Fame and Notoriety

STILL RAINING!!!!!

However, in my boredom (thank God I had to work 5 days the past couple weeks) I read a few articles in the local paper, The Garden Island (http://www.kauaiworld.com/). I was interested and then angered by an article featured on the front page titled Lawsuit claims signs moved after deaths (http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/12/06/news/news02.txt). In summary, the article details the unfortunate hikers who fell to their deaths on an unofficial trail to the base of Opaeka‘a Falls. As a result, the spouse of one hiker has filed a lawsuit against the state because it "negligently created a false appearance of safety by posting a sign to the left reading, 'danger, keep out, hazardous conditions'”. The 2 women proceeded to the right and fell to their deaths. The attorney claims that the sign was later replaced to indicate the correct direction.

In short, I was outraged by the lawsuit. While it's terrible that 2 people died engaging in my favorite outdoor activity, this does not make the state responsible for filling the widower's pocket with cash. This prompted me to write a letter to the editor which was published in the 12/8/07 edition. You can read it here:

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/12/08/opinion/edit01.txt

What happened to personal responsiblity? No one is willing to accept the consequences of their actions and decisions anymore, escpecially if the outcome is bad. I wonder if the widower ever considered that his wife made a bad decision and the consequences were fatal. Maybe, but probably as an afterthought when he and his attorney visualized their big payday from the state. Personal injury attorneys and their clients piss me off.

Rain

It won't stop - 10 days now - no exercise - must get outside!

Good Times in Cincinnati

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted, but I didn't have any time during our whirlwind tour of Cincinnati with Thanksgiving, Kelsey's wedding and trying to see everyone else. It was definitely fun to get back, but a little weird at the same time since streets, stores and just the general look of things are less familiar to me now. It's an odd feeling going back to the place you lived for 26 years and not recognizing certain things.

Since so much happened while we were back I'll divide the time up into days (starting the weekend before Thanksgiving) so we can keep things straight.

Saturday - bachelor party details not for the faint of heart
Arrival in Chicago after a miserable overnight flight filled with weird dreams fueled by Ambien and Tanqueray. A quick nap at the Country Inn and Suites followed by dinner with the guys for Tom's bachelor party. Things started out pretty slow and then Big Den took Chase back to the hotel. The drinking ramped up pretty quickly with shots of Jagermeister, Patron, Jack, etc. We went to several bars and Tom managed to find an extra 13 bucks in his pocket toward the end of the night (ask him how). All of us were managing pretty well until we tried to find a cab and in doing so I tripped over the curb into the street in full view of 6 cops. They must have had better things to do because I picked myself up, smiled and they just laughed. We finally got a cab and hauled Tom back to his room. I think by that time he'd gotten rid of his last few beers/shots in one of the bar bathrooms. I thought he was doing OK until the girls got back from the bachelorette party and told us he was in bad shape in his room. Of course we needed to investigate. What we found was quite entertaining - Tom, passed out on his belly, with a nice cascade of puke over the side of the bed into Kelsey's shoes. For some unknown reason, they left me with him to further defile the bachelor. I unrolled 2 rolls of TP, covered Tom with it and stuck some pink bachelorette party stickers on his head. By that time the girls had arrived back, so we took some pictures of the lucky guy. I forgot to mention that in the meantime Jesse had set the new kicking distance record for elevator light panels in the hotel hallway. Bedtime 4:45 EST.

Sunday - Terrible
We woke up at 8:45 EST in order to make it back to Cincy on time for the awful Bengals game and Dominic's birthday party. I'm pretty sure that my heart was still pumping pure Jagermeister at that point and my head felt like Jesse had place-kicked it. Chicago to Cincy in the back of Mike's minivan - Terrible. I'm sure I looked great when I walked into Laura and Paul's to see my family for the first time in 4 months. Tina cried when she saw me probably because I looked like a drunken bum. Dominic was cute as ever and managed to tear into a few 1 year birthday presents. Then we headed back to my parents' house for our first decent night of sleep in over 48 hours.

Monday - The Comet and Poker
Uneventful day of sleeping late and recovering from the weekend's festivities. Went to the Comet with a select few for excellent burritos, salsa and beers and then on to Essen's for poker. We had a great showing, so great that I didn't even get to hang with a couple guys since we had to split into 2 tables. We went to the disgusting Wagon Wheel for a beer and a carton's worth of secondhand smoke. At least you can still get your nicotine fix at the Wheel.

Tuesday - Girls Night for Em
She said there was a tight group of friends there and they had a delightful evening talking about makeup and boys or whatever. Paul, Dominic and I went for a short hike at Miami Whitewater. I spent the majority of the evening just hanging out and talking with my Mom which was a nice relaxing break from going everywhere trying to see everyone.

Wednesday - Gebhardt Traditional Pre-Thanksgiving Celebration
We headed to Grandma and Grandpa G's for a the traditional German Thanksgiving meal of ham crepes. Unbeatable. I count myself lucky to still have so many grandparents and enjoy every second of this time that I spend with them. We finished up there and went to Tim's because he was kind enough (or unkind enough) to get a 1/6 barrel of Great Lakes Christmas Ale for the crew ( http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/beerProfile.php?beer_id=00000009) . If you've ever had about a dozen mugs of Christmas brew, you'll understand why I said this might be unkind. We spent the night talking and laughing, mostly about Todd and his friend the ottoman. Laura, Paul and I formed a family band to the XM radio in Cathy's Escalade while I performed the requisite drunken, head through the sunroof, neighborhood wakeup at who knows what time.

Thursday - Thanksgiving at Grandma T's
Em's parents gave us a reprieve from Thanksgiving with them since we were going to spend the majority of the next couple days with wedding festivities. This made for a very pleasant, relaxing Thanksgiving day instead of running from place to place trying to see everyone. Grandma T kicks some serious butt in the kitchen, especially for an 82 year old - preparing full Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 people every year ever since I've been around. Delicious as always.

Friday - Black Friday and the Rehearsal Dinner
I spent Black Friday playing paintball for bachelor party number 2. I'd never played before, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun it was to try to shoot some of your good friends in the (helmeted) face with a CO2 powered rifle. Everyone survived and came home with a few nice welts to prove we'd been there. Tom looked much better after bachelor party #2 than he did after #1. The reahearsal dinner was at the original Montgomery Inn and enjoyed some classic Cinncinnati Ribs King fare. It's been awhile and I'd forgotten how good those ribs are.

Saturday - The Big Day for Kelsey and Tom
Guys went to the hotel, drank a few beers and got dressed for the wedding while the girls went to the salon and spa to have their hair done in ways that defy the laws of gravity in order to look nothing like they do in real life. For the next wedding, I'm getting my hair done in dread-locks. In any case, I managed to forget my tux coat at home (moron). Tragedy was averted when the photographers brought it along. The wedding went off without a hitch and we headed to the reception on the trolley, coolers in tow. I couldn't even convince Em to have a drink for her sister's wedding. We did the traditional Jagermeister shot outside the reception and filed in to hang out with family and friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile. I tried to make the rounds and see as many people as possible. It was a fun time, but I was about partied out by then. Despite this, we still had't made a trip to Rootie's, the neighborhood pub. Onward to more beers. Rootie's was unremarkable until Hilary got totally wasted and then left her dinner on Jen and Jesse's driveway. Bedtime 3:45 EST - again.

Sunday - The Sad Task of Leaving
Goodbyes were painful, as always. Understandably so for our parents, Em and me since the parents are going to miss some of the fun of Garyetta's birth. We weathered the flight home relatively well since we had an exit row for the Atlanta to Honolulu leg. Em nearly ran her pregnant butt off making the connection to Lihue in less than 20 minutes from a different terminal.

When we finally made it home, I felt like crap from too much drinking and not enough sleep and Em was just generally exhausted, but we enjoyed seeing everyone (though for too short a time). I'm just starting to feel better from my cold and Em's in tip-top shape for pushing Garyetta out in the not too distant future. Scary! Thanks to everyone who made our trip home tremendous.

Please email me pictures from the week so I can post them. 'Til next time...

Em and Garyetta Pictures

At the request of Big Erv, I'll dedicate this episode's pictures entirely to Em and Garyetta. Although Garyetta's adventures are much more extreme that Em's and mine, I don't have any action shots of her yet. Be patient - she'll be hitting the trail at an early age. In the meantime, I do have standard and 3D ultrasound shots that I'll share.

Face profile

The "It's a Girl" picture

Proof that Garyetta already likes beer

Face and Foot with "only" 5 toes (thankfully - ask Jen)


Proof that she's mine

Here are some pictures of Em as I crack the whip and put her pregnant butt to work.

Em and I went on a kayaking/hiking adventure on the Wailua river Sunday.

We paddled 2.5 miles upsteam to the fern grotto which we thought woud be a serene, beautiful spot as it is only accessible by boat. However, on arrival, we were greeted by a large dock (currnetly empty), lots of concrete, signs, bathrooms, sprinkler systems, propane tiki torches, decks, tables, etc. Shortly thereafter, we heard loud music and the churning of a large engine which we soon figured out belonged to a barge (seriously) filled with about 150 people. We snapped a quick picture before the tourists unloaded and hit the water again quickly - but not before another barge arrived. Cheesy Hawaiian music played on a bad PA system while 15o tourists sat packed in like cattle, awaiting the disappointment of the fern grotto - what a beautiful scene...to leave in the rearview mirror.

We paddled from there up a small fork of the river, unaccessible by barge, until the river became a small creek. Then we got out and hiked about a 1.5 miles over slick mud and roots to something a little more our style - a secluded 80 ft. waterfall with a gorgeous turquiose pool beneath and nobody else there. The water was very cool, but refreshing after the hike and paddle. We stayed awhile and a few people showed up, but nowhere near the herd at the fern grotto.

OK, just one picture of me.

Cincinnati in less than a week!

A Complete Report from Colorado

Hopefully you caught my update from Colorado. That pretty much sums up the first half of the trip. I should mention my acclimatization technique. I flew into Denver on about 3 hours of sleep since my airplane seat didn't recline, drove directly to Breckenridge at 9,600 feet, drank copious quantities of high alcohol beer and the following morning departed for an 8 mile winter backpacking trip (read - heavy load) at high altitude thus breaking just about every rule for avoiding altitude sickness/acute mountain sickness. Nevertheless, it worked and the worst symptoms I had were shortness of breath while carrying a 40 lb. pack and getting outpaced on the mountain by Jeb.

Continuing where I left off, Jeb and I planned to summit Quandary Peak which is one of Colorado's 14,000 ft. mountains. I'd been to the top already, but that was 5 years ago during the summer. The night before, we rented snowshoes and prepared for the climb with a sampling of microbrews. The morning was clear and bright, perfect for a summit day, but painful for a couple guys who had gotten cooked by the sun the day before. Upon ascending the east ridge, we realized that snowshoes were more of a novelty than a necessity for this climb, but I continued to carry mine. Jeb broke trail through the snow and I literally followed in his footsteps. We ascended 3500 ft. over a little less than 3 hours. Not bad considering the snow cover and my lack of acclimatization, but I summited this same peak in less than 2 hours in the summer 5 years ago when I had spent a month living in Leadville.

Jeb on the roof the world.

We were excited to have the summit to ourselves for our entire stay, a very rare occasion during the summer, but more likely as fall and winter close in. This was Jeb's first 14'er since becoming a permanent resident and my first winter summit. We called our friend Matt V. in TN and bragged to him since he was working.

The descent was unremarkable except for the 60 degree temperature - much hotter than we would have liked. I also used snowshoes for the first time and I found them surprisingly easy.

The following day, Jeb worked while I met a few of his partners and toured the hospital. They've got a great set up and spectacular setting nestled between Breckenridge and Frisco, but the storm is coming and the forecast includes hip, tib-fib and ankle fractures with a slight chance of shoulder dislocation. When ski season hits, the population quadruples, the hospital averages 4 surgical fractures a day and Jeb's playtime is over.

That evening we planned our next hike and overnight. Our goal was to utilize one of the 1oth Mountain Division Huts for an overnight stay, but most of the huts hadn't opened yet for the cross-country ski season and the ones that were open could be accessed by four wheel drive. Since it wasn't much of a hike in to the hut, we just planned a separate hike to be followed by a short drive to the hut.

The hike was near the old mining town of Climax through the valley and onto a ridge on the west side of the Tenmile-Mosquito mountain range. The snow hike was relatively easy and the payoff was unobstructed views of an impossibly rugged sawtooth ridge to the northeast with Clinton reservoir to the southwest.

Action shot for my sponsors, Mountain Hardwear, Osprey, The North Face and Stone Brewing.

After returning to the car, we headed back toward Shrine Mountain at Vail pass and the huts of Shrine Mountain Inn. We drove as far as we could with Jeb's FJ Cruiser and backpacked the rest of the way to Walter's Cabin, one of the 3 cabins that makes up Shrine Mountain Inn (http://www.huts.org/hut_details/shrine_hut_details.html). As it ends up, we had the whole 12 person cabin to ourselves. Running water, propane heat and stove, beds, flush toilet, electric lights, even a shower with hot water - luxury compared to sharing a two man tent in the snow with our breath freezing inside. In addition, when your backpacking entails a half-mile walk with no tent or stove, the list of luxuries we could carry grew to include a cooler with beer, an iPod and portable speakers.

We stopped by one of the other cabins and had it's 2 guests over for dinner since we had extra. They were a nice couple from Summit County who had skied out.

They departed by 8 PM and when left to our own devices and an increasing BAL, we headed out to explore the (locked) upstairs of the cabin. We accidentally opened a window and climbed in to check it out. It was appointed about the same as downstairs except for a woodburning stove. We rationalized that we might as well use it since it was there and about 10 cords of seasoned firewood sat below the deck. We listened to Radiohead and watched the fire burn down to coals while sipping our final beers of the evening and relishing our crowning achievement of the trip - breaking and entering. But the window was open, I swear officer...

Sadly, I departed from Breckenridge the following day to ensure a prompt arrival at the airport the following morning. The good news was that I got to visit my friends the Pernas who had moved from Leadville to Denver. They are the family I spent a lot of my time with when I lived in Leadville/Twin Lakes a few years ago. There's never any lack of conversation when we're together as they are some of the most interesting, well-travelled people I know. Furthermore, they are very kind and generous - always willing to offer me a place to stay while traveling their fine state.

The flight home was as pleasant as possible considering my half-day of layovers. However, upon arrival to Lihue and seeing Em again, my excitement turned to anger when my luggage didn't arrive. Apparently, a four hour layover isn't enough time to get luggage transferred between flights. That makes Go! airlines 2/2 in losing our luggage. Their website is iflygo.com and any questions about luggage can be emailed to moron@iflygobutmyluggagedoesnt.com. I guess you get what you pay for. Thankfully my luggage was found mid-afternoon the following day and I could stop ranting for a few minutes to enjoy my time back with Em and Garyetta.

I'll leave you with this "stroke" of genius until next time.

It's a Girl! A.K.A. The Greek Lady is Stupid and the Pencil Test Sucks

Lots of news from the Pacific this week. Well, we found out that Gary is almost definitely Garyetta yesterday. The way this came about is long and involved. First off - everything is fine. Last Thursday at Em's OB appointment, the obstetrician detected an irregular heartbeat while listening to fetal heart tones. Probably nothing, but we needed to go to Honolulu for a fetal echocardiogram to rule out cardiac abnormalities. All of this happened while I was in Colorado. Thankfully, their first appointment was yesterday, so I was back in time to accompany Em to Honolulu. We found out during the fetal echocardiogram that Garyetta's heart is anatomically normal, but has occasional PACs or premature atrial contractions - it must run in the family because I had them too when I was nervous about getting into med school and residency. They went away after things got settled as Garyetta's should when she is born. I imagine Garyetta was upset because Dad was in Colorado hiking in 2 feet of snow to the top of a 14,000 foot mountain while his life insurance policy was sitting at home unsigned. Nothing to worry about now since I made it home in one piece and the life insurance is signed and paid for.

The doctor told Em she has to completely cut out caffeine because it can increase PACs - this never helped me, but it couldn't hurt. I suggested a few adult beverages to help soothe Garyetta's nerves - this always helps me. It's never too early to start building a tolerance. On the other hand, it may be better to wait so I can teach her to like Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Orval Trappist Ale and Stone Ruination IPA rather than Green Apple Smirnoff Ice and amaretto sours.

They performed a 3D ultrasound on Garyetta to confirm that she does, in fact, look like an alien, just like every other baby until about 4 weeks post-partum.

Brian and Em: Is it a boy or girl?
OB: Well, it looks like you're going to have a baby girl alien. Congratulations!
Brian and Em: Aaaawwwhhh! That's soooo cute!

Pictures and Colorado updates forthcoming...

Greetings from Colorado

Just a quick update from Colorado with much more to follow. Sorry the pictures are funky I'm working on a Mac instead of a PC. I've been having a good time cruising all over the state visiting friends, but primarily staying with my friend Jeb who's working in Frisco, just north of Breckenridge.

So far, we did an overnight backpacking trip in Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park. That night we got about 5 inches of snow so the trip out was beautiful.

From there, Jeb dropped me at Joe and Jennifer Gould's house in Granby, CO. They are affectionately known as the Johnsons and were our neighbors in TN. We spent the evening together and talked about all the things that have happened over the past 3 months. They showed me their beautiful 7 acre tract of land on which they will build their house over the next few years.

Back to the park to take a few pictures (below) and then to Breckenridge to meet Jeb for dinner and delicious Colorado microbrews. More microbrews. We attempted a late night sled ride down the slopes of Breck, but not enough snow yet.

Today we hiked up Shrine Mountain despite the two feet of snow in some places. We had unbelievable views from the summit (12,000 ft.), but got a little scorched by the sun reflecting off the snow. I live in Hawaii, but get sunburnt in Colorado - sounds weird but the UV radiation is probably more intense at 12,000 feet when surrounded by snow, than on the beaches in HI.



Jeb's at work now so I thought I'd shoot you an update. Snowshoeing tomorrow. More later...

Haleakala MTB Ride

I flew to Maui on Friday afternoon, Sept. 28. Taryn and Matt met me at the airport and we went back to the condo. They had adjusted to HST (Hawaii Standard Time) by then so we hung out during the evening and made some plans for the ride in the morning.

By 11:15 AM we had driven to the summit of Haleakala and weather was stunning, about 55 and sunny. We were pleasantly surprised at the gate when they told us it was National Parks and Lands Day and it was the one day of the year that there was no admission fee to the parks. We enjoyed the views on the way up the volcano and marveled at the quick temperature change as we gained elevation. From the summit, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea (each near 14,ooo feet) are visible on the Big Island.
We geared up for our descent of the Skyline trail, but with weather like that, Matt and I were on the bikes quickly and headed down the volcano. The first section looks like Mars with space stations scattered around the summit area. What follows is a lava desert with tennis to golf ball-sized lava rock which loves to scatter from bike wheels and leave you in an uncontrolled skid down the volcano.

The views are unbeatable when you're about 4000 feet above the clouds. If you don't pay attention to the trail, vertigo grips you because riding a mountain bike DOWNWARD toward the clouds is just not something you experience too often.

After finishing the nasty lava rock section, the surface improves to the equivalent of a dirt road so 25-30 mph was not out of the question. We cruised down at a pretty good clip, stopping occasionally for pictures. We tried the helmet-cam, but the results weren't great.

At about halfway, the trail continues as singletrack into Polipoli State Park forest that was beautiful two years ago, but was now a blackened mess, the trees scarred and uprooted by fire, underbrush all but destroyed. The trail was much tougher than I remembered, probably because erosion had taken its toll and the root system began to die from the fire. We passed a large cinder cone and snapped some pictures in this surreal world. Fog crept in as we continued to descend, but the forest improved as the fire had not reached this far. Below is a picture of me by one of the lava vents on the trail.

Soon we reached improved dirt road and continued our ride. At times visiblity was less than 10 feet (due to the fog/clouds) and this continued even when we reached paved road.

We still felt it was prudent to pass slow-moving cars on a winding 1 1/2 lane road in the fog with poor visibility...well maybe not. Matt lit up his tires once when a truck surprised us around a bend. I could actually smell the burning rubber from the tread he left on the road. I wasn't without fault on the ride as I took a controlled spill on the obnoxious lava rock, but no blood loss. We made it to the bottom safely where me met Taryn and Monica with the Jeep. All told, it was 7000 ft. of descent over 16 miles!

We headed to Pai'a and stopped at the wine/beer store so I could pick up a few goodies to take back to Kauai. The selection was about 3-4 times as large as any place on Kauai, so I was excited and purchased a case and some 22s. Thanks to the Dreyer/Elliot families for taking me to the beer store on their vacation time.

Big bonus: for dinner, we settled on Maui Brewing Company, so we got to sample a variety of their excellent brews including a seasonal imperial IPA. Delicious.

The next day, the flight back was very pleasant, although we got to the airport only 40 min. before departure. Thank God for kiosk check-in and the the airport porters. 10 min. later I was getting coffee and an hour later I was finishing it in my exit row seat as we landed. All in all, it was a pretty sweet weekend excursion.

Michael Dreyer and Family Visit

Em's aunt, uncle and cousins arrived late on Mon. Oct. 22. We spent the remaining part of the evening talking over a couple drinks. Of course, they were exhausted because it was 4 AM EST even though Emily and I still had plenty of energy. They definitely earned their room and board at our house by bringing gifts of beer. Three Floyds Pride and Joy, Arrogant Bastard and Stone Ruination IPA - even better than gold, frankincence and myrrh.

The following day, Emily and I worked while the Dreyer family enjoyed a day of snorkeling, hiking and sunbathing on the north shore. We had a few drinks and then headed to Roy's for an outstanding delicious dinner. If you've never been to Roy's and you enjoy Pacific Rim cuisine, you've got to give it a try. Uncle Mike generously picked up the tab which we truly appreciate. All the visitors were pretty cashed out by the time we got home so we went to bed for an early start in the morning.

We headed to Waimea Canyon for the morning and the Dreyers family was unlucky enough to get a misty cool day in the canyon with limited views. Unfortunately, the weather is like that about half of the time, especially in winter further up the road toward Koke'e. At the Kalalau lookout, the clouds cleared for a few minutes so a few people got some views.

Most of the family headed to Brick Oven Pizza for lunch, but Matt Elliot and I had a hankerin' for something a little more exotic. We went to Ishihara Market and picked up some poke - raw seafood salad. We got wasabi ahi, scallop salad and idako, which is basically raw, whole, baby octupi in a sweet and sour sesame sauce. As Matt so eloquently put it "it's the veal of the sea", but without the guilt because nobody cares about baby octupi. Hopefully, they keep the octupi in a tiny box and force-feed it just like delicious, tender veal. We enjoyed our lunch intensely.

After lunch we headed to the Maha'ulepu beaches (which I think, is best set of beaches on the island - beautiful water, sea cliffs, no crowds and nearby hiking) and everybody did their own thing after arriving. Anyone who rode in the minivan rental waited half an hour until their guts settled and thanked God for their safe arrival after riding the dirt roads. Em and Taryn talked on the beach, Mike, Kevin and Jen walked the beach awhile, Monica took some photos. Matt and I hiked to several of the other beaches and onto some of the sea cliffs, cooler in tow.

We had an enjoyable dinner with VIP treatment at Kalaheo Cafe and then said our goodbyes since Emily and I had to work the next day. Em said goodbye for a week since she was heading to Cincy in a few days, I said goodbye for two days since I was flying to Maui for the weekend to go mountain biking with Matt. That sounds awesome so I'll type it again...I was flying to Maui for the weekend to go mountain biking!

Check back for the Haleakala biking pictures and story.

Ha'upu Tunnel Ride

I know it's been awhile since I posted, but we've had guests in town, I've been working a lot and traveling some too.

We went to the beach, but had to dodge the crowds at Hau'la, where it was packed as full as I've seen it.

Some pictures of Em about to get crushed by some 6-8 footers at Ha'ula beach

A couple weeks ago, I went for a MTB ride a little east of Kalaheo on some of the sugar cane roads. My goal was to find and ride through the tunnel in the mountain range visible from our deck. As usual, the land is private property, but typically the no trespassing signs are for liability reasons rather than truly restricting people from using the roads.

The ride was probably the best I've had here on the island with good terrain, excellent pasture and mountain views as well as a 2/3 mile long tunnel.

It starts with a couple miles of relatively flat riding, a couple turns and then you arrive at the tunnel. It was surprisingly large, easily large enough for a dumptruck to pass through (probably the original purpose for transporting sugar cane).

I brought a headlamp, but figured I wouldn't need it since the the bore of the tunnel was so large and I could see the other end easily. About a third of a mile into the tunnel when I couldn't see anything and the light on the other end had moved only imperceptibly closer, I realized something...I need that light...NOW! I put the light around my helmet and at least now I could see for a few feet ahead of the bike. Luckily, the riding surface inside the tunnel was actually very nice so I didn't take any spills in the dark.

I continued on the cane roads all the way to the base of Ha'upu (Hoary Head in English-which sounds much cooler) near the Maha'ulepu beaches. I encountered a couple bulls on the open range, but they didn't give me any trouble. I even managed to get a picture of the place that processes your sugar. Mmmmmmmmm, I'll have TWO teaspoons.

Once on the other side, I was excited to go through on the way back.

Back through the tunnel with the light on the whole time made the trip much easier.

On the way back I encountered a couple ATV tours. I was a little concerned since I was trespassing, but they gave me the Shaka (which is very different from the Shocker) and I returned the expression, so everything was cool.

There are a lot of options for this bike trip, so I'm sure I'll do another version soon. I headed back home and worked on my recipe for Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Actually, that is a knee-high stocking filled with Li'li'koi that I was squeezing for juice to perfect my recipe for fresh, ultra-premium passionfruit margaritas. C'mon out and have one sometime!