Hey All,

Had a good day today ... did the Haleiwa (that's Hah'-leh-ee'-vah) Metric Century Bike Ride. It's 100 kilometers (62 miles) ar0und the northern 1/2 of the island.

Here we are at the starting line. We started at 0730. There were about 800 people who attended. I set myself up about in the middle and it worked out pretty well that way. There were some nice people ... some REALLY nice bikes ... and a great venue for the day to start.

This is the 50k Turnaround/Aid Station. They provided fruit, energy drink, water, and bathroom facilities (which were much needed at this point. The Hawaii Bicycle League puts this on and they do a really nice job of supporting the riders and having stuff for us to rejuvinate with.
This is the 100k Turnaround. We've gone about 31 miles at this point. Problem today was that the 15 miles just before this were dead into the wind and it REALLY sucked. The only thing I was looking forward to at this point was being done. The 2nd 1/2 turned out much better though since this time I was riding WITH the wind. Made life much easier and the return trip MUCH faster!!
Here I am at the finish line. Had to ditch the shoes as soon as I could as they are hard and stiff and my dogs needed a breather. I was a little stiff, WAAAAY hungry, but really felt good about finishing. I had never gone more than about 30 miles before. Today, my GPS read about 57 miles for the trip ... but I rode there from home so Luce could have the car and I added another 12 ... so I was covered.

I was hungry all day afterward. I just couldn't eat enough. The GPS said I burned about 6100 calories ... no wonder!! I am now a firm believer in the carbohydrate gels ... had 2 today, wish I had had 4. I will next time.

Here is the map of my travels today. As you can see, we covered the northern 1/2 of the island, well probably about the northern 3/8. That's ok. I will be doing the 100 mile ride this fall and that will cover most of the other parts of it. Total time was 4 hours almost on the dot. Finished at 1128. (The map says more, but I had left the GPS timer on while we were waiting to start, etc, so it's a little off.)

All in all, a VERY good day.

Hope yours was, too.

Aloha