Aloha! It’s been too long since I last posted and honestly, I don’t know how much time I’m going to have for this blog for the next year or so. Life is…um…busy. However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t had some time for fun stuff, like the 2017 Honolulu Century Ride.
I’ve ridden this one before, several times in fact. It isn’t really my favorite ride or distance, but it’s still fun…or in my case, ninety percent fun. Just a note, I think the Zach’s Ride in Paradise is my favorite at the moment, sometimes it’s the Haleiwa Metric Century. Let’s be clear, there are three big rides on Oahu each year and I tend to do them all, one has got to be my favorite – doesn’t mean I don’t like the others. And hey, who knows which I’ll prefer next year.
Why only ninety percent this year? It’s my own fault naturally enough. I had a decided lack of training this year. My last longer ride was the aforementioned Zach’s Ride. That’s just not enough to be ready for a full century ride. I was, thankfully, in good enough shape to ride ninety miles without any suffering beyond the normal long ride stuff…that last ten miles…ouch!
I didn’t bonk. My current diet lets me pretty much avoid that problem (low carb, high fat), and I did snack along the way. I just simply ran out of steam and things started hurting. No big deal, you just power through and I do bike enough to have avoided injury thankfully. Still that last ten miles wasn’t my best.
What does that really mean?
I had a great time and would do it again just the way I did it if my other choice was not going. That said, next year I’ll be back and in a little better shape. Last year I rode this ride shortly after riding across Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin for two weeks. I was in great shape so the century seemed, well…long, but not particularly difficult. This year it was…um…long, and at the end, a bit much.
Enough about that.
This year I rode my Bike Friday pakiT.
Does using a bike with 16″ wheels mean I worked harder or rode further? I like to think I really rode around 150 miles, but no, it’s neither harder nor longer. I wish. Gearing is everything and my 11-speed Alfine
The bike worked better than I did.
As I said, most of the ride was great and it was a spectacular day for a long ride. While warm it wasn’t as hot as it might have been and the sky was a lovely blue with just a few clouds here and there.
Here’s proof I was at the 100 mile turn-around.
All in all, a great day. Next year? Yeah, most likely.
Slower, cheaper, less useful…