Hike, Bike, and Snorkel

About as close to a triathlon that Christine and I will ever participate in was a hike, bike, and swim (snorkel) tour while in Hawaii. It had the same elements as a Tri if you stretch the imagination but not the pressure.

Back during the summer, I wrote about a chilly morning ride down Haleakala (volcano in Maui) so we will switch and write of a warm weather ride while it is still winter. It turned out that Ernie and Margaret Charlesworth had gone on the same ride some years back. Hopefully they went on this tour as it was a memorable fun-filled day. Perhaps even Tamra has been on this tour.

As with most tours, the vendor picks you up at your hotel.

Our day started at 9 a.m. and we were shuttled by van to a tropical rain forest on a private 75-acre property in Manoa Valley on Oahu. Upon arrival, we were each issued trail snacks, a water bottle, and optional rubber boots and rain jacket. We were warned that the trail was muddy and we could ruin our shoes if we chose not to wear the rubber boots. Rain jacket was just in case; after all, we were in a rain forest. The nature trail was about a mile along a jungle stream with mountain pools. You will have to take my word on some of it as it appeared that I took a lot of pictures while walking or jumping up and down.

The end goal was a 200 foot waterfall.

First glimpse of the falls.

 The amount of water flowing was dependent upon the amount of rain received. The hike back was over a scenic ridge-top with many tropical plants, flowers, and trees. I wish more of my pictures turned out, but you may get the idea.

After the hike, we were shuttled to the top of Tantalus (a tall mountain on the outskirts of Honolulu) and were outfitted with a Trek mountain bike with front end suspension and disc brakes. We were given a short briefing on bike safety and the rules. One of the rules was not to brake with the front brake. Off we went downhill, and within 50 yards a person felt she was going too fast, hit the front brake, and was thrown over the bars. She sustained quite a few road rashes and opted to ride the rest of the way in the SAG van. The descent on a paved  road was only 5 miles but there were enough stops to make the ride seem longer. At the Manoa lookout we stopped for pictures.

At the bottom of the mountain there was a grassy park, and we were given a deli style lunch. We had to surrender our bikes at that point, so we wouldn’t ride off and extend our biking tour. It would have been great to keep on riding but we had another adventure awaiting us.

After lunch, we piled back into a van and were taken to Kewalo Basin where a catamaran sail was to take us out for a snorkeling excursion. The snorkeling was over a reef off the shores of Waikiki. The fish were plentiful.

Christine snorkeling.

While snorkeling, Christine found a green sea turtle that she followed all over the reef.

Beside us was another catamaran.

Christine was following a turtle and it swam under the catamaran. So did Chris.

She was spotted by the crew and when she surfaced, she was told swimming under the boat was a no-no. Too late, she took a lot of good shots.

I forgot how long we snorkeled, but too soon it was over and time to head back to shore.

Clouds were rolling in and the wind was picking up. 

The ride back to the basin was a scenic one. It was an opportunity to get in some Waikiki beach shots from a different perspective.

The pink hotel dwarfed by the high rise buildings is the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Our hotel straight in front of us. As we began the story with a shot of our hotel, we will end it with a different shot. And also end a story about an almost perfect day.

Beginners Page # 11 Carrying a Spare Tire

Prologue: The below was originally posted on the right side of the page--in the temporary ramblings section. However, it was suggested that part of the below is so dumb, it should be in the archives so that some other beginner possibly could learn from my many mistakes. And speaking of beginner, I was up to Beginners Page "10"--after stretching it some--and I thought that I had graduated to a higher level and could start on sophisticated topics. Self-grandeur and reality are two different things so on with the Beginners Pages. Recently I was complaining to Randy about all the mistakes I have made and keep on making new ones. He said it was just a learning curve. I think my curve that I am working on is as big as the St. Louis Gateway Arch.


"Carrying a Spare Tire"

On a routine bike check, I spotted a small cut in Christine's back tire. Getting ready for a Saturday group ride, we thought we would bring a spare tire along in case she blew the tire.

Ages ago, I had a blown out one of my tires that had more than 1,000 miles on it, so when I replaced the blown tire, I replaced the other tire as well. So I had a spare tire. It had received some use as I loaned it to Nancy when she blew a tire this summer and loaned it to another person when I blew out his tire putting air in it--but that is another story--point is that the spare we had wasn't brand new.

Now, we knew we had to get the tire small enough to fit into a saddle bag or jersey pocket as we had seen others do on some tours. The new tires we have bought always seemed to be inside out and folded in sections. So I tried to turn the tire inside out. Try as I might, I couldn't get it inside out, so I just folded it in half and then half again. The thing was really resistant, so I had Christine stand on it to squish it down while I put some plastic covered wire ties around it to hold it together. We thought that the tire was rigid from being cold as I had just brought it in from the garage.

Finally, we tied the tire together but it was too big to put in our jersey pocket, so we were hoping that Rick didn't have his "suitcase" full and could carry it for us.

We got to the staging site (Knickerbocker town) and asked Rick if he had room for the tire in his big carrying case. He said yes, and then Ty said he could carry it in his saddle bag. He took the tire from me and had a shocked look on his face. Rick was speechless. Ty asked if it was a wire rimmed tire--"Uh dunno." He informed me it was useless now as the wire would probable break when I unfolded it. Sure enough, it seemed to have a wire rim.

Ty gave me a class on what tires to use to carry them as a spare and how to fold them. What I heard was "Don't do this at home, let a professional do it for you".

So here are some lessons I learned:

You shouldn't bend a wire-rimmed tire.
If you have to bend a wire-rimmed tire, don't have someone stand on it.
You can't make a carry-along spare tire out of every extra tire you may have. Get a ready-made spare to carry around if that is what you want to do.
If you are having to force something, get a second opinion.

Examples of my lesson learned:

Christmas Light Tour

Sunday

December 6, 2009

The weather for the ride was great in comparison with the Friday snow. And the turn-out was outstanding. It was reported that 59 riders participated in the event. There were additional people working behind the scenes to make the event a roaring success.

Christy Nesbitt of the San Angelo Bicycle Association worked for several months coordinating the event, and Jennifer Odom of the Concho Christmas Celebration worked long and hard coordinating and providing publicity. While I am thanking people, I also wish to express appreciation to:
San Angelo Police Department—donation of bicycles for kids to use.
Lee Pfluger—donation of money to repair the bicycles.
Randy Rangel—Randy’s Bike and Run donated time and expertise to repair the bikes and check for safety.
Safe Kids—donated helmets
Walmart—donated hot cider for after the event.
Chick-Fil-A—donated Christmas cookies for after the event.
John Woiten—AKA Santa
KLST—provided TV coverage.
Many thanks to the health businesses and clubs that displayed the event flyer and provided other support.

Thanks to all the participants helping to make the event a success. If anyone has been left out, please accept my apologies and THANKS.

To the right were some of the bikes that were available to anyone who needed a ride.

A big contributor to the event was Lee Pfluger who donated a lot of money to get the bikes in a safe working condition. And he brought the bikes out himself. Lee is the one on the left, below. The one on the right is an unnamed publicity hound basking in the lime light of famous people.

As advertised, Santa was going to be there. John Woiten, President of the San Angelo Bicycle Association volunteered to act as stand-in. John, DeAnna, and his helper did a good job decorating their bike to add to the Christmas cheer.

Thumbs up and the ride is ready to begin. Some of the participants:

Parts of the ride:

Last but certainly not least--the refreshments at the end and helpers.

It is hoped that the bicycle lights tour will be an annual event.