Kohala Coast to Kona Day 12 (Jan 21)

Today was our last day of riding. It was mostly downhill into Kona, but that didn’t keep us from pedaling the whole day. The wind came from every direction today; sometimes from the East, other times from the West, as a headwind from the South, and for a brief period, from the North. The ride was along a busy road with large shoulders, so there really weren’t many photo opportunities on today’s ride. As Alan and I reached Kona, we stopped at a Natural Food & Deli store for lunch. We were happy to swap out peanut butter sandwiches for a breakfast burrito (me) and veggie/cheese wraps (Alan). We split a small vegan couscous salad that was super tasty. We cycled a bit over 32 miles for the day. Our total for the entire 12 days was 326 miles.

When we returned our rental bikes, Alan discussed the issues he had with the electronic shifting and he received about a 30% refund on rental cost.

Our last event of this tour was a traditional Hawaiian Luau at the King Kamehameha Marriott Beach Resort where we stayed the last night. The food was delicious and the entertainment was festive. It was hard to say goodbye to all the new friends we made (and my old friend Julie Hampton).

At the start of the day. Our jerseys are from the Kona Works Bike Shop.

Julie Hampton on a downhill.

I didn’t stop quick enough when I saw a “donkey crossing” sign, but I did manage to snap a photo of a “wild animals crossing.” Pretty sure those include the goats and wild pigs.

Our lunch stop just as we entered Kona.

Art and Rose asked us to pose for this photo; two couples with matching jerseys at the end of the day/twelve day trip.

Our group photo at the luau.

Removing the pig from the fire pit at the luau.

Royal court arriving via canoe.

The cast of dancers from the show. Their smiles showed their genuine love for their cultural dances.

Julie, Lana and I.

Koala Coast Beaches Day 11 (Jan 20)

Today was officially a rest day with an optional 24 mile ride. Alan and I had decided to ride about 15 miles, but somehow ended up with 22 miles. It was a sunny day making the high temperature of 78 feel warmer when riding among all of the black lava fields. We cycled to four different beaches, including: Hapuna Beach, Wailea Beach, 49 Black Sand Beach and Holoholokai Beach. Between the first and second beaches we stopped at a roadside food truck and I had a strawberry guava smoothie made with coconut milk. It was so delicious! I saved some in one of my water bottles to finish at the second beach. We had hoped to see whales along the shoreline when we were stopped at a beach, but that luck was not in our favor. At the very last few yards of the ride, Alan got a flat. We were lucky because we were back at the hotel and he could change the flat in an air conditioned hotel room. He was unlucky because he pinched the replacement tube and that tube now also had a hole. He sent out a message to our fellow BAC riders asking for tips before trying a second time. Andrew helped Alan while giving him a few pointers. Cyclists are a friendly group of people always willing to help. Thanks to Andrew!

At Wialea beach.

Hapuna beach was a very popular spot. We didn’t stay long at this beach.

49 Black Sand beach.

Holoholokai was our last stop; we ate our peanut butter sandwiches under a large shaded tree. We did not end up walking to the Petroglyphs as the walk was 0.7 of a mile and we still needed to bike back to the hotel.

View of the grounds at the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort.

Three of the hotels we stayed at on the Big Island of Hawaii gave guests complimentary metal water bottles and encouraged guests to refill them at the purified water stations, like the one above. Each station had a running total of plastic water bottles kept out of landfills through their use. Great idea!

A group photo during the happy hour/rider meeting.

Waimea to Kohala Coast Day 10 (Jan 19)

We started riding this morning shortly after 8am with a temperature of 64 with a NE wind of 9mph and gusts of 19mph. However, almost immediately after leaving town, the winds picked up to 18 mph and gusts of 30 mph. Riding uphill against a crosswind was both difficult and frightening. I was constantly trying to point my handlebars towards the wind to keep from getting blown over. One climb of over 4 miles took me over 40 minutes to complete! Tough! Once we climbed for ten miles, it was 10 miles all downhill (and still working against a crosswind). The fastest I let myself go downhill the entire trip was this day at 32.8 mph. Although our total mileage was over 40 miles for the day, at least ten of those miles were zero effort, except for the hand muscles braking that we did. Alan and I stopped for a coffee in the quaint town of Hawi. We continued downhill, although we did need to pedal a bit, until we reached the Lapakahi State Historical Park. Alan did a bit more exploring than I did and he saw the remnants of a once thriving settlement at Koai’e Cove. Afterwards we finished our ride pedaling to the Westin Hotel at the Hapuna Beach Resort, certainly the most upscale stay of the entire trip. This night was “on your own” with no scheduled rider meeting.

At Koai’e Cove

Alan captured this picture of me descending; I brake a whole lot more and I’m slower up the climbs, so from time to time, Alan will wait for me to catch up.

A view as we made our way down to the coast from Hawi.

The crest of our climb out of Waimea.

Alan ahead of me during a descent.

The bougainvillea climbing among the trees was stunning.

Hawi Post Office.

Location of our coffee stop in Hawi.

Lapakahi State Park.

Koai’e Cove where Alan explored.

A view looking down at a just finished climb.

Mama and her two kids as we entered Hapuna Beach Resort.

Banana plant on the resort property.

Hilo to Waimea Day 9 (Jan 18)

Today’s ride actually ended at the Tex Drive In at Honokaa. It was one of four options that we could choose this day.’We started riding at about 8:15 am with a temperature of 70 and headwinds of 7mph. The first two hours of the ride weaved in and out of rainforest and there were some amazing views and canopy covered roads. Pictures cannot adequately capture the beauty. After that section, there were some grueling climbs. Unfortunately for me, Alan’s gears just stopped working at mile 25. We called for help/a ride for Alan and I continued on with Julie and Lana. Alan had to take his rental bike to a shop in Waimea where they told him the shop in Kona sent him out with an almost dead battery in the shifters and that is why he had problems the past few days. He literally ran the battery dead today. He got it charged enough, at the shop, to bike to the hotel. The bike shop in Waimea gave him a cable to complete the charging process at night. We asked several times in Kona if the shifting was charged properly and if we needed a cable. Of course all the reassurances were wrong!! For me, the last two miles of the ride were incredibly slow as I was just running on fumes. We stayed at the Kamuela Inn (same hotel from five years ago with fellow Coasters). The group had the usual sandwich set up and then happy hour/rider meeting. Afterwards we walked to Merrimans for a steak/seafood dinner.

The view from one of several scenic overlooks.

Alan ahead of me as went biked through a rainforest.

There were several streams with mini waterfalls along the way.

Just an amazing section of the ride.

Shortly after our stop at this park, Alan’s shifting died😖

Julie took this photo of me steadying my bike so I could climb up on the wall to take the next picture below.

It was worth the climb onto the wall.

At another bridge, this was the view straight down over the edge.

The post office at Pa’auilo.

Julie on the “final” stretch of the day.

The “Tex” was our pickup point. Alan was there waiting for me with a piece of bread pudding made out of day old donuts!

Happy Hour spread.

Rest Day Hilo Day 8 (Jan 17)

Today was probably one of our most relaxed days. After breakfast we headed out on our bikes for Rainbow Falls; it was a short out/back ride of about 8 miles. It was supposed to be 12 miles, but we must have missed a turn or two. My Garmin definitely struggled trying to decipher if we were leaving town or coming back into town. On the way back to the hotel, we made two stops recommended by our ride leaders: the Suisan Fish Market for poke and the Alii Ice Company for ice cream. Both met our expectations of high reviews given. We did a stop at the hotel for laundry and then walked to the Big Island Coffee Roasters where we enjoyed a great cup of coffee with mostly locals.

Sunrise from our hotel room.

We caught a small rainbow. Someone nearby mentioned that at times you can see an even bigger rainbow.

I’m blocking the rainbow in this photo.

A view on the way down from the falls and back to the hotel.

Where we stopped for poke.

Alan had Ahi Spicy (left), and I had the Ali Hawaiian (right) and we split a rice.

Where Alan and I stopped for ice cream. I forgot to take a photo, however, Alan had Kona Coffee and Banana Macadamia Nut ice cream. I had the same Banana Macadamia Nut as Alan, plus the Pineapple Coconut ice cream. The shop also sells frozen fruit pops with a sign that says: “ Never the same twice, but always good!”

A banyan tree canopy on our walk.

Kids jumping from an old bridge pylon. It looked to be at least a 20’ jump.

The sky has “vog” from the eruption at Kilauea Volcano that we witnessed two days prior. The term ‘vog’ refers to the hazy air pollution caused by the volcanic emissions from the volcano. Areas far downwind (the west side of Hawaiʻi Island and other islands in the state) are mostly affected, however, areas closer to the eruptive vents, including the communities ranging from Ocean View to Hilo, can be exposed to both.

There are markings on this tree of how high the waves were during tsunamis. 8 ft in 1957, 12 ft in 1952, 15 ft in 1960, and at the very top of this tree 26 ft in 1940.

Rider meeting at Onekahakaha Beach Park.

The cruise ship Holland America leaving the Hilo Port as we had our meeting.

Volcano to Hilo Day 7 (Jan 16)

It would be difficult to top the evening adventure to the Volcano and the start of the ride did not. First, Alan’s shifting continued to be problematic carrying over from the prior days (the back cassette refused to budge), and then it rained. However, I couldn’t complain too much, because I think I only had to pedal about 10 of the 34 miles. It was almost all downhill from Volcano. It only rained for about 9 or 10 miles and then warmed right up from the 60 degrees at ride start. Alan and I had planned to do about 50 miles, but with the shifting issues we changed to the 34 mile route. We stopped at Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Orchard & Factory. We tried a few free samples and had some macadamia nut milk ice cream. We ended relatively early in the day; Alan helped unload luggage from the rental truck. We had a few drinks in the Hilo Hawaiian hotel bar. I stayed at this hotel in 2020 with a group of cycling friends and the happy hour was very different then; fond memories and now new ones. We went to dinner at a local sushi restaurant. The restaurant was teeming with locals. Understandably so, as the food was absolutely delicious. We had three rolls, two of which were recommended by our waiter: Hawaiian roll, Fantastic roll (both recommended) and the rainbow roll. I would highly recommend the Sakura Sushi & Grill.

Alan, and a few other riders as well left the Mauna Loa Visitor Center.

Alan had the coffee flavored, and I had the strawberry guava non-dairy ice cream.

Julie from Coast to Coast is in the middle.

Views inside the packaging plant.

Macadamia nuts in the tree. Did you know it takes 300 pounds of pressure per square inch to crack the nuts? Or that the shells are used to fuel the onsite boilers as a form of renewable energy for the plant?

We cycled past these chickens, each with their own protective shelter.

This banyan tree planted in October 1933 is just outside the hotel.

The view from outside our hotel room.

Rest Day Volcano Day 6 (Jan 15)

Today we traded biking for hiking in Volcano National Park. We did do a short 5 mile round trip bike ride to get to/from the park. We hiked the Halema’uma’u Trail, the Waldron Ledge, and a section of the Crater Rim Trail for a total of 3.2 miles. We stopped numerous times along the hike to view the just recent eruption. Just the day before, there was no eruption and when we reached the Visitor Center we were made aware of the newest eruption. As the day progressed, we could see the lava spewing higher into the air, and even a second small spew next to the first. Everyone we encountered throughout the day were super thrilled to see the eruption; even the National Park Rangers were excited to share the views. To be clear, we were a very long distance away, and at times my phone telephoto blurred the photos. After visiting the park, we treated ourselves to a late lunch at the Lava Rock Cafe.

At our evening rider meeting, the ride leader shared that the locals told her she should go back in the dark to see the lava flow. So we did go back and it was incredible. Even as we cycled to the National Park, we could see the whole sky was red. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

A view of the eruption at 12:22pm. It may look like a fire, but it is the lava erupting.

Along the Halema’uma’u Trail.

On the Waldron Ledge trail that crossed over some of an old lava field.

Along the Crater Rim Trail and the view at 11:47 - the second smaller eruption on the left is not yet visible.

At 11:53 the eruption to the left is now visible.

Alan pointing to the eruption in the very distant background.

The eruption at about 8pm.

Volcano Post Office.

Captain Cook to Volcano Day 5 (Jan 14)

We had a very early morning start…awake by 5:30 am, breakfast and loaded into the bike truck by 6:30 am. We shuttled six miles so we didn’t need to climb the same 1300’ we did on our rest day. We were glad we started early because it was so much cooler. We cycled almost 46 miles and gained about 2200’ in elevation. The road had quite a bit of traffic, but we managed just fine. We also cycled most of the day with my friend Julie Hampton (from my Coast to Coast ride). We only lost sight of her during the last five miles when it was all downhill on a winding road. Our end point was actually at the Punalu’u Bakery (the southern most bakery in the U.S.) in Naalehu. From there we shuttled to the Kilauea Lodge in Volcano. Three of the 22 riders opted for the whole distance of 84 miles. Some riders shuttled to Naalehu and biked to the lodge for about 38 miles, but more climbing. Alan and I had the sandwich station duty on this evening. There was also a happy hour/rider meeting in the same area.

The early group (6:30 am shuttle). There were three start times today. Sue is a ride organizer in the middle.

Julie Hampton and I at the start. For my friends that road the Big Island with me in 2020, the hotel in the background is where we stayed in 2020. The hotel is no longer operating, but the restaurant is still open. I heard it was for sale. I hope someone buys it due to the history of being the oldest hotel on Hawaii.

Julie climbing one of the many hills.

Pretty sure these were coffee plants in bloom. They smelled wonderful.

Macadamia trees were along a large swath of land.

Julie, Alan and I.

Mahana beach way in the background. It is the green sand beach. The sand's green color comes from olivine, a semi-precious stone that's broken down by waves and deposited on the shore. 

This hill immediately followed the prior photo. I can’t believe we were smiling!

Me coming down a hill.

The bakery where we ended our ride this day.

We couldn’t choose just one, so there are four: cinnamon roll, bread pudding and malasada.

Enjoying our pastries outside of the bakery.

A mural at the bakery.

Kilauea Lodge.

Our room inside the lodge.

The common area of the building many of the riders are staying.

Alan and I on sandwich station duty.

Rest Day Captain Cook Day 4 (Jan 13)

If you’ve been following the blog so far, you might wonder why there was a rest day already. It’s because this ride is a bicycling vacation. Ride a day, then an off day to sightsee. There are always optional rides available on rest days. Today Alan and I chose the short 12 mile ride. Alan cycled the whole route. However, when we got to the last 0.4 of a mile with 10-12% grades, I chose to walk. We had already climbed almost 1000 feet and I decided to save some strength for the next day. Alan challenged himself and won! After the ride we enjoyed the resort amenities. There was a Luau at the resort, but we didn’t go because of a future planned luau later in the trip. However, we had “box seats” sitting on the balcony of our room.

Sunset from our room at the Outrigger Resort.

Alan climbing the last 0.4 miles This picture is very deceiving because it looks flat, but it is nothing but uphill (12% grade).

This is the view after the first climb out of the Outrigger Resort.

I snapped a photo of my Garmin where I got off to walk just as it was getting to the 12% grade. This was after a few tough climbs already.

The second pool at the resort was alongside the ocean’s edge.

View from our room during daylight.

A couple of photos of the dancers at the luau.

Kona (near Captain Cook Memorial) Day 3 (Jan 12)

Two words to describe today: tough climb! But first let me back pedal to the start of the day. One of the messages we received from the group was to have breakfast at the Arise Kona Bakery. Alan and I decided we would walk there and come back for our bikes and load our luggage. We walked to the bakery and it was closed. The next nearby option was Hico Hawaiian Coffee, so we walked there. It was a disappointment as they said we would have to wait 15-20 minutes for a banana toast. We bought a coffee and pastry and headed back. Needless to say, we had a late start to the ride. Big mistake. We started riding at 10:15 for what was supposed to be a 32 mile ride. When we got to the first, and longest climb of the day, it was a gain of about 1100 feet in about 3 miles. That was tough!! Alan and I walked up part of the climb for about 25 minutes, stopping along the way to hydrate. With the asphalt and direct sun, my Garmin thought it was over 90 degrees, even reaching 100. I’m sure the local weather didn’t indicate that intensity. We were not the only ones who had to walk. However, hats off to the riders who cycled the whole way up!!! We stopped in Holualoa for a coffee at the White Nene Coffee Roasters that had a food truck along the road. We also ate our peanut butter sandwiches that we took on our bikes. (The night before each ride we can choose to make a sandwich to take on our bikes). After that it was pretty much all down hill to the hotel, the Outrigger Kona Resort. Today’s ride was less miles, but took us longer to cycle due to the climb five miles into the ride. Put another way, we could have biked about 8 or 9 miles, from this morning’s hotel, down Ali’i drive and avoided all the fun of the climb! We ended up with about 28 miles as we did shorten the ride a bit at the end of the route. After the ride we met for our rider meeting at 4pm and then had dinner at the hotel with three other riders.

We weren’t to the top of the climb yet, but we were still pedaling here and just stopped for water.

I managed to snap a photo of my Garmin as I climbed the hill.

A look towards the direction we had just biked.

At one water stop we saw local roosters wandering.

A glimpse of the climb. The summary showed a maximum grade of 9.8%, but all of the riders saw their Garmins, as they were pedaling, top at about 15% grade.

Just an interesting piece of information.

The White Nene Coffee stop.

The Nene is a Hawaiian goose and the state bird of Hawaii.

At a scenic overlook you could see the town of Kailua-Kona in one direction…

And in the other direction, the Outrigger hotel (the large white building in the center of the photo).

View of the pool from the fourth floor.

The pool has a waterfall feature.

Snorkelers looking for and swimming with manta rays.

Kailua-Kona Day 2 (Jan 11)

Today was scheduled as an optional riding day to allow for riders to explore the area on their own. There were two optional rides of about 20 or 40 miles. Alan and I chose the 20 mile option and added about 10 miles cycling south of Kona. We finished with 29 miles for the day. A local point of interest suggested by the ride leaders was the Pine Tree Cafe. It has been voted Best of West Hawaii since 2018. Alan and I each ordered the banana pancakes; they were scrumptious. We cycled to a local beach on the north side of Kona and then doubled back. Once back in town, we headed south on Ali’i drive for about five miles. I wanted to show Alan where some of my Coast to Coast friends posed for a group photo at the Kamakahuna Beach. (About a dozen of us cycled the Big Island in 2020 just prior to Covid). Unfortunately, there has been wave damage since 2020 and we could not recreate an identical photo.

Wawaloli Beach Park near the ten mile mark.

The nondescript entrance is deceiving for this favorite local eatery.

Archeological/Historical sites are located along the coastline of Hawaii. This one is located at White Sands Beach.

The place where some of my Coast to Coast friends posed for a group photo at the Kamakahuna Beach in 2020.

Near Homlualoa, we stopped at a roadside food truck where Alan treated me to a Pina Colada flavored shaved ice. It was refreshing on the warm afternoon.

This farmers stand with fruit and fresh cut flowers was near the food truck.

Sunset as seen from the Papa Kona Restaurant & Bar where we had the evening rider meeting.

The same location after sunset with lights that shone into the ocean surf.

My meal, a poke stack was more than I could finish. Alan had fish tacos that were just as filling.

Pre ride days on Oahu and Maui (Jan 6 - Jan 9)

We decided early in our planning stages of this trip, that we would fly to Hawaii a few days before the ride and visit a few of the other islands. We flew first to Oahu arriving on the evening of Jan 6th. The next day we visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial and then flew to Maui (Jan 7th). Then on January 8th we did a commercial Road to Hana tour. We made several stops throughout the ten hour tour. The following day, Jan 9th, we awoke at 2:30 am to do another commercial tour: the Haleakala Sunrise Tour. We arrived at the summit about one hour before sunrise. We were above a cloud line and the coloring was spectacular. The only downside was the cold. I thought 45 degrees wouldn’t be “that” bad, but it was worse. With the strong gusty winds, even three layers of clothing wasn’t warm enough. Even worse, two of my layers got went when my water bottle leaked in the bag with my extra layers. Alan gave me one of his layers and the bus driver also offered us two extra jackets. Without those the hour long wait would have been brutal. This tour ended with a hearty breakfast at the Cafe O’ lei at the Plantation. Alan and I both chose the macadamia nut pancakes and were delighted. Immediately after this tour, we headed to the airport once again and flew to the Big Island of Hawaii where the bike ride will take place. If the pace of the first few days seemed jam packed, they were. Most of the Uber drivers we used thought we were on a cruise moving from island to island!

The Pearl Harbor Memorial that sits above the sunken Battleship Arizona.

The flags at the memorial were at half staff in honor of President Jimmy Carter who passed away a few days earlier.

A few remnants of the sunken Battleship are visible from the memorial.

A few remnants of the sunken Battleship are visible from the memorial.

This sea turtle was on the beach at the first stop on the Road to Hana tour.

Baby Beach, a stop on the Road to Hana tour.

The shoreline along the Makawao Forest Reserve.

The tour stopped at this small cafe as part of the Road to Hana tour.

Of course, we had some of the banana bread.

Hamoa Beach at the Wai’anapanapa State Park. We had a sandwhich lunch, that was provided by the tour, while at this park.

A waterfall within the Haleakala National Park.

The Haleakala Sunrise tour at about 6:17am.

At 6:33am

At 6:40am

At 6:52am

At 6:58am

At 7:15am

Near the O’ lei Cafe at the Plantaition.

Kailua-Kona Pre-Ride (Jan 9th) and Day 1 (Jan 10th)

We flew from Maui to the Big Island of Hawaii on the evening of January 9th. It had already been a long day because we awoke at 2:30am for a shuttle pickup to take us to the summit of Haleakala (elevation of 9740 feet). Once we settled into our room at the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel Courtyard Marriott, we walked to the Kona Brewery for pizza and local brew. We ended the day with a beautiful sunset that looked similar to the mornings’ sunrise.

January 10th was the official Day 0 for the group ride through the Bike Adventure Club. After a fresh cup of Kona brewed coffee and pastries, Alan and I picked up our rental bikes from the local bike shop, Kona Bike Works. We opted to ride one of the Day 1 rides which was 20 miles. However about a third of the way into the ride, Alan realized his bike seat was dropping down. The tool given to us at the bike shop would not adjust the seat height, so we headed back to the bike shop for a total of 18 miles. As it turned out, the hex bolt was stripped and Alan was given a different bike. He went from a Trek Domane (the kind of bike he rides at home) to a Cervello.

Later in the evening was our first rider meeting. We all introduced ourselves, received a few items and had dinner at the hotel restaurant.

On the way to the Kona Brewery.

They were out of the Lemongrass Luau on tap, so I opted for the limited edition can version. It was a blonde ale with wheat malt, a variety of hops, ginger & lemongrass and tasted great. I hope I can get it again sometime on the trip.

Sunset as seen from our hotel balcony Thursday evening.

On Friday morning, from the same balcony, we saw this partial rainbow. We were hoping it was a good luck sign, however, it didn’t hold for the whole day as Alan had to change his bike as described above.

We got to this point on the ride, but the short loop didn’t allow bikes, so we continued on.

We saw undomesticated goats several times along the roads.

At our rider meeting we were all given a sunscreen, luggage tag, and re-usable sandwich bag to carry sandwiches on our bikes for lunch each day.