28 mi. bike ride to flickr friday meetup (and back again), 13 aug 10
I wanted to ride my bike to the flickr friday meetup, but cheated by driving 1/2 way. Even still, according to google maps I rode 28 miles there and back. I need to go back and figure out exactly which portions are evil and tell google to update their map. (I've done that before, and it actually works.)
Google maps claims that Nimitz is a bike route, but there are portions that are pretty scary. Both on the way out and on the way back, I ended up getting off Nimitz, and going on back roads between Nimitz and Dillingham. On the way back I ended up on a 2 foot ride strip of grass between a warehouse-style building on the right, and a curb with traffic on my left. Not ridable at all. I was walking my bike.
I was prepared to whine and complain about the flickr friday location, since it's so hard to get to from where I am, but when I got there, I realized that it's a fabulous place. Fantastic views! The ride up was actually not as bad as I feared. Along E. Manoa Rd there were places where I was riding in the grass, and there were a few places where I was in my lowest gear, but there wasn't anywhere where I had to walk the bike.
Going back I wanted to go thru Waikiki. I came across IT&B which seems like a cool and friendly bike shop. They have an air pump outside the shop for anybody to check/inflate their tires. They told me next time I should just bring my bike in rather than locking it outside.
Riding thru Waikiki was a bit challenging. Since I was going The Wrong Way up Kalakaua, I rode on the sidewalk. There are a lot of people in Waikiki.
Overall, a great day out riding and visiting with cool people (the flickr crowd).
