Honolulu Century Ride-The Short Version

One of the things I like about doing these things is seeing all the bicycle people lined up at the start.
The announcer said there were three thousand this morning, about a third of them Japanese riders.
The cyclists are separated into four groups, A, B, C, and JRA(no relation to JRA of One Speed: Go! fame).
The A types are usually the tri dudes, who make the ride a hammerfest, B folks are slower, C even slower, etc.
Here we are, all dressed up with no place to go:




The start is sort of funky as we march down the parking lot and make a U turn back up the street.
From there it's on to Diamond Head and the lookouts.
Dawn Patrol at Diamond Head:




From there, we head on toward the east side of the island, trying to catch the sun:



Getting passed by a folder:



This section contains some traffic signals which serves to break up the groups and create some backlogs:



The Sun coming up over Koko Head crater:



Just about a quarter of a mile away from the Hill of Mass Destruction.
The ironic thing is that it's also a slight incline getting there.
I had to watch my heart rate for I it was running a bit high today. Perhaps the effects of my still lingering cold.
I took it easy here for I knew what was coming up:



Yes, my nemesis, the Hill of Crushed Souls.
Doesn't look like much in the image, but check out the tiles on the wall. It's also a double incline meaning it gets steeper at the top.
I hit the granny gear and tried to set a tempo.
Let me tell you, it wasn't too much fun seeing my heart rate begin to redline, then go into the implosion zone.
By that time though, I was so close to making it, I wasn't stopping!
I think can, I think can, I think I can.
Like the Little Engine That Could I made my way to the top at a blistering pace of six miles per hour.
My heart rate ended up around ten beats over my max and although it worried me, it didn't feel so bad.
Sort of.
The rest station was just up ahead:




First thing I looked for was the water.
It wasn't hard to find for there were four young lasses hawking the H2O:



I paused(rested) for a bit to look out over the Ka'iwi Channel. It was remarkably clear and you could see the island of Moloka'i quite clearly:



From there it was back on the bike toward the Makapu'u Lighthouse.
Part II coming up.