postcards from Hilo

Compulsive old fool that I am, I took a sunday afternoon sprint up the mountain. Up highway 200, locally known as "saddle road". Until about a decade ago, if you took a rental car up here, your insurance was voided!



Over the years, steady improvements have made it quite a fun ride, lay down over the tank, and twist it! Just don't muff it up; as with most roads around here, there's no soft shoulder; if you fall off, its all very unforgiving lava rocks and boulders.



So anyway, Its a steep twisty climb that goes up to a plateau about 5000 ft above sea level. at this point, to the north is mauna kea, almost 14000 ft, and to the south, mauna loa, about the same elevation at the summit. The road continues west and down to the dry leeward side.



Nice ride, but I left town in just a t-shirt, by the time I got to 3000 ft, I was freezin'. Next time I'll bring the jacket, and maybe some clubmans and rearsets.

Oh boy! how the other half live :mrgreen:

Cash

cash said:

Oh boy! how the other half live :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

Indeed :roll: to top it all, he just has to ride down the mountain to get warm, I have to wait until next march :!:

Jean

Wonderful ride adventure Don- you booger. I can only imagine.
I have rental car'd around them parts but the topper was a 'choper flight with crop dusting pilot following river canyons up the summit, stopping at water falls at eye level splashing water no the windshield with garden of Eden scenery below. The G's he gave us flipping horizon about up side down, is what I try to get on my Commandos.

Have you ever shut down in N and just coasted and coasted feeling the Commando w/o the engine spinning?

Have ya ever run on the salt filled beach sand?

Steve, I've done that neutral thing a few years ago... I ran outta gas, and was able to roll downhill for 5 miles to a tesoro station. as far as running in the sand, wifey makes me take her to the beach once a month. I have enough trouble walking in the sand... with a cooler, backpack, my snorkel and fins, beach chairs, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Jean, I was in Montreal in the summer, years ago. The people were friendly, the food sublime, and the beer cold. I'm easy to please!

Cash, I wish I was part of that other half! been trying really hard most of my adult life, without much success. Theres an old Hawaiian song "no one I know is richer than I" and its all about the beauty of nature. you can't buy that. oh wait, I guess you can; multi-millionaires buy up the coastline around here, turn it into golf courses, and build gated compounds that they live in two weeks outta the year. At least we have our nortons....

cheers, Don

Yeah paradise lost since whalers dropped off diseases then barrels of mosquito's when cut off. Felt pretty lucky to get to station w/o up hill pushing. LIve it up as ya can. It you ever do try the sand, do lower air at 1/2 at both ends and keep some power going and realize as soon as ya don't the front digs in like your toes slipping.
I was wide eye'd to see plants that were house pot or head high size in Florida being forest scale on the islands.

That high country photo reminds me a lot of Colorado. Riding through South Park, for example. We can't drop down to sea level to warm up though! Won't be warm here again until about May. 28F at my house right now. Only supposed to get up into the 30s today. Hawaii sounds pretty good to me right now!

Debby

In just a Tee shirt Jesus gravel rash is bad enough but lava rash that sounds like it could be nasty ......but all you surfer dudes are well hard

Nice Report Don.
We were there in Feb. this year and tour the whole island in a day!
Of course it was dark upon returning to the hotel, after stopping at each and every scenic spot to take pics.
I do remember some of the long wide open stretches and lots of the twisty sections.
We stayed mostly on the outer belt road and upto the volcano.
I was wishing the SuperFerry deal had held on, I coulda had my Norton over there!

Cool write up. Would be nice t experience your world, but I can barely manage the mainland destinations let alone getting to the islands.

Britbike, I grew up in Illinois, and went to NIU in DeKalb. Had a T120R back then, and still regret selling that monster. In those days, 2 minutes out of town on a 2 lane country road meant pushing the ton. Landed in a corn field a couple times. good old soft midwestern mud!

Joe, we had 8 footers in Hilo Bay a week or two back! Too much for me... I like waikiki 2 footers that break for a half mile, hehe. Thanks again for the tank! I did bondo up the "PAKISTAN" on the bottom, did two or three paint jobs before I gave up and said "bumbai" and put the stickers on.

not-run, I think the lava is why most of the harley guys around here ride like my tutu (grandma)! Yeah they look real bad without a helmet, but mostly to themselves!

Debby, I've only been thru the rockies on the amtrak. nice ride with a good book and some merlot, but I made a vow on that trip to see more of colorado on a bike. My idea is, one of these years to ride from san francisco to telluride for the jazz fest. I'd need a hotel though... camping out just doesn't work on my back too well!

Don, I am about 50 miles from Dekalb, small world.