Today was our last, short, riding day. We cycled from Captain Cook to Kona. It was just a few miles back to the bike shop (about 14), but we made many stops today to enjoy the sites. Even before the ride started, we were invited to walk through a grand reopening of a local garden club property. There were local artisans also in the garden doing demonstrations.
When we did get on our bikes, it was about 5 miles of downhill into Kona. I was once again scared witless due to the speed going downhill. At one point I stopped, got off my bike, and walked a bit to cool of my rims from all the braking I was doing. We had steeper descents in previous days, however, there was a turn at the bottom of the hill, with more traffic, that I just couldn’t get comfortable with.
We stopped at several beaches along the way and took the last group photo as some riders left today and others will be leaving first thing in the morning. We had lunch at Lava Java before we turned the bikes back to the local bike shop. Dinner tonight with the eight remaining cyclists was at the Kona Brewery where we all enjoyed some of the best pizza ever! Before we ended the night, we also walked over to Puna Chocolate Company and purchased some sweets made with Hawaiian Cacoa.
Now it’s time to figure out what the next major biking adventure will be.
A view within the park before we started our ride.
Local artisans creating their nets.
Just before one of the huge downhills.
Yellow Tangs below the surface of the water.
Snorkelers at the beach.
Donna and Adrian just before we made it to Kona.
The Sea Village condos are where Doug and I spent several vacations. The bougainvillea in front are still blooming!
Lunch stop.
On the walk to dinner, we passed by a hula demonstration.
