Thread: Woohoohoohoo!!!
View Single Post
Old 01-20-06, 06:21 PM
  #8  
Raketmensch
Senior Member
 
Raketmensch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 367
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by jppe
I'm jealous of the cycling on Oahu. How are the winds?
Fierce! Today I got up early and took the Merlin over to the other side of the island. I just had to get away from the Honolulu traffic. It was really nice... one of the few really rural parts of Oahu, with very few cars, chickens running across the road, and beautiful sunshine. I rode out to Ka'ena Point at the far western end of the island, screamin' the whole way with the wind at my back.

Coming back, though... whew! I remember once, long ago, studying the trade winds. Probably eighth grade social studies or something like that. I'm sure that eighteenth-century mariners appreciated having such a reliable source of power, but man, you sure feel it biking into it! Still, the Merlin got me into a pretty aerodynamic tuck when I was in the drops, and I just put my head down and cranked.

Interesting thing... somehow the bike felt faster today than it did yesterday. The differences between heavy steel and light titanium just seemed more pronounced. I think the difference was probably more in the traffic than anything else... with less of my second-by-second attention devoted to not getting flattened, I was able to pay more attention to the nuances of the ride.

Gotta admit, I was sorry to hand the Merlin back at the LBS. But tomorrow I'll be headed for home and the trusty old steed.
Raketmensch is offline