By Eric O’Higgins
Jan 5-6. Ah, that January sunshine, it makes it all worthwhile. The club has done many Hawaiian trips to the Big Island and many fond memories are attached to it. This year’s version is working out the same way – – kindly weather (mostly), glorious scenery (except for lava), and fun companions (without exception).
Uncle Billy’s hotel in Kona where we started out is right in the middle of town, built around a pool and courtyard. Good place to recover from a bit of two-hour jet lag while putting the bikes together again. Sharon and Garry rented; and what bikes they were. Sharon got a carbon Cervelo, can you believe it, and Garry’s on a very pretty Giant carbon.
Luggage turned out to be more than expected, so off we went and rented a fancy bike rack which has seen a fair amount of service.
A recovery day in Kona was followed by an easy 20km to Captain Cook along the highway. Riding the secondary roads is much prettier, but the hill up to the highway got way steeper.
Jan 7-8. In Captain Cook we found the delightful Manago Hotel with seabreeze rooms behind the ancestral building hanging over the sidewalk. Restaurant closed on Mondays but we trudged off for pizza or Thai or Chinese. Our second day, the ‘rest’ day featured a hike down to the Captain Cook memorial which was at least an hour down on lava gravel and more like two hours back up. Snorkeling in the transparent waters was worth it for Robin and Dan, Colin went too and Bernie and Alexandra, Eric trusted his dicky ankle, Jenny and Mike had no trouble, Garry of course rambled up and down like it was flat.
Some cycled south to the the Place of Refuge park down the road and naturally back up: Vin and Lynne and Dan McGuire were joined later by a contingent that did both the memorial and the ride.
Jan 9. The next day was a cycling day, down the hill and head south on and on to the worst accommodation in living memory. We didn’t stay and didn’t pay, but moved the bunch on to Macadamia Meadows and two other B&Bs in Naalehu, 10 km down the road. Dan M spotted Macadamia on line last fall and Eric the leader should have checked it out, shouldn’t he? Future tours please note: We could all have stayed there and might have enjoyed another day as well.
Jan 10-11. A good night and a neat breakfast the next morning then 60 km uphill to Volcano Village. The grades were OK, but a strong headwind made it a heinous slog indeed. Went through every drop of water in the van by the end of the day and did five rescues including two people still out on the road at 5:30 for the mandatory pickup. Volcano Village accommodation was divvied among three widely separated places, with widely separated prices! Next tour should demand the Volcano Hale hostel with its own kitchen and rooms for 18 or 20.
Note: Kona-to-Captain Cook plus the return ride from the Refuge was still only half as much as the climb up to Volcano. Busy day, with rescues and luggage drops still going on so we missed the daily 5 p.m. meeting with the result that the Volcano rest day was widely separated too. Great volcano park, though, and enough interest to have spent an extra day.
Jan 12-13. Volcano is the dividing line between windward and leeward so the rainfall here is about 120 inches a year. The glide downhill after the rest day however was extravagantly sunny and caused Mike to rate it the easiest 60 km he’d ever ridden. Visits to an orchid farm and a macadamia nut factory stretched the day until it was time to check into a renovated Uncle Billy hotel mere feet from the harbour — and five hours from Alaska as the tsunami rolls. Ocean views from every balcony, uh sorry, make that every lanai.
Rain fell after supper and overnight.
Jan 14-15. Fifty-three bridges: We need to spell that out because the shore west from Hilo is seamed with rills and gulches, everyone needing a bridge. The bike store warned about the narrow, dangerous bridges but they were just fine thanks. Each one had some hill attached, which got a little trying in 80-plus temperatures and sunshine all the way; who’s to complain.
Rain started again the next morning, at 5:30 a.m. which turned the streets into rivers in a flash. Tapered off to drizzle later, enough to dissuaded most people from cycling to the Waipio Valley, which was a shame because Colin and Eric arrived in the rain to have the sun come out and a rainbow arch over the valley: Gorgeous!
Down a mile of very steep road and back up. The rain held off that long and no longer, so we got soaked again. Warm though.
Jan 16-17. A day of contrasts: Riding up the Old Mamalahoa Highway was a delight; through the rainforest climbing for eight kilometres of gentle grade. Recently resurfaced, the route was like velvet; but bad advice about the rough road sent many people on the new and busy highway. Lack of shoulders on the old road didn’t matter when we could ride in the middle of the road.
At the height of land the fog cleared, the jungle ended and we were back on the leeward side. Only 15 miles from jungle to cactus!
Kamuela Inn in Waimea is well groomed in contrast to 1910 Honoka’a where the rooms are clean but the building is ramshackle. Waimea town is busy and dedicated to the automobile beyond the ordinary. Pedestrian carry red safety flags from bins at each corner– and plenty of time to select one, perhaps three minutes of waiting for five seconds of ‘walk’ signal.
The following rest day saw some riders going back to the Old Mamalahoa Highway they had missed. Others cycled 90km to Hawi and still others took the van downhill to the beach.
Jan 18-19. The last ride going down the hill to Kona either on the Hawaii Belt Road inland or dawdling along the beach highway. Both memorable in different ways.
The farewell dinner slated for Jan 19 was moved up so the early departures, Lynne and Vince, could attend. Fitting the last day’s pack-up chores into the day before made Jan. 18 busy but left time for souvenir shopping ahead of flight times. Sharon’s souvenir was to buy her rented Cervelo to take home because everything was a perfect fit for her and she was in love again.
This always-popular trip needs a repeat tour in a couple of years while the 2013 experience is still valid. High on the list will be a suggestion to go around the Big Island in the other direction to try to use the trade winds instead of fighting them.