Hawaii Trip Day 1

Day 1 - Monday December 6th
Miles - 49.26
Climb - 3264

Last night when we got in it was already dark so I couldn't really see anything. This morning when I woke up I realized why everyone raves about Hawaii!


I mean look at this view!

So Day 1 of our trip begins in Kailua, Kona and takes us all the way up to Waimea. As we were getting instructions for the ride I got a phone call from home and excused myself from the crowd. I was looking out at the ocean while talking and saw a Humpback Whale jump out of the water!! It was freakin' amazing! Right after that we loaded up our gear into the vans and set off on our ride. I had low tire pressure so I was the last one to leave and not more than a couple miles in I passed our first person with a flat, Shelly. No biggie, it happens.


Our first stop was to take a group shot at the start of the Ironman swim course.

After that it was smooth sailing on to lunch. A straight shot down highway 19, also part of the Ironman course.


About 12 miles later Shelly got her second flat. Kind of crappy but it happens... Then after changing that one she got her third about 300 yards later. Not so fun : (


This one was funny. I didn't expect to see a donkey crossing sign. I guess some people saw a goat around this sign too.


I managed to get a few shots from the bike. There's a big lava field between that road and the ocean and that's about it.


Here's a nice little pace line we had going. Check out those sweet jerseys we had too!


I was amazed by all of the beautiful flowers that were growing on the side of the road.


Here's some more

Around 11ish we arrived at our lunch destination. We were stopping at Hapuna Beach. It was absolutely breathtaking. The kind of scene you envision when you think of Hawaii. Beautiful sand, palm trees, turquoise water and lots of tan people enjoying themselves. It was amazing and I had to go for a swim! After a delicious lunch prepared by Meg, our very talented chef for the trip, I decided to go cliff jumping. It wasn't much of a cliff but it was still fun to jump into the water. I think it might have been 10 feet high or so.


Here's a panoramic of the beach. Pretty amazing isn't it.

After lunch we had to hit the road again. We had 12 miles left to ride and 10 of it was straight uphill. Fun stuff I know! It was hot and there wasn't much shade up that hill so it made it even more difficult but most of us got through it okay.


I finally made it! Woo Hoo!

We stayed at the Waimea Country Lodge. It wasn't super swanky but it was quaint. We went out for some ice cream and then off to dinner at a Korean B-B-Q place. I thought it was fantastic! After that I tried to stay up and hang out with some people but we were all so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I think I went to bed at like 9 or 9:30! I suppose that means it was 1 or 1:30 back in Minnesota but still...