What an amazing day!
Let's see now - where to start...
I have to admit, it is somewhat demoralizing to start the first bike tour of the year - in fact the first bike tour in over 8 months - with a long pull uphill. It took me 2 hours to go the first 10 miles. I expected the uphill, but as I was crawling uphill (riding very slowly) with the sweat just pouring off of me, I wondered if I'd misjudged how far I would get today. Those bad thoughts didn't last very long since I knew that the beginning of the day held the steepest climbs. There was climbing all day - starting with that first 10 miles and continuing as the terrain became rolling. Lots of ups and downs. The surprise for me was that I climbed 3800 feet today! I expected the 4000 foot elevation gain tomorrow, but today I thought my high point would be between 1500 and 2000 feet - and it was - but I kept going down hills and then climbing back up again.
Looking back - it's amazing how fast I gained elevation this morning (even though I felt like I was crawling up the hills)
I found it very helpful that every 500 feet of elevation gain or loss was noted by a sign on the road.
It was amazing how many different climate and vegetation zones I passed through today. I started on the ocean, and immediately started climbing. From black lava rock to an immediate climb up to 1500+ feet of elevation where there were trees. I rode through an area of coffee plantations, and through areas with big trees. And then all of a sudden I'd be crossing an area of just black lava fields. Then I'd see ferns growing from the lava. Amazing. Back to trees, then back to lava. I ended the day in a beautiful, lush, green place. Charlene said that they get an average of 40 inches of rain a year here - a good place to grow macadamia nuts!
I totally lucked out in a 7-mile stretch that was marked as a construction zone. It looked like the work was just about complete, so I had a new smooth road surface, perfect for riding. They must have widened the road too, because the warning sign on the road saying "narrow and winding road next 25 miles" didn't really seem to be needed. The road was definitely winding, but it didn't seem too narrow to me. There were actually shoulders a good part of the way. The biggest problem I had with the road was that they embed reflectors in the pavement along the white line on the right edge of the road. These reflectors aren't flat, so I was trying not to hit them with my tires - they could easily knock you off balance if you weren't paying attention. If the shoulder was wide enough (and smooth enough) for me to be happy, I'd use it. Otherwise I was on the right side of the driving lane, and I'd just pull over if the traffic got too heavy. When I started riding this morning I was afraid I'd be in heavy traffic all day, but that didn't happen. It's Sunday, but tourism knows no weekends... I think a lot of people were headed to a prime snorkeling bay or were headed up to Volcano. But folks seemed to head out early, and once I got past the town of Captain Cook the traffic really thinned out. I had the road to myself a lot of the time.
Just loved this sign! Traffic was pretty busy up to this point, but it thinned out considerably for the rest of the day.
I had a really wicked headwind for the last 14 miles of my ride. It's funny, I had just been thinking that South Point is always windy and that I was soon coming up on the turn-off for South Point. Just after I had that thought, the wind started. I still had about 10 miles of a slight uphill grade to ride before I came to the downhill stretch at the end of the day. And the downhill stretch was pretty slow to start. At first I thought I was going to have to pedal all the way downhill - that's how strong the wind was - but once the downhill grade kicked to 4 to 6% I started flying. I can't really complain too much about the wind. It made it hard to ride at times, but it kept me dry!
I knew about the downhill section from the Hawaii biking web site (see my resources page for the link), but a man I was chatting with at a store told me about it too. I stopped to pick up some Gatorade for tomorrow, and started talking with the guy behind me in line. He said that the downhill section frequently has mist (very light rain) on it. I wouldn't have minded that today either! I went through 70 ounces of water and about 80 ounces of Gatorade on my ride today - trying my best not to get dehydrated!
I'm staying at Macadamia Meadows Farms B&B. When I made my reservation, Charlene asked if she could move me to a different room if a reservation came in for the room I'd reserved for a longer period of time. Of course I said yes - I'd never seen any of the rooms, and I figured any room would be fine. Someone else wanted the room I was originally assigned, so my room was upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite. It's a gorgeous room with a queen bed and seating area, and private bathroom inside, and a table and chairs out on a lanai. I get to my room by walking along the lanai that wraps around the house. My bike is sitting out on the lanai by the front door, nicely protected. Another fabulous choice for a place to stay! When I checked in Courtney told me that Charlene would drive me into town (2+ miles) for dinner. I asked if there was anyplace to pick up a sandwich and bring it back here, and it turned out there was a fruit stand and bakery just a little past town. So I opted for that instead of the restaurant. Charlene drove, and I was glad she did when I realized the my end of the day downhill continued for a few more miles. I was glad I didn't bike into town to pick up dinner since it would have been uphill all the way back.
We were almost back to the house when Charlene asked if I'd like to go down to South Point. That was treat! South Point is the southernmost point in the United States. I thought about riding there, but it's 12 miles off the main road - downhill there, and uphill all the way back - and adding 24 miles to my 56 mile day would have been way too long for me. And when I say I thought about it, I mean way back when I was planning my trip. It didn't enter my mind at all today. But I was happy to take Charlene up on her offer. It was a beautiful drive down a somewhat roughly paved one-lane two-way road. We went by a windmill farm, and saw cattle and horses ( a surprise for me since I thought the cattle were only in the Waimea section of the island, wrong on that count!). South Point is a very windy place - so much so that the trees were growing sideways. As we got close to the end of the road, it looked like we were coming to the edge of the earth. There were sheer cliffs leading to the ocean, just amazing. Some thoughts after returning home: Spending 2 nights at Macadamia Meadows B&B would leave a full day to ride to South Point and to hike to the green sand beach that is accessible from there. That would be a really nice extra day to add on to this trip. Maybe next time...
Courtney and Charlene make their B&B a special place. It's a beautiful house, but beyond that their hospitality is wonderful. It was a really nice touch to drive me into town to get dinner considering my only transportation is my bike, and it was very cool to get to South Point too. I'd definitely stay there again...
I ate dinner in my private dining area on the balcony - a sandwich (a sub really, with provolone, avocados, hot peppers, tomatos, and sprouts - and yes, it was big. I had some fresh fruit and an outrageous piece of macadamia nut shortbread for desert. That was shortbread with a topping that reminds me of pecan pie, but the nuts are macadamias. I was pretty stuffed after all that. I've continued to sit on my balcony writing my journal entry and enjoying the sunset and the sound of wind in the trees. There's actually a little chill in the air tonight (but a comfortable one) - probably a result of the elevation (still about 1000 feet) and the wind. Tomorrow night I'l be at 4000 feet, so it will be cooler yet.
I'll relax for a little longer, then try to get to sleep early. I had a great night's sleep last night, and I'm hoping for another one tonight in preparation to my climbing day.
Home for the night
