Sometime last week, after having successfully ridden to Kailua for the second time, I decided that I wanted to keep up this sort of riding. While I didn’t ride back from Kailua that week, the ride there seemed easier, at least mentally. So it seemed only natural to go again this past weekend.
Now I’m not much for exercise so I had to have a goal. Luckily I had lots of destinations and time limits to choose from. This time it meant being in Kailua at 8am. It’s about a 30 mile ride from my home to Kailua Beach Park and I ride slowly, about ten miles an hour including normal breaks. I try to stop every half hour to stretch and drink a bit (okay, a lot) of water. In the past I’ve also included a coffee break; after all, I’m not excercising.
All of that meant I needed to give myself at least 3.5 hours for the ride, allowing a bit of time for the unexpected. I’m happy to report that I made it without incident. I left home around 4:23am and was at my destination at 7:16am. That’s a bit under three hours, my target. Yeah! Of course it’s still pretty darn slow. Still, I’m not out there trying to be Lance Armstrong.
Here’s the route:
The hardest part was getting up and going. I’ve learned over the years that it’s all well and good to have plans. But making a decision and actually doing something are quite different animals. When my alarm went off at 3:45am I was very tempted to roll over and go back to sleep.
I didn’t. I simply rolled out of bed and started preparing even though I was not really awake. I’ve found that if I can get on my feet eventually my brain will follow. Slowly maybe, but it will follow. I’ve never been particularly successful at thinking my way into doing something, but if I start doing it my thinking will eventually come around.
As it turns out, my timing was excellent. It clearly had been raining a bit overnight and the roads were still damp. The sky was, well dark actually. I could see a few stars through the clouds and just the barest hint of the oncoming morning. By the time I made Kailua the sky was quite cloudy and it ended up being a rainy, blustery morning.
Indeed it was the rain the kept me from riding back. Because of the weather I chose to have breakfast with a friend at the Koa Pancake House. The have a specialty they describe as:
Vinha D’Alhos is a tender boneless pork, marinated in vinegar, garlic, basil, and seasonings for a spicy accent which is a crowd-pleaser for most.
It was a great breakfast and a nice send-off for my friend who will be traveling for the next couple of weeks. But by the time we’d eaten I was pretty much done with the idea of riding back. It had cleared up a bit, but I would have been biking in the heat of the day and the weather wasn’t really nice enough yet to spend the day at the beach (for which, I might add, I was prepared). I took the offered ride home.
Next week: Both Ways!
I’ll leave you with this shot:
Aloha!