Riders Up

The picture comes from the Haleiwa Metric Century, which I rode in last month. Here, I'm pacing one of my intrepid training partners, Frank Smith, who happens to be the person who several years ago sold me the bike that I've been training on. Thank you Frank. Saturday night, we had a good Bon Voyage party, a fond farewell to many of my friends, including several of my fellow bike riders from the Hawaii Bicycling League, as I head off to the mainland for a few last minute preparations for my big coast-to-coast adventure. Special thanks to Patricia, who coordinates twice weekly rides and coaches cyclists in bicycle safety and etiquette, and is there every Monday and every Thursday for the rides. She also rides with the Red Hot Ladies, including some pretty awesome riders, like Jen and Norma, who have been very supportive in helping me reach my training goals. And a special thanks to John, who organizers the Heavy Breathers rides on Saturdays, as well as joining us on the Thursday rides. John's wife taught our son at Kamiloiki School many years ago, so it was nice to have that sort of a deep connection. And of course, there were Roberto and Annika, our world travelers. They left from Europe in 2011, and are biking around Hawaii during May, then heading to Alaska, and riding across the North America to Mexico, then eventually around the Caribbean, and back to Europe. It makes my route look easy. Here's a view of my route, on a big wall map that I made for the Bon Voyage party. It looks like just a short ride, compared to the multi-continent ride that Roberto and Annika have undertaken.

I'll be in Oregon shortly, and learning to ride in rain and colder weather. Meanwhile, I'm reading Life Is a Wheel: Memoirs of a Bike-Riding Obituarist, by Bruce Weber. He followed generally the same route we'll be following this summer, and describes in detail some of the road and weather conditions we will be encountering. He rode in July, later in the summer than we are going, and he had a freer schedule, but he gives a good idea of what we will experience. We'll be on the road starting in just over three weeks from now. Thank you everyone for all the good wishes. Including my wife Wyn.