Flying Blind

Without instruments.
Not even by the seat of my pants.
Sort of like making my way through a dark room.
With lot o'obstacles in there.
Wait.
First, the Prevaricating Garmin info from yesterday.
You know, for your amusement:



As you can see, the average speed is wrong.
It's supposed to say 768mph.
Because I'm Super Sonic.
Don't you know.
Anyways right after we made the turn at the top of the island, near Kahuku, is where we encountered the tradewind powered wind tunnel.
I swear the coconut trees were bending sideways!
Not what this is all about though.
So anyways, after all of that, I came home for there was a Something Wonderful meeting I needed to be at.
Something Wonderful was going to happen.
Okay, not really.
I mean I expected Something Wonderful, instead I just got okay.
Still okay is better than not okay, so I'll take okay any day.
If you know what I mean.
The great City and County of Honolulu, which encompasses all of O'ahu, is on board with Something Wonderful, just not as Wonderful as I/we expected.
Meaning there's still tons of work to be done to get Something Wonderful off the ground.
It's just not going to be as difficult since some wheels have been greased.
So to speak.
At this point, I personally am in uncharted territory.
I have no clue.
Which is dangerous for when I have no clue I tend to just proceed forward and ask questions later.
We have some folks who are guiding us along, folks who have some experience but since they have experience it means they have their own Something Wonderfuls to take care of and don't really have the time to put in to our Something Wonderful.
Did that make sense?
Hopefully I can find my way through some of the darkness and our Something Wonderful will have a name that I can share, not just here on The Flat Tire, but to the whole world!
Okay, maybe not to the whole world, but you get my drift.
Then again, the name Something Wonderful is sort of growing on me.
In fact we should just call Something Wonderful, Something Wonderful!
Maybe.

Sunday Final

Pooped!
Pooped and dirty!
No, not that kind of dirty.
The real dirt sort of dirty.
Let me explain.
So I left Flat Tire Central before the crack of dawn, picked up my brother and headed out to O'ahu's famous North Shore.
Oh yeah baby!
Metric century day!
All the eager bicyclists lined up at the start:

I think it was announced that there were over five hundred of us, though it sure seemed like more.
The sun was breaking out of the morning clouds and off we went!

Again, the crowd seemed larger as we were strung out pretty far down the road.
Slowly my brother and I made our way forward, you know, cause we are like pretty fast and all and them slow pokes were well, slowing us down.
The first rest stop was pretty crowded:

It was only six miles out, the 25k turnaround, so we just had a look see and pressed on.
Green energy, the horsey in the corner for scale:

Folks are complaining that the turbines are ruining the view, but I prefer them to oil burning smoke stacks.
Them clouds aren't looking too good.
Nope, not at all.
Yes! that's right horticulture fans!
It started to rain.
Drizzle here, drizzle there, just enough to keep the roads nice and wet.
Okay, who's idea was this again?
I felt like I was riding the cobbles in Paris Roubaix.
Okay, not really.
It was just as messy though:

Right now, I have a pretty nice brown bicycle.
If you know what I mean.
Then came the brutal part as we turned into the wind.
I'm not going to dwell too long on it but lemme tell you it was brutal!
Did I mention how brutal it was?
I think we only held 13-14 mph along a ten mile stretch.
At least we'd have the wind at our backs on the return trip!
Wrong!
After the turnaround, the wind died down and back came the drizzle drizzle!
I stopped looking at my Prevaricating Garmin and just kept my head down.
Okay, it wasn't all that bad.
World famous Sunset Beach:

We stopped to watch some dudes surf for a bit before moving on.
At this point I think both of us were sort of cooked, but we were so close to the end, we kept on grinding.
Image is everything.
Don't you know.
Waimea Bay:

Famous church tower to the right of center.
They say the waves there sometimes are as high as the tower!
It's summer though, so the the bay is flat, even though there were three foot waves at Sunset.
We're getting close to the finish!
Zip up that jersey, I tell my brother, you know so we look all pro!
Victory!

Oh yeah baby!
With plenty of gas in the tank!
Okay, not really.
I could have gone maybe one more mile.
My brother says he had another ten in his legs.
The Crash Test Dummy lies.
Not the greatest weather and I came back looking like I went mountain biking in the mud, but I had a pretty good time.
If you ever make it to Flat Tire Land, the Haleiwa Metric Century ride is a must do.
I'm already thinking about next year.
Okay, not really.
I'm thinking I need a nap.

Waffling

Tomorrow.
I face my fate.
Oh I should have known better.
Prepared myself for the inevitable.
Nooooooo.
Watching Law & Order was I.
Consuming potato chips.
On the couch.
Yes, tomorrow will come too soon, too soon for these out shape legs.
Tomorrow I ride!
Ride my little but immensely powerful legs to nubs on the Haleiwa Metric Century ride:

Boy, did that sneak up on me.
Okay, not really.
I was counting the days, the days I wasn't riding my bicycle and wondering how much torture it was going to be.
At least misery will have company as my more out of shape than me brother will accompany me.
Lemme just say right here, I don't know how long I'm going to be doing these ride thingys considering the cost seems to keep going up.
This here ride set me back $65 and while I like this ride, I'm not sure if it's worth it.
I guess they got to pay for the fancy smancy pin on numbers:

Well okay, lot o'folks who do this ride are tourists and I suppose the number is sort of a souvenir.
I'll be thinking hard about forking over the cashola when the Honolulu Century comes up in September.
I mean these rides are fun and all, but really, just getting on the bicycle is pretty darn fun even when I'm all by my lonesome.
If you know what I mean.
Maybe I'll do them every other year, you know, so they don't boring.
Anyways, I was inspecting the Plastic Ohno, that's what I'm calling the Dedacciai for now.
You know, like plastic and like Oh no! you got a carbon bike!
So I'm cleaning it up, making it all nice nice and I'm checking the tires and Ye Gods! what the hell?

I only got like maybe a thousand miles on them Schwalbes and they look like I rode around the world!
Must be the excessive speed.
Don't you know.
Okay, they're like racing tires and all but are they supposed to be all crackalated?
Maybe I'll try some Vittorias next.
They're Italian.
So about the waffling part, I finally tried them waffle thingys:

I gotta say, I like em!
They're kinda on the small side, only a 160 calories per waffle.
Waffle.
I like that word.
Anyways, they're kinda on the small side but that's a good thing cause them other energy bars always felt like I was eating a bar of lead.
These Honey Stingers are light and don't fill you up so you can keep motoring on without feeling like you just   finished off your second plate at the all you can eat buffet.
Out of the three flavors I tried, which included honey and vanilla, I like the strawberry.
Flat Tire approved.
I"m sure I'll need more than two of them for tomorrow.
Since I'm Super Sonic and all.
I just hope I don't melt the tires off my rims.
If you know what I mean.

Troisieme Anniversaire!

Or We've Come A Long Way Baby!
Boy, time just flies when you're an internet slave!
I mean having fun.
Sort of.
It's that time of the year, time to mark three years of inanity, with or without the "s."
I was just talking with some folk recently about Bloggerland and my time in it.  In some ways three years have gone by in the blink of an eyeball, in other ways, it's been a long journey of discovery.
Way back In The Beginning(ITB), I only posted oh once every few weeks.
What is this Bloggerland all about, I asked myself, and how does one get citizenship?
The sporadic posting lasted a while, my digital words going off into digital land mostly unnoticed.  One of my goals was to see how long exactly it would take for me to gather one follower, one reader who was interested in my ramblings.

the first header image

I got my first comment five months later.
The first follower soon followed, from there it was all downhill.
Downhill in the sense that soon I was writing daily and all hell broke loose!
In two months, I was getting almost daily feedback and you know what they say about feedback.
Everybody's a critic.
I gotta say, once I knew folks were actually reading this stuff, it became an interaction.  An interaction between myself and some unknown folks out there who were mostly silent.
Okay, the interaction was one way at first, but soon I was getting comments almost daily, comments from folks I didn't know but would soon become honorary citizens of Flat Tire Land.
The first EXTRA! post showed up around that time, and while it has been a rare occurrence lately, it has not been forgotten.
le Connaisseur de la Musique also appeared and since he has been on extended hiatus.
The first Sunday Final appeared ten months later, but was not a regular feature until I was surprised to learn, recently, as it seems like I've been writing them forever!

The Flat Tire wasn't intended to be all about bicycling, though it sort of evolved that way.  It was mainly a way for me to keep writing, something I sort of enjoy.
Early posts were about all sorts of goofyness that came to mind, it's just that bicycling seemed to be mostly well, on my mind.
All told, we've been though ten bicycles together, four of which still grace the Flat Tire offices.

the Rockhopper that started it all


I went from huffing and a puffing for five or six miles to huffing and a puffing for some Epic Journeys.
Not that there's a whole lot of undiscovered country around these parts, but they were newly discovered while on two wheels.
I discovered that places looked different while you were attached to the ground, getting there on your own leg exploding power.  You see things you normally take for granted while on four wheels.
Two wheels is a much more intimate way to explore the world.
Boy I felt like Forrest Gump when he lost his leg braces!
Interestingly enough, I wore the same kind of leg braces as a kid.
Although it seems like I've come a long way from that blue Rockhopper, which my brother still rides, it's not as far as one might think.
Oh there's the spandex and lycra, the carbon and steel and Crazy for Campagnolo.
Yet each time I get on my bicycle, I still get the same feeling of wonder and adventure as I head on down the  road.

Even though I just go around in circles.
What will I find?  What will I see?  Where will I go(even if it's just around in circles)?
Still the same 967 posts later.
I was trying to hit 1000, but I'm still lazy.
That hasn't changed either.
Boy, 967 posts.
Mostly about something but some were about nothing.
Still, how the hell did I do that?
I gotta admit, it's amazing how many posts I manage to punch out considering how inane(+/- the s) my life is.
Keeping things fresh and new and different is a goal I don't always reach, but for some reason or another I always seem to have something to say.
I'm not sure where it all comes from, but I'll be pretty sad the day it stops.
So anyways, there you go, it's been three years to the day that I sent out issue #1.
Back issues by the way, are available for a small fee.
From the editorial offices of The Flat Tire, thanks to all for getting on the bus.
There will be cream soda and cheese rolls at the reception that follows.
Okay, not really.

Awesome New Post!

Unfortunately, I don't remember what it was.
It's like that.
I get a really good idea for some sharing, then poof! it's gone.
Well I had a really good idea for today's post, but poof! it's gone.
So instead of an Awesome New Post(ANP), you get an Old Mediocre Post(OMP).
Seriously, I got drafts sitting here from like two years ago!
I keep telling myself to just go and delete them, but some of them are actually sort of okay.
In a mediocre kind of way.
Which I suppose is why they're still drafts.
If you know what I mean.
Then again, some of the stuff that makes it to postland should have been drafts, cause they're like daft.
Inane.
Superfluous.
Goofy.
I could think of more, but I'm sort of tired.
Bad blood don't you know.
Anyways, back to the mediocrity.
So the other day, while I was riding around on Project Rockhopper, I remembered why I don't like canti brakes.
Other than them being a mind bender to adjust:

For some odd reason or another, I keep clipping my heel on left side.
I sort of pedal heel out, sort of, but clip, clip, clip I go.
Okay, the cable needs to be trimmed, but it's not just the cable I'm clipping.
Very annoying.
Now I'm sorry I got rid of my Avid Single Digit 7s.
I did get a compliment on the Rockhopper.
Some dude said it was nicest old Rockhopper he's ever seen.
Oh yeah!
My head got really big after that.
Despite the rust.
His comment did make me think.
There I go again, doing something dangerous.
The thinking part I mean.
It's not like I get a bicycle to solicit compliments, although they don't hurt the ego.
My average speed hurts my ego so I suppose having a nice bicycle sort of like evens it out.
Nice bike.
Thanks.
Which is about how long the ego boost lasts.
Well, I was thinking(the dangerous part) about how to extend the ego boost a bit, you know, to make it worth it.
Nice bike.
What?
Your bike, nice.
What are you talking about?
Nevermind.
Dude, my bicycle is not nice.  It's like fantabulous! Stupendulicious! Awesomenatical!
Uh, okay.
If you only knew how rocking rolling dial it up to eleven this bicycle was, you my friend, wouldn't be calling it just nice!  Nice? that's insulting!  Now just you move along cause this bicycle and you weren't meant to share the same space!
Moron!
There.
I feel a lot better now.
See, it's all about taking these little moments in time and elevating them to stratospheric levels.
Astronomical even.
Even it's all in my head.
If you know what I mean.
Awesome New Post coming soon.
I promise.
Maybe.

Sunday Final

I need new legs.
No really.
These old legs just aren't cutting it anymore.
I think I done wore them out.
I mean they still work and all, but they just don't have the same pop as before.
Used to be I could ride and ride and they would still respond to the call.
Now I just a ride for a bit and they are all pooped out.
Let me know if you see any go on sale.
Legs that is.
So I met up with my brother again today and we just did a little cruise around Kailua cause it was windy like you wouldn't believe.
Okay not really.
It wasn't that windy but it was windy enough with some gusts that were blowing us all over the road.
Then my brother gets this big idea to go climb up the hill over near Flat Tire Central.
Hmmmmm, I says.
Let's go, he says.
Uh, okay, I says.
Famous last words.
I swear if that hill was like twenty feet longer I would have cracked and just fallen to the side of the road.
My heart didn't explode or anything but my legs did get pretty close.
To exploding  mean:

To be honest, it's not even such a large hill and back when I was in shape I could ride it okay.
Hence the search for the new legs.
Prevaricating Garmin info, for your amusement:



I did sort of recover okay, which is a good thing, and I didn't completely crash and burn at the top.
I still need to work on my cardio for it's no where near where it was before as I just can't sustain a high cadence like I used to.
I guess that's what happens when you make an extended visit to couch potato land.
Anyways, it was I Love Kailua day:

The main street is closed off and folks can walk around to check out all kinds of stuff.
I wanted to get there earlier, but my brother met up with me late and by the time I got back to Kailua it was like a half hour before close down.
I only managed to walk through before heading back to Flat Tire Central.
I did want to check it out and make some notes cause we're planning that other thing.
You know.
Something Wonderful.
On the other hand, it wasn't much different than last years I Love Kailua so I didn't really miss much.
Well, I did miss the Baskin Robbins tent.
That was a bummer.
If you know what I mean.
Anyways the Haleiwa Metric Century ride is like next week and I got a feeling it's going to feel like two metric centuries.
Unless I get me some new legs.

Sunday Early Editon

Okay it's like this.
I need to punch out 32 posts in like four days.
Without Blogger freezing up on me.
Arrrggghh!
Hello, Mr. Blogger? Mr. Flat here.  Uh, I don't quite know how to break this to you, but this newfangled Blogger sort of sucks.
Huh? Nothing you can do?  Lookee here, it's all fine and dandy for like a minute or two then the screen does it's best impression of zero degrees Kelvin and all hell freezes over.
What? Live with it?!
Yes, I know it's free.
Okay, I suppose you're right.
I mean what do I expect for free.
Huh?
Use Googlio Chrome?
Okay so I've logged off of IE and I'm now on Goolgio Chrome and this better work.
So anyways, I need like 32 posts in four days cause I got like this quota I'm trying to hit.
See what happens when you get lazy and wait until the last minute?
I sort of saw this coming about a month ago and I was trying to get to my milestone in posts around the same time as The Flat Tire Troisieme Anniversaire.
We'll see how it goes.
Anyways, it's going to be a long hard four days ahead as knocking out 32 posts ain't exactly childs play.
I mean first of all, something has to happen.
Okay not really.
I mean I've done posts about nothing before and although sometimes a post about nothing can be sort of interesting, I don't think I can do 32 posts in a row about nothing and still keep it interesting.
On the other hand, it might be interesting to see if I can.
Write 32 posts about nothing I mean.
No, even if I make stuff up, I don't think I could do 32 posts about nothing.
I've got to write about something.
The thing is, it's not like something happens around here all the time much less 32 times.
Okay, something might happen once or twice, maybe even three times, but asking for 32 something happens is asking quite a lot.
Even for me.
Hell I don't think even Baskin Robbins has 32 somethings anymore.
Thankfully there's something going on today so maybe I can turn that something into like four somethings then I'll only have like 28 more posts to go before I hit my quota.
Come to think about it, yesterdays supplemental post should have been like 3 posts so then I would have only needed 29 posts.
Boy, I really need to start planning ahead.
If you know what I mean.

Saturday Supplementary Diet Edition

I gotta say, I was still recovering from that half a chicken when I was prompted to hit the road.
Something I read about in the paper caught my attention and I decided it was worth investigation
So with chicken in belly, off I went!

Boy, them afternoon shadows make me look really really fat!
Fatter, I mean.
Well I'm about to add to that fatness for about two miles from Flat Tire Central was this:

The event is similar to something that's been going on in Honolulu for some time now called Eat the Streets.
Rolling kitchens, we call them lunch wagons here, gather someplace so that folks can come and sample the cuisine.
In town I think twenty or  more lunch wagons participate, here we only had twelve or so:

I was tempted by a couple of places like the Hula Shrimp truck and the cheeseburger mobile, but I was still carrying around a half a chicken so I looked for something light and small.
Which is not what lunch wagons are known for.
They are known for larger portions since obviously the overhead is less than in a sit down restaurant.
Some lunch wagons have served as sort of incubators, chefs trying out their food before investing in a roof over their heads.
This looked good:

This looked odd:

A musubi by the way is a riceball.
I can't imagine frying one.
Then again, you never know.
Well Baja it was:

Two soft bacon and shrimp tacos.
Not the best, but not the worst I've had.
On the other hand, I ate them pretty fast, not really taking the time to savor every bite.
If you know what I mean.
So anyways, it was time to head off cause Law & Order is on Netflix.
Eight seasons worth, like a 160 episodes.
Hmmmmmm.
One more stop before I leave:

If you are ever in Hawaii and you see the red and white Leonard's truck, stop immediately.
A malasada is like a Portuguese doughnut, without the hole, freshly deep fried while you wait:

Look at them sparkle in the afternoon sun!
Look at them disappear in the afternoon sun:

Hell I'm eating one right now!
It seems they'll be doing this event about once a month, it's usually some kind of fundraiser for the school or a local youth sports team.
Next time I'll be sure not to be carrying around half a chicken in my belly for them cheeseburgers looked excellent.
I may also have to bust out my grass skirt and do the shrimp hula.
Okay, not really.
I don't own a grass skirt.
Not yet anyways.
Rolling on home fueled by Leonard's sugary goodness:

Travels With Chicken

Me and the chicken.
Here and there.
Well actually I didn't start off with the chicken, it was sort of added later.
This morning was packet pick up for the Haleiwa Metric Century ride so off I went into the heart of Waikiki:

The fine folks there had everything ready to go so it was sign in and off I went!
Over on the other side of town, the school I work at had a fair thingy commemorating 75 years of education.
There were all sorts of booths and stuff:

They even had them inflatable slide thingys for the keikis.
That's Hawaiian for small folks:

Well I wasn't there for no giant sharks or threatening mice.
I was there for the huli huli chicken:

Huli means to flip over in Hawaiian(that's like two new words!) so huli huli chicken is chicken that's been well, flipped.
Over and over rotisserie style outdoors.
Very tasty.
So anyways, I grab my chicken and head for parts unknown.
Which in this case was Kvibe, to check in and see what was going on:

Well a lot was going on!
Young folks were busy busy learning how to work on bicycles.
I stopped over for the Kvibe folks are hopefully going to be involved with Something Wonderful and I had some news to share.
Sorry.
Can't share it with you, the reader, yet.
So me and the chicken, we got places to go and things to do.
Like head on home.
What you get when you purchase huli huli chicken, is a big ole bag o'chicken:

Okay, there was actually a whole barbecued chicken in there, but I was so hungry after travelling all over the creation, I ate half.
Trust me though, you do actually get a whole chicken.
So anyways, me and the chicken had a pretty good day and we got some things done.
Actually the day's not quite over, but after downing that half a chicken I'm feeling a bit sleepy so nappy time is coming up.
One the other hand, the other half of that chicken is looking pretty good.

Cure for the Blues

So all this week, I've been sort of sad.
I mean things haven't been humming along as usual, they've been sort of up in the air, and I find that a most uncomfortable position to be in.
Having things up in the air I mean.
I like to grab the tiger by the tail and whip it around my head while drinking a favorite cold beverage and singing along to Back in Black by AC/DC.
Okay, not really.
Maybe some Aerosmith.
Anyways, what's the best way to cure the blues?
eVilness shopping spree!
Oh yeah!
 New bar tape with appropriate bar end caps:

Awesome!
Blogger now loads up images in freaking order!
No more cut and paste!
Yay!
New thingy of my favorite chain lube, which by the way is Flat Tire tested and approved:

I still haven't tried olive oil.
Since the Haleiwa Metric Century is right around the corner, I needed to accessorize the ole ride:

Matching water bottle!
So I don't bonk don't you know.
Oh, there's some bad news.
One of my socks has gone rogue:

Be careful if you see the other sock.
Any sock willing to escape from the matching sock is more of a danger to regular socks and should be approached with caution.
Finally, what better to cap off the day with a cap:

Slipping that puppy over my head makes everything right in the world.
Campagnolo.
It's not just for bling anymore.
I swear I'm feeling better already.
If you know what I mean.

Changes in Direction

Oh my.
My head is spinning.
Confusion is running rampant.
I need me some GPS.
Or something.
Well actually there is only one direction to go: forwards.
It's just that there are many paths that lead in that direction and they need some scouting.
Okay, lemme explain.
The Something Wonderful is still on.
Sort of.
I mean for the last week, despite the good news, there's sort of been a fracture in communications, a lull in leadership, okay it's like we're in limbo.
When we should be pressing on.
I mean full on.
Target date for Something Wonderful is like late August and all we've got are some notes scribbled on paper.
No real leader.
No money.
No real venue.
Still, it's going to be Something Wonderful.
If it's the last thing I do.
Or this may be the last thing I do.
This post I mean.
About Something Wonderful.
See it's sort of taken a turn.
We've been looking for a sponsoring group, something like a non-profit to cover us, something we can work under.
Lately though it seems our alternatives are dwindling, and there might be one other option.
To go non-profit ourselves.
Which I believe involves some lawyers and some paper work.
Not sure if there's enough of a window to pull this off.
I've come to see that now is the time for some real leadership.
I mean it's decision making time, and I'm not sure exactly who's making the decisions.
I'm not qualified.
Not even in my own mind.
This is getting so far out of my league, I'm starting to wonder what the hell I'm doing here.
Okay, I'd like to be here, if only just to see what goes on and to learn about the process and all that.
Still, getting involved with a complete lack of experience, well I feel like I'm a detriment, not a really helpful.
If you know what I mean.
Boy, I gotta say, this stuff is keeping me up at night.
I knew I should have gone to law school.
Anyways, the goal of Something Wonderful is still a priority.
It's just that to get Something Wonderful off the ground, we'll have to prioritize some other stuff first.
Does that make sense?
No?
Welcome to my world.
Okay, it's not that bad.
I mean we take it one step at a time, Niagara Falls(you know, step by step, inch by inch), and keep pressing forwards.
All I know is, if we don't start getting going soon, Something Wonderful is going to turn into a full time job.
Which I already thought of and since there's only four more weeks left in my job, this may work out.
I hope.
I have a feeling that this is going to be one of those things where decision by committee is not going to work out so good and we're going to need two or three folks to step up and wield the rubber stamp.
I mean I've been working on trying to get us organized and all of a sudden I realize that we don't have an organization.
What we have is bunch of like minded folks who want Something Wonderful to happen.
I'm not sure that's going to be enough.
The more I think about it, the more I see that we are going to have to run this like a business, a non-profit one, the main component being someone is going to have to be the boss.
Take responsibility.
Lead.
Or we may spend a long time just talking about it.
The Something Wonderful I mean.
It's time for Sydney or the Bush!
Time to make a play and run with it!
Swing for the fences!
Hail Mary!
Okay, not a Hail Mary, but it's time to plunge and let the chips fall where they may.
Maybe.

Sunday Final

Cooked.
That's how my legs feel.
Well done.
No, I didn't go bust some hills with my brother, though I did eventually meet up with him.
More on that later.
Well it was a beautiful day and I couldn't wait for him so I just put on my bicycle shoes and off I went!
I did see some interesting things along the way, like this sign:



I looked around but it was business as usual.
Save Kailua from what?
Hmmmmm.
So anyways I'm riding around and finally my brother calls me.
No, no hills, why don't you just meet up with me later?
Okay, says he, give me about 45 minutes.
Well over in these parts, we go this thing called Hawaiian Time(HT) and it's like the clock moves slower than usual but my brother is a prompt sort of fellow.
Except on this day.
Well I'm thinking I'm not going to keep going since I gotta come back to meet him, so I decide ride around Kailua Town and check things out.
Wait.
Here's another sign:



Okay, maybe now the first sign makes a little more sense.
I need to look for myself:



No, Kailua doesn't look like Waikiki.
Yet.
So anyways off I go to kill some time.
I was liking this giraffe:



I was gonna go inside and see how much it was, but I didn't want to tempt myself.
If you know what I mean.
Across the street, Whole Foods was having some kind of pre grand opening:



They aren't open for business yet, that will happen on Wednesday, but they were letting in some folks in.
By invitation only.
Wow.
That made me feel really welcome.
There was also a car show going on, Mustangs and the like.
Here's a row of Cobras:



There was also a '65 Daytona Coupe.
Now that's some history right there:



The original Ferrari killer.
Well my brother, who's on Hawaiian time, his 45 minutes turns into like an hour and a half.
Finally we get going, right as it starts to drizzle:



Nice easy pace which is good for I've already got like 18 or so miles under me and I can start to feel my legs complain-
Wait just a minute!
Dude!
I can see right through yer shorts!



Thankfully the camera didn't capture what I really saw!
This is a family blog after all.
Let's just say I had a difficult time staying in his draft.
I mean you don't want to look, but you just can't help it!
At least stick some newspaper down there.
Or something.
Dude, let me lead for a while.
Well that didn't last for very long as I was getting fried but thankfully his shorts dried out and his you know what was no longer so uh, obvious.
More equipment malfunction as my brother's shoe decides to go south.
Luckily we're at the pit stop having a cream soda, so he goes into the store to ask for some tape:



Well now I'm really cooked and so is he.
We put in about 12 miles together, but he had another five or six get home.
I got in 33 miles total, and my legs held out until the very end.
Barely.
We'll give it another go next week, hopefully with some new shorts and shoes.
Boy, I just can't get that image out of my mind.
Not the one of the shoes.
If you know what I mean.