Stop Here

Or something.
If you've been following along at home, you know that they(the city) have paved over the streets near Flat Tire Central. They(the city) have also added new bike lanes and signs to the streets.
If you haven't been following along at home, shame on you and click here.
Well, they(the city) still aren't done; they have about another quarter mile to go and some of the road lines are still reflective tape.
On the side they are done with, they(the city) have put in these, I don't what to call them:



Now I pass by here every time I head out on my ride. At first, I thought they were like a bicycle crossing lane; something that was part of the pedestrian cross walk.
I see now that is not the case.
Here's another shot:



It seems that they(they city) have created a stop zone for bicycles.
Or something.
If you look good, and I did, I can't decide if the magnetic sensors that activate the traffic signals are embedded in the bicycle zone. It looks like they are, but I'm not sure.
I've never tried it for believe it or not, I've never been stuck at that light. If the light is red, I usually just go across the crosswalk and if it's green, I'm off making the left turn.
I find that zone strange, for a bicycle barely seems to actually fit in the zone. Look at the Barn Door parked across the street.
Just a second as I try to wrap my head around this new traffic feature.



I just knew that picture would come in handy again!
Is it a safety measure?
A friendly reminder?
Street art?
Signs of an alien invasion?
No, this is a sign of an alien invasion:



Just joking!
We love tourists, bless their hearts!
Anyways, if you have this type of arrangement in your city, please enlighten me as to their purpose.
Not the tourists, the bicycle stop/zone thingy.
My best guess is that it's a buffer zone so that cyclists can take the front of the lane during stops.
Does that make sense?
I may have to put in a call to they(the city) to find out just what is going on.
Breaking Bad is on so I gotta go.
If you are into Breaking Bad, check this out.

The Long Way Home

The Barn Door and I went out just to get in some mileage.
It's funny how you never know how you are going to feel on the bike until you actually get on and start going.
Some days, when you think it's going to be great, it turns out not too good and other days, when you start off thinking it's going to be difficult, it turns out great.
Today was the latter.
I was originally going to take a nap when I got home, but cheese rolls called my name so off I went to the store.
Well somewhere between the store and Flat Tire Central, a Supertramp like voice called out to me: When you go home tonight, take the long way home.
Taking the PacMan approach, I just started to eat up as many dots on the road as possible.
I felt great!
School was just getting out and around here, a sight like this is not uncommon:



I pass all sorts of people walking, biking, skateboarding, whatever carrying paddles and headed toward the beach. Paddling is a big sport here; almost every beach has a canoe house were local clubs park their outriggers and store other stuff.
The high schools have paddling teams and there are state championships at all levels including what you would call pro(I don't think they are paid, but they are sponsored).
Of course the big boy is the Moloka'i Hoe which is a forty one mile paddle across the Ka'iwi Channel between Moloka'i and Oahu. I believe it's sort of considered the World Championship of outrigger canoe paddling.
There is also the Na Wahine O Ke Kai which is the same race for the women.
More information on those races can be found here.
Kailua has it's own halau wa'a, or canoe house too:



I guess the students paddle right after school and the adults have a go at it after work.
Lanikai is a pretty strong team, and Kailua is starting to come up too.
The gorillas though are in town with teams like Healani and Outrigger Waikiki.
I don't follow outrigger canoe racing too much, though I do stop and watch when I happen to catch a regatta in Kailua.
It interests me for when reading about pre-Cook Hawaii, it amazes me that the outrigger was the main method of inter island transportation.
I mean if you wanted to start a war or something, you got a whole bunch of warriors, put them in outrigger canoes, paddled across a channel, then you fought your battle.
Epic stuff if you can imagine an army of like three thousand landing on your beach!
I stopped to watch the kids paddle out:



Then I began to think.
I wonder if there is ever a time when they are out there, stroking for some distant buoy, when the conditions are just perfect?
You feel the burn in your arms and back as you hit your threshold, but the ocean spray in your face is like some rejuvenating mist that keeps you pulling forward.
Then you realize the person in front of you or in back is feeling the same thing.
The canoe just seems to take on a life of it's own; you feel like there is a hand in back propelling the canoe forward. You feel the synergy and crew becomes one; one with the canoe and the vessel becomes one with the water.
When the sun begins to set, and the water begins to shimmer like diamonds on a blue carpet, I wonder if they ever want to just keep going?
You know what I mean?
I wonder if the five guys in front ever tell the steersman: Take the long way home!
I wonder.