The weekend started on Friday the 13th with a hike up Diamond head crater, a short bike ride around the end of Waikiki, and another bike ride later that afternoon with fellow "fixators." Saturday was a day off, and topped off Sunday with a "solo mish" (solo mission) through waikiki with my first flat (with the bike) on the way back. Check it...
Diamond Head crater is a dormant volcano located at the South Eastern part of the island. It is a state monument and commonly recognizable landmark. It's named Diamond Head because early British sailors mistook crystals in the soil as diamonds. There is a trail that is about .75 miles from the bottom of the crater to the rim of the crater which takes 1.5-2 hours on average to traverse. During WWII bunkers were built into the south facing side of the crater. These bunkers were used as look-out posts and gunner stations. Check out the pictures to see the layout within the crater's side and the views.
I haven't been back to Diamond Head probably since I was in elementary school! The state had made a lot of improvements over the years to ease access to and from the crater rim. I was glad to see many tourists making the trek to the top. Young, old, in designer jeans, shorts, t-shirt, slippers (flip flops), dresses, and skirts made it to the top and back down. Total round trip was about 1.5 hours. I hung out at the top for about 30 mins to take in the view and shoot a 360 degree view for you folks to see what it looks like at the top of the crater...
Trail Head
Reeeeeecycle
Switchbacks leading to the top
Closer view of the switchbacks
Stairs, stairs, stairs
View to the East. Foreground is the inside of the crater.
The Elev. at the top of the stairs
Spiral staircase that leads to the next picture.
Bunker
Bunker
The inner workings of Diamond Head
"You are here" Orient yourself.
View to the West
View to the North
Something special was waiting so patiently for me at the bottom.
Queen Kapiolani Statue at Kapiolani Park
Now here is the most exciting part of the weekend. On Friday evening I met up with three guys I met through AlohaFixed, a forum for riders here in Hawaii. I warned these guys I'm a beginner: track stand tally=0, still running front brake, and skid skills=none. I had hiked diamond head earlier and my legs were a little tired, but I wanted to meet up with the guys and ride. The turn out for the 5:30 pm ride was 4 including me. Seth, Sau, Michael, and myself. We met up at a grocery store parking lot, introduced myself to the three others, talked about our bikes, and headed out. It would be my first experience riding on the street with traffic. I trusted these guys I was riding with and they helped me out a lot with pointers, didn't leave me in the dust, and just wanted to show me a good time on two wheels. We weaved through traffic (cautiously, not recklessly), I got my first "honk" of anger to get on the side, f-word, s-word, and everything in between from another guy. They prepped me on mashing down the main street that runs along Wakiki beach called Kalakaua Ave. (Ka-la-cow-ah) as we rode, and when we finally hit it, it was awesome. Plain and simple. Green lights all the way, lights of Waikiki a blur, the hustle and bustle of the tourists turned into mumbling and all I could hear was my breathing and my tires on the road...It was by far THE most fun I've had on my bike. Here's a map of the route we took.
I had to stop right before Diamond Head, as I was running low on fuel, and the other three headed up Diamond Head. It was just as exhilarating on the way back!
Since I didn't ride on Saturday, I was determined to ride again on Sunday night. Guess the route I took...The only thing that threw it off was my first flat with no spare tube. My fault. I only had to walk 2 miles back to my car, but It was such a good ride until the flat.
I was not able to hold the camera on the rides because I needed both hands on my bar, but have no fear, once I get comfortable with the route I'll shoot some footage of the ride and fellow riders. So you can say the fire has been stoked this past weekend for sure. I start to get angry if a chance to ride ever becomes questionable! Chee hee!
Riding along the beach...three thumbs up!
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