Author: Bob Harrison

…well not exactly. I am planning on riding down the Mississippi River Trail sometime in the next couple of years. There’s lots to do first, so it’ll be at least 2011 before I can do it, but after all, that’s not really so far away.
I’m reading my “Bicycling Guide to the Mississippi River Trail” by Bob Robinson.
It seems to be a great guide, at least for doing research. I’ll probably need an updated copy by the time I go, but it’s a great start.
I’ve also been checking on what I should take and have found a couple of good lists through the Bicycle Touring Pro website.
There’s a list for literally everything you could possible need called “Jim Dirlam’s Complete Bicycle Touring Gear Checklist.”
In addition there’s a decent discussion of bike clothing for touring called “Bicycle Tour Clothing Essentials.”
I’ve also started biking to Kailua regularly. Though I’ve had to take a couple of weeks of because of town-side obligations I hope to go this weekend; both ways.
And, to top it off, I’m thinking of trying to squeeze in a supported tour of a week or so before I do an unsupported tour just to get a feel for everything. I haven’t decided what or where yet, but I’m keeping my options open.
Aloha!

I’m going to say I’m biding my time on a new bike, but in truth I simply can’t afford a new one at the moment. It seems as if I have a few too many things on my plate travel-wise.
I’m headed to Maui for a weekend, LA early next year, and Texas later. That doesn’t even include a possible trip to Las Vegas in late Fall if I can figure out how to do it.
Then there’s my debt load. It will be lessening quite a bit by the middle of next year, but that’s next year. I want, as do many folks, what I want and I want it now. I guess I’m going to have learn a little patience.
I already have a little patience…very little.
Aloha

Elaine and went for a ride today. Her new bike looks smashing! So, of course, does she.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Simple City 8W.
Aloha!

I just found this yogurt vs. gasoline, or bicycle vs. motorbike, video from the Neistat Bros.

This seem to be pretty much the truth of it when it comes to short commutes around town. In Honolulu I’ve noticed that pretty much everything is 20 minutes away on a bike.
Aloha!

…or at least my name is going. It seems you can have your name put on a microchip which is going to be going on the Mars Science Laboratory Rover in 2011. Here’s the link:
http://mars9.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/index.cfm
Here’s my proof…

Mars Science Lab

So I took my NWT for a ride this afternoon after doing my luggage and was having a very nice brisk ride when…
BLOW OUT!
Actually it wasn’t quite that exciting. It was more a flaaattt….pssst….
Then I discovered that I am, in fact, an idiot. I’d forgotten my 15mm wrench. Last time I had a flat I had to buy one because, you guessed it, I’d forgotten my wrench.
So it goes.
Luckily I was near a Sears store, so I bought yet another wrench and went to the park (Ala Moana) to fix my flat.
In the failing light of the day it wasn’t really that easy, but I discovered a few things about changing a flat on SRAM Dual Drive wheel I hadn’t known before. Last time I made it far more difficult that it needed to be because I hadn’t loosened up the nuts (those dreaded 15mm ones) quite enough. This time I finally figured it out.
Unfortunately when I began to inflate my tire I discovered another problem. There was a weak sidewall and the tire was separating from the bead; the tube was popping out. Oh no!
What I should have done is immediately stop and use the trick I was to use in a minute or two, but I didn’t remember it one time. The sidewall ripped a bit more. Then it came to me…use money.
No, there wasn’t a store open to buy a new tire, at least not one I could get to in time, but I could use a dollar just the same.
I deflated the tire and put my money between the tube and the ripping sidewall. Then I inflated it again and…it was holding.
It held for a couple of miles which was great. I still had to walk a mile, but it was better than nothing.
Here’s the result though…

It looks lighter inside the rip because that’s a dollar bill in there. 🙂
Here’s my real gripe, and I’ll be the first to admit it might be misplaced. I don’t think I like Kenda tires. The blowout was on a Kenda and I think the last major problem I had with tires were with Kendas as well. When I first started riding my Giant I had more or less the same problem with the original tires…Kendas.
They might make great tires, but I’ve had at least two instances of bad luck.
Thank goodness I’ve got two bikes. 🙂
Aloha!

Since I've never actually owned a car…

I'd use 20" bicycle wheels instead of car wheels. And, because they won't support all that weight, I'd make a few other changes as well. My ideal car would look a lot more like my Bike Friday New World Tourist. Here I am driving my "car" up to Makapu'u lookout on Oahu.

Aloha!

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!

Rivendell…home of really good stuff for cyclists.

While this might seem odd location to shop for someone who lives in Hawaii, I can assure you that Riv has any number of things that would be perfect for me. If you are really going whole hog, give me a call and I'll give you my measurements so you can get me that 64cm Bombadil.

I've been to Riv when I visited Oakland earlier this year and picked up a new Brooks saddle. I've also ordered online from them at http://www.rivbike.com/ so you don't actually have to visit, though I recommend it if you get the chance.

There's great biking in the area too.