day 09 – isaac hale beach to hilo

sunday.
we awoke to a beautiful hawaiian morning at isaac hale beach. warm weather and sunshine were a great way to start the day. the morning would be retracing the steps we took yesterday to get to isaac hale, heading north to hilo. the beautiful downhill canopy that we had coasted through the day before would now be revisited, climbing uphill.

most of the group didn’t stop in to lava tree state monument on the way down, so we recommended it and stopped by there again on the way out. riding up to the monument was another beautiful view through the canopy we had enjoyed so much a day earlier. it was a nice warm morning and the air was sweet. stopping in the monument a second time gave us an opportunity to walk around more than we did yesterday. we saw many more trees and i was able to take a better photo of one of the caverns.

continuing the ride towards pahoa again, there was a storm that looked like it was developing behind us. even so, we stopped at sirius coffee and sat out side just as we had done the day before. just like yesterday, a few cyclists stopped to also grab a coffee. once the coffee was finished, we started moving again. the storm behind us was catching up and there was another ahead of us. we pushed hard and were carried by the tailwind for a while.

we stopped just outside of kea’au to have a quick snack and drink a bit of water. after resting for a few minutes we saw another cyclist ride by. this was a good time to ride with him towards our destination winding through the eastern backroads of hilo around the airport. essentially, it was us relying on him to provide accurate directions without us having to look at our cuesheet or maps. while riding with him around the western edge of the airport, the storm that we had saw ahead of us finally put out a bit of rain. this was the first rain for the day, though we were riding with the storm both ahead and behind us. others had mentioned they were in the rain all day.

the three of us arrived at the destination, with another that had arrived shortly before us. sera and i quickly showered and were off to get lunch. after we had eaten we decided it would be better to prepare for the next day by purchasing some pants for each of us. we really just wanted to relax a bit too. we stopped into target and ross to find the cheapest warm clothes. sera found some leggings, i found some golf pants. i couldn’t help but laugh a little when i saw knit hats and scarves for sale in target. it just doesn’t seem necessary.

the beer we picked up while we were out clothes shopping doubled as a cold compress for my eye, which was becoming more swollen and irritated. when each beer would warm up, it was replaced with a cold one. i made sure not to let any go to waste. tomorrow is a well deserved rest day.