Friday, March 27, 2015

Pineapple Juice ... Thursday Training Ride

One of our group riders on yesterday's ride dubbed the morning as "Pineapple Juice." Sunshine and rain showers mixed together. That works, but it was more metaphor than fact. It was a cloudy morning, but there was more wind than rain, and fortunately not a lot of sun.

Thursdays are 50 mile days. A few of us gather near Kahala Elementary School...a few regulars, and a regular supply of out-o-town visitors who either rent bikes, borrow bikes, or bring their own. Some of the fold-up bikes can be carried as luggage on planes, and bike enthusiasts don't want to miss a few days of training. Yesterday, under the threat of rain and the promise of gusty winds, we set off with a dozen riders of varying abilities.

We always start off wandering through the Kahala neighborhood, bypassing the first couple of blocks of the Kalanianaole Highway (remember to pronounce all the vowels), then single file along the shoulder bike lane. The winds were gusting sometimes up to around 30 miles per hour, and the group split into four bunches depending on strength, ability, and desire. Everyone waits to regroup at the beach park in Hawaii Kai, then we choose a route to our next stop. Yesterday, because of the wind, I decided to go up Heartbreak Hill rather than facing the buffeting winds that can make for tricky riding around Hanauma Bay and along Sandy Beach. Then another steep hill takes everyone up to the lookout near Makapuu Lighthouse, where we pause for a group photo. By the time we reached Makapuu, we had lost two riders who had turned back after the fist break in Hawaii. We had to wait for our sweeper, who had stopped to lend a hand to some triathlon trainees, who it turns out ride without tools for fixing flats. Go figure. They're supposed to be the super cyclists, but they don't have the sense to carry the basics.

We head downhill from the Lighthouse overlook, through Waimanalo, and eventually regroup at a bike-friendly cafe in Kailua, where we have a nice brunch. On a good day, we can get there by 10:30, having set off from Kahala at 8:30.

The route back is slightly different. We head up near the steep palis (sheer volcanic cliffs) of the Koolau Mountains, then find our way along rolling back roads and through the farmlands that parallel the highway through Waimanalo. We avoid a lot of traffic by taking the back roads, and get a chance to socialize along the way.

The hill back up to the Makapuu Lighthouse is granny-gear steep ... I would guess it maybe maxes out at just over 10% grade...that keeps you so busy that it's difficult to peak off to the east, where you can frequently see the spouts of the whales getting ready to migrate north to Alaska for the summer. Whales of not, it's a whale of a hill. The other side offers a fast descent down a road that is long past due for a good re-paving. I always feather my brakes on the way down, but others hang on at over 40 mph, leaving me at the back of the pack by the time we reach the flat area near the Hawaii Kai Golf Course. I catch up around the time we turn towards heartbreak hill to head back into Hawaii Kai.

One thing you learn pretty quickly ... when the wind is behind you in one direction, it usually means it's in your face in the other direction. But not always. You have to stay alert for a sudden gust that can bring you to a near standstill, even when you are standing up on the pedals.

We follow the highway, taking alternative routes through neighborhoods when possible, and arrive back at Kahala Elementary tired, sweaty, sometimes wet, sometimes energized, with about 54 miles of riding behind us. Folks who live in the neighborhoods along the way drop off when we pass their street. Others take their time on the return journey, riding with the sweeper.

For me, my end-of-ride routine has recently changed because we just moved to a new home seven miles from the start-finish point. That means that my ride has not yet finished. I had back into the gustsy winds, and retrace the first few miles of our ride. The end result ... I've covered what will be our average distance every day for 59 days in a row this summer. A quick recovery between rides will be crucial to surviving the long consecutive days on the road.


Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Summer Vacation Dreamtime

Something I've always dreamed of ... crossing the United States under my own power! I first started dreaming about it when I was a kid, and the news was full of the story of a woman (Barbara Moore) who was walking coast to coast, trying to set a new record of something like 50 days. Someday, I'll do that, I promised myself. Eventually, walking became bicycling, and here it is the summer that I will turn 70. So I dusted off that old promise to myself, and started planning. And practicing. And researching.

Hint: if you were expecting to see me at some conference or another, or hoping for a visit on another continent this summer, you're out of luck. My plans have changed.

I discovered the perfect situation, if there is such a thing for a bike trip across America. A group of scouts from Astoria Oregon were planning a trip (https://www.biketripamerica.com or BTA for short) and they needed a couple of adult riders. Since they are doing a fund raiser for Operation Comfort Warrior, and since I'm a combat veteran (a medic in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam) who also happens to want to ride coast to coast, it was a match made in heaven. A fully supported bike ride, a charity fundraiser, and one big item that will (fingers crossed) get ticked off my bucket list.

I've been getting into shape by riding with some wonderful folks from the Hawaii Bicycling League (http://www.hbl.org). The BTA sponsors insisted that everyone log at least 750 miles before the ride starts on June 18. Except for a handful of rest days, we'll be in the saddle for 59 days. I started logging my mileage the day that 750 mile requirement was announced about 6 weeks ago, and I have already easily surpassed the minimum mileage. One of the HBL riders, Devon, rode across the country a couple of years back, and he said they did 4000 miles training for the 3500 mile journey, and it was still a tough ride. I may get close to that mileage by the time I leave. He also said that the toughest part was the 600 miles of soybean fields across Montana, North Dakota and into Minnesota, where he found that contrary to "prevailing west to east winds," they rode into a headwind practically every day. Plenty of time to develop saddle sores, count sheep, get sunburned, and burn lots of calories.

If you live anywhere near our northern route across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York (including mileposts in Astoria, Clatskinie, St. Helens, Carson, Maryhill, Umatilla, Walla Walla (yes, where my son Tristan and daughter-in-law Olivia went to Whitman College), Lewiston ID, Orofino, Kamiah, Missoula MT, Lincoln, Great Falls, Stanford, Lewiston, Mosby, Jordon, Circle, Glendive, Dickinson, New Salem ND, Bismark, Napoleon, Enderlin, Moorhead MN, Pelican Rapids, Osakis, Milaca, St. Croix Falls WI, Bloomer, Merrill, Antigo, Shiocton, Manitowoc, Ludington MI, White Cloud, Belding, Galesburg, LaGrange IN, Defiance OH, Bowling Green, Vermilion, Ashtabula, Erie PA, Blasdell NY, Niagara Falls, Caledonia, Syracuse, Herkimer, Schenectady, Hudson, Fishkill, or NYC), then by all means stand beside the road and wave at us as we pass, or get on your bike and ride along for a few miles.

And even if you are not near our route, follow us on-line, and by all means give a donation, large or small, to Operation Comfort Warrior. Look for the donation link on the BTA website listed above. I will celebrate my 70th birthday on the road from Herkimer to Schenectady. If you are a trivia buff, that makes me two days too old to be a baby boomer, but it feels like a great way to celebrate what I'm looking at as the beginning of the third third of my life. Anything after 105 will be a bonus. Maybe I'll even plan another coast-to-coast that year --- from the west coast to the east coast of Oahu.

Keep following me here as I continue to train, head off to Astoria to get myself outfitted with a new bike, meet the rest of the crew, and begin the long journey into the rising sun.