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.