Saturday I had a mostly lovely time riding from Honolulu to Kailua and back. Here’s an image of Makapu’u early in the morning as it was lit by the rising Sun!
I was particularly pleased with the fact that I was able to ride there about 15 minutes faster than the last time I did it. Admittedly I wasn’t riding into the wind on Saturday. You simply couldn’t have asked for a nicer morning.
It was the ride home that did me in. I’m pretty good about hydrating. I try to stop at least every half hour and drink a bottle of water. I must have misjudged the time on the way home though. It was a very hot ride on the way home and I was fine until I got back to Hawaii Kai. At the top of “Heartbreak Hill” (isn’t there one everywhere?) on the easy ride up from Sandy Beach I felt chills. Given the temperature, in the nineties, I knew that could only mean I hadn’t really consumed enough liquids.
I fixed that and made it home just fine, but as a result I was wiped out the next day. Given it was only about a sixty mile ride, with an hour off in the middle, I should have been fine.
I consider it a cheap lesson though as I don’t seem to have any other ill effects. I’ll certainly remember to be more careful in the future though!
One of the best parts of the journey came when I stopped, oddly enough, to take on more water.
I was at the restrooms at Makapuu when a lovely tandem pulled up for a break. As it turns out I knew the riders slightly. They are Beth and Barton Cox, fellow HBL members. Please take a look at their link if you have any interest in tandems!
You can also find them on the road:
We ride with one of HBL’s more popular groups, the “Heavy Breathers.” We meet at Kapiolani Park at 9:00 am every Saturday and ride out to Makapu’u and back. Ya’ll come!
I’ll probably try riding with them someday when I’m a wee bit faster. Barton claims the group is for slow riders but I’m afraid I’m not even up to slow yet; 12 mph is my average – though I can go a long way at that speed.
Anyway, I survived the ride and made some friends so all in all it was a great day, even if I didn’t take in enough water.
Aloha!