  Here is a photo we shot at the point.

After Kent left I sat there for almost an hour watching the whales, talked a few other visitors that came to the point.  They were all curious about the trailer and what I was doing.  It was really a great opportunity to talk story with folks about PATH, Hawaii Pedal Power and why I’m doing the trip around the island.  As usual, once you get folks started about bicycling they always start to smile and tell you a story about their first bike or a great bike adventure they had been on.  My bike adventure was met with positive response from everyone I met and I imagine that each of the folks I encountered are checking this blog and trying to figure out how they can be a member of PATH and Hawaii Pedal Power.  Great success!!

The last 15 miles or so were the hardest on this day.  After lunch I began to feel the weight of the trailer and the hills were growing in size along with the head wind that I couldn’t seem to get rid of.  Now all the locals I ran into told me that this was a calm wind day but to me it was a lot of wind.  Note to anyone coming to Big Island to ride, be prepared for these winds, they are different than any other wind you encounter any where in the world.  I actually considered constructing some sort of sail on my Makai (ocean) side to utilize the swirling wind that was coming at me.  Complaints of wind and hills finally made me realize I was just tired and needed to power through to get to my day one destination.  Spencers Beach Park in Kawaihae.  Reaching the sign for the turn down to Kawaihae was so great I had to snap a photo of it.  This was also the first turn of the day.

I quickly made camp and organized my things.  emptying the trailer I realized I had packed way too much and could have made the ride so much easier if I had only taken what I needed.  This is the kind of thing everyone tells you about but you have to experience to realize.  After camp was set I jumped into the water which was only a few steps from my ocean front home for the night.  A good soak in the ocean was just what the doctor ordered.  There were close to 50 people on the beach and in the water.  Lots of families on vacation, locals and young tourists taking advantage of one of the nicest beach side campgrounds I have ever stayed at.  I enjoyed talking story with as many of them as I could.

My ocean front home came with a spectacular sunset.  The photo cannot even come close to displaying the breathtaking view I witnessed.  Sunsets are super interesting to me.  In reality each one is beautiful it’s usually the mood you’re in, the situation and mindset that you are in that enhances the beauty or pushes to take a few extra seconds to appreciate what is happening in front of you.  Since most of my day was spent thinking about Grace, this sunset was special and I named it sunset Grace.

That takes me through ride day one.  I gotta get to bed and rest up for tomorrows ride from Waimea to Hilo.  There is a lot to share about the ride from Spencers beach Park to Waimea but it will have to wait till tomorrow as I am so very tired.  That should tell you a little about the ride.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.