Hawaii Trip Day 2

Drunk disclaimer... I've had more than 5 cocktails prior to writing this post. Please forgive any spelling and punctuation errors. : )

Day 2 - Tuesday December 7th
Miles - 63.07
Climb - 1759

Today we started out in Waimea. It was a beautiful morning and we had a wonderful breakfast prepared by our master chef, Meg. After downing some fresh pineapple, oatmeal, yogurt and hard boiled eggs I was ready for our 60+ mile day. The great thing about a sick climb the day before is that we get to go downhill the day after!!


This is outside our motel at surise

So we head out from our motel at like 8:00am. It's a little chilly, maybe 60º, but not too bad. Nick said the first few miles are downhill so it's going to be kind of fun and not a ton of work. Holy crap was he underselling!!!! We got out of our parking lot and it was all downhill! The countryside was beautiful! We saw pigs, cows, chickens, trees, fields... you name it. It felt like I was in the middle of rural Minnesota, save for the fact that the landscape was punctuated by palm trees and other tropical vegetation.


After a couple miles we ran into a road block. They were doing some work on the highway.

After that though it was all downhill! Seriously! I've never had so much fun on a bike in my life! We came flying out of the mountains down Highway 19 at speeds I never dreamed I could hit! We had a pace line of like 10 people going down this hill and we were flying! I was holding on for dear life, praying that I didn't blow a tire because I knew that would be the end of me if I did. It was exhilarating! I saw some of the most beautiful scenery but was too afraid to let go of the handlebars to take photos. I was just hanging on for dear life and enjoying the ride! 19 miles later we stopped at the SAG wagon for a break. We had covered over 22 miles in just about 45 minutes. Our average speed was 25 mph and our top speed was 39 mph and I think a small group of us may have even hit 42 or 43 mph. It was freakin' amazing!!


Here's us at the rest stop!


This is Darrold, a guy that is more man than I can ever hope to be! He's rode coast to coast in the U.S. TWICE!! And he kept up with us down that hill. Oh, did I mention he's got a heart condition... yeah, he's fuckin' bad ass!! No Joke!

After our rest we continued on down the road. We were still going downhill which was a ton of fun. Then we passed through a small town that had a cookie shop and we had to stop to check it out. Not only did they have a cookie shop but they also had some sweet old buildings. I was really excited to see this kind of stuff because this is the side of Hawaii that normal tourists don't get to see. This is the side of Hawaii that I was interested in. Where the real people of Hawaii live and work. Not the Waikiki B.S. but the every day, I make a living selling cookies to tourists kind of stuff! Jackpot!!


Donna's Cookies... I found out later that she's kind of a big deal. I'm just happy I saw her operation before I saw the cookies in a store.


Look at this place! Isn't it freakin' cool! Not the touristy B.S. you see in the brochures...


Here's me on the bridge over this little town. I love this place! It reminds me of Taylors Falls... only warmer!

After our stop for cookies we carried on. It was nice riding with a group of people that were interested in stopping to smell the roses so to speak. We weren't necessarily in a hurry we just wanted to take in all the sights and sounds and smells of the Hawaiian Islands. A few miles from our lunch stop we came across a little farm on the side of the road. There were cows and bulls and trees all with a backdrop of the Pacific Ocean! Amazing!


Here's me with some cows!

Not more than a mile after the cows we came across a Christmas Tree Farm! Crazy! They have the most beautiful Christmas trees you've ever seen! I totally wish I could have brought one home for my place! And it's super trippy to see a Christmas tree farm with a backdrop of the Pacific Ocean! It was so surreal!


Christmas Tree Farm!

After that it was on to lunch. Lunch on day 1 was amazing so I was expecting something similar but what I got was...


Unbelievable!!!

I was speechless! The view from the road that led down to lunch was absolutely breathtaking! There are no words to describe it. It was simply amazing!


Another view from lunch.

After lunch we continued on our path to Hilo. I was riding with the front group of Paul, Shelly, Jeff & Myself. We were clipping along at a really good pace when I had to pull off to take a pic of this.


It's a tiny little post office in the middle of nowhere Hawaii. My dad is a mailman and I thought he would like it so I got a shot.

Now I needed to catch up with the group that was well in front of me. We had been clipping along at 20-22 mph and I stopped for at least 3 minutes which means that I was about 1+ miles behind them. I would need to ride ridiculously fast to catch them... thank god I'm ridiculously fast! : )

So about 5 miles later I had them in my sights... I knew I would be catching them within a couple minutes. But then I crossed a bridge, and the view from that bridge was one of the most beautiful things I'd seen since arriving in Hawaii! Well I guess I'll need to ride a little faster, because I have to stop for a photo. After a couple shots I continued on. A few miles later I finally caught up with them as they had stopped on a bridge to take some photos. It was amazing how many scenic overlooks there were on this road... literally every bridge was another photo op.


Here's one of the bridge stops...

We pressed on and not long after that stop Paul got a flat. It was the first flat of the day in our group of people. Luckily we had a pump and 4 experienced riders that could change a flat. Since they knew what they were doing, I decided to be a clown and fan down Paul as he was changing his tire.


I thought it was pretty funny!

After the flat Shelly, Jeff and myself kind of dropped the others. We rode on and decided to take the scenic route. We thought more people would follow but they didn't...


This was in the shop at the Botanical Gardens. We almost pissed ourselves laughing at the "Very Old" part! Seriously? If you're going to display something in a museum at least have a freakin' date to go with it!

Then we decided to go on the Botanical Gardens tour. It was $15 each and thankfully Shelly was nice enough to spot me the $15 because I didn't have any money with me on my bike... Thanks Shelly!


Not sure why but this is one of my favorite pics!


We all had a nice giggle about this one! It's called a Screw Pine! Hehehehehe!!


This is KU and he gives wisdom, strength and courage in competition! He was definitely with us on our journey around the islands.

After our little tour through the Botanical Gardens we headed out and biked into Hilo. We had to make a quick stop at the bike shop and then on to our hotel. It was a really nice ride today and I really enjoyed they company. Once we got to our hotel I showered quick and went on to a little excursion to Akaka Falls!


Quintessential road trip paraphernalia


Akaka Falls


Akaka Falls Group Shot!

What a beautiful day! Absolutely blessed to be on this trip!