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.