Sunday Final

Wonky weather.
Willy wonky weather.
Willy wonky weather was wonderful.
Willy wonky weather was wistfully wonderful.
Oh, sorry.
Got carried away there.
When I hit the road this morning it was the same grey skies the tri-peeps were suffering under.
By the end of the ride it was the polar opposite:



Yes, Mr. Bluesky was back.
This was at the tail end of thirty miles, most of which was racked up under windy blustery conditions. I don't know what's up with the weather for the Doppler radar shows all clear, then these low dark clouds roll in and it looks all dark and grey and bad and all off a sudden the clouds break and sunshine pours down instead of rain.
Wonky I tell you.
So I'm trying to work some new roads into my route just to add some mileage and change things up. Twenty five to thirty miles is the new benchmark. Now I just have to make up my mind and hit some hills.
My climbing really sucks.
Big time.
Single digit sucking up sloping sidewalks.
Embarrassing.
Well, to start off small, there's a long but not very steep incline that leads up to the main highway. At the intersection is a small park and a fountain that sort of marks the entrance to Kailua.
In all the time I've lived here, I've never visited that fountain:



I sat there for a bit and thought about that.
Boy, in all the years I've lived here, I've never been to the fountain.
Passed by it thousands of times, sat in traffic and oogled it, saw someone pour soap in it so it got all foamy, saw kids play in it, but never actually sat by it.
That's pretty sad.
If I hadn't taken up riding a bike, I might never have gone there.
That's even sadder.
Pathetic even.
What riding a bike does, or what it allows me to do, is to check out all these places I would never attempt to visit in my car.
That's a good thing, even if my legs have to explode in order for me to get there.
Okay, not really. It wasn't that steep of a hill.
I still sucked wind going up.
That's a bad thing for yesterday I picked up my packet for the Haleiwa Metric Century Ride next week:



Another chance to intimately explore someplace I've only really passed by in a car. I mean, I've been to Haleiwa before(hopefully, there will be a swell and I'll get some big wave pics!), but mostly as a tourist; just visiting. I'll get the opportunity to get up close and personal, this time on my bike.
Sixty miles is ten miles more than I've ever ridden so I hope nothing explodes. My brother will be with me so in case something happens, he can tell everyone the story.
I'll probably ride twice then take the rest of the week off.
Hopefully, by next Sunday, my legs will be mean, lean, muscularly sculpted Epogen powered pistons of destruction.
Then again, I haven't ridden with my brother in a while, so I hope he doesn't rip my legs off!
Oh, and that XTR derailleur is freaking awesome.
More on that later.
Breaking Bad is on so I gotta go.