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.
