Stronger, Fitter, Faster

Stronger

Twelve years behind a desk does things to your body. For the first time in ten years I've started hitting a gym 3x a week but that doesn't mean I can muster too many pushups just yet.

Fitter

Lose a serious amount of weight. This is definitely key to making everything else work, so I'll be focusing on dropping pounds to get not only into a healthy range of BMI, but to also increase my endurance and fitness.

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Riding in Kona, Hawaii

Riding the queen k highway, originally uploaded by mathowie.

About a year ago I started planning a winter vacation, with two weeks in Hawaii. Originally, I never intended to do much riding while there, but as the date drew closer, I started to do a little research. It all started with Lance Armstrong getting on twitter a couple months ago, then endlessly gushing about riding on the big island near Kona. He posted notes and photos from rides and a few weeks later Bike Hugger was there as well and published a handy guide to riding there.

Weighing the options

Bringing my own bike over seemed like an expensive option, with a bike box going for about $300 and airlines charging anywhere from $50-100 each way to transport a bike. Shipping a bike to the big island was about $200 each way, and shops generally wanted about $50 to reassemble and repack on each end.

Finally I looked into renting bikes but talked to a handful of shops and didn't think they'd have much to offer. A few days into the trip my wife noticed I was lethargic and complaining of stiff muscles and suggested checking for bike rentals again to stretch out and get some exercise. 

Thanks to a recommendation from Byron at Bikehugger, I ended up at Bike Works, which had a wonderful carbon/dura-ace Cannondale in 63cm that fit better than my personal Cervelo (it had a nice long head tube that positioned the bars just perfectly). The staff were responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable. Other shops I interacted with either didn't give much information over email or seemed kind of wishy-washy. I ended up renting the bike for a full week and it came in under $250 for this high-end bike (two friends that joined me on the trip got a nice high end Cervelo and a mid-range Cannondale).

Where to ride

Since I stayed along Alii Drive, the sort of main drag of Kailua-Kona, I started all my rides there, but quickly ended up riding up and down the Queen K highway, which happens to be the same route that Ironman Triatheletes take every fall, so it's smooth, safe, and fast (when you're not riding into a stiff headwind). I frequently saw other cyclists and about half of them were riding pretty crazy ~$10k time trial machines. I typically rode some hills along Alii Dr., then I'd go for 30-60min north and ride back home. The first day the wind wasn't too bad, but subsequent rides were often pushing only 13mph into the wind on the way to the Kona Airport, then cruising in the 25-27mph range all the way home. I didn't get a chance to climb any volcanoes nor did I get to hit the big Saturday morning group ride (my main server was hacked just as I was waking up to get ready for the ride), but overall, I'd say for riding a road bike in Hawaii, the big island area around Kona has plenty to offer, and it doesn't hurt that it was sunny and 80F every single day I was there for two weeks.

Posted on February 2, 2009 in travel

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