Things I've been doing

About a month ago I went to Maui with my mountain bike.  Little did I know it would be my last ride on my tiny Kona XC bike.  I logged 6 hours of riding and 9000 ft of climbing on day 1 (which apparently did my frame in) and 1 hour of careful riding in the rain on day 2, avoiding a catastrophic frame failure.   Makawao forest reserve now has the esteemed title of "My Favorite Trail in Hawaii."  6 miles of multiuse trail traverse the slopes of Haleakala.  I later found out that this trail was actually designed for bikes, and that's why it flows SOOOOO well.  On Oahu I have only found flow once- at Royal Summit.  The rest of the Oahu trails climb and descend scary lava rocks.  Admittedly, I like the lava rocks a lot, but that style of trail is very taxing on both the mind and body.  In addition to flow, Makawao also offers trails with serious climbing, neat vistas, fast descents, dirt jumps (which I elected not to try), and berms like you wouldn't believe.  Here are some photos from the trip:

Verifying that I was there.

Buff Trails

BRRRRAAPPP

New Friends

A view from the top- still another 5000 ft of possible climbing

Nap time

Now here's the irony of  this trip: Makawao Forest Reserve is ~ 3 miles (as the crow flies) from the town of Kula.  My Kona bike was a Kula Lisa model.  I think my bike was just waiting to go to its name sake so it could die.  You know... like elephants go to the elephant graveyard to die.

Prior to learning the fate of my frame, I decided to re-retire from road cycling.  I did this once in 2006, but some how got dooped into thinking road bikes were fun when I moved to Hawaii.  Mountain biking is way to fun to waste time on road bikes.  I must have been drugged.  In fact, in the past year, my poor mountain bike saw less than 1/3 of the ride time that my road bike saw.  Anyway, the broken frame was quite the ordeal.  It involved all of the stages of grieving: during my day 2 ride on Maui, I kept telling myself it was cosmetic (however, the unbelievable creaking when I stood up was very telling of the crack).  Then I was angry- how could my bike do this to me?  I just gave up road cycling!  I'm not quite sure if the bargaining stage fully developed- this might have been when I was considering my other options if a warranty frame wasn't available.  Then the depression... this included several bouts of crying and being in a really sour mood for about 4 days.  The moment of acceptance finally arrived after I took my 24 inches of love Kona (dirt jumper) our for a short evening ride and Sideburnz's coworker clued me in to an Orbea closeout hardtail frame.  I conceded that I still had a mountain bike- 24 inches of love- and then felt quite guilty that it had sat in pieces since we moved.  My optimism improved once my new Orbea frame was on order.

Sideburnz was supportive, but he kept reminding me that it was time.  I have ridden mountain bikes for over 10 years and never broken a frame.  I ride aggressively, and even with my minimal body weight, this was inevitable.  I'm glad that my Kona's last ride was on Maui.  It was an epic weekend.

Now I have a new member of my fleet.  My raspberry colored Orbea.  Its officially a 2007 D'ella, but there's no model name on the frame.  I like being stealth like that.

Sideburnz built my Orbea while I was on the mainland.  The best way to get back on Hawaii time is to ride for 2+ hours at Royal Summit. She really proved her worth last weekend.  I never thought I could replace my Kona... the Orbea might even be an improvement!  

As if I don't have enough ways to have fun on a bike, I visited the Sand Box for the first time, this morning.  Its been a long time since I rode at the BMX track.  This was a phenomenal exercise in body temperature regulation.  Per ABA regs, I was wearing my BMX pants, long sleeve jersey, and full face helmet.  Yowzers.  I think "sweating profusely" might be an understatement.  I later found out that shorts are permitted with knee and shin pads and and short sleeves are permitted with elbow pads.  The track riding was fun.  I really got into the rhythm section.  Its slightly down hill, so if I had enough speed coming out of the berm, I could pump the whole thing without pedaling.  FUN! Good thing Sideburnz has a BMX bike!

As part of my BMX recovery this morning, I'm enjoying the Twins vs Phillies game (Twins just tied it).  Next up is a trail run in preparation for an off-road triathlon in July 4.  This evening, I'll meet Sideburnz at the beach for a short swim.  I might complete a triathlon today!  Can't wait for more awesomeness.