5AM. Sprinklers. Neda Yoga Hut. Gene Internet. Breakfast. There, the first 4 hours of our morning summed up in 8 words. We're going to do the third of the three routes the guys at Island Riders recommended, and so far they are batting 1.000. What's nice is that each day, our rides are getting shorter, and we're able to leave later in the day and get back earlier to enjoy our beautiful B&B. I don't think we could have done a 13-hour Road to Hana on our 3rd day of riding here. Today's ride takes us on a loop of the Northwest part of the island on the Kahekili Highway through the multitude of bays that line the north coast. Everyone here tells us to be careful, as there are sections of this road that are in pretty rough shape and in some parts, the road narrows to one lane and cars and have to negotiate with one another to figure out who's going to back up to find a spot wide enough to let both cars by. FUN!
We leave around 10AM as the weather starts to get very warm and we start by riding north of Lahaina for the first time and traffic is very busy on this Easter Sunday morning. The northern part of Lahaina are where all the big resorts and hotels are, and we're glad that we're staying away from the hustle and bustle of this section of town. Traffic begins to thin out past the resorts and we are able to see the coastline to our left without the multi-story hotel buildings and resorts obstructing our view.
The pavement starts out quite nice around the western part of the north shore, although it's a bit narrow with no run-off or shoulder on either side. It's around the middle of the route that we find out that we don't know the meaning of narrow! The road quickly turns into a 1-lane "path" carved in the cliffs overlooking Kahakuloa Bay and this continues for about 1 mile around the bay. The guys at Island Riders recommended we ride the loop clockwise, because if oncoming traffic doesn't make way for you, you "only" crash into the cliff wall. If you were going counter-clockwise, oncoming traffic would push you over the cliff. We nodded our heads, but didn't appreciate this fact until we were on the road and watched two oncoming cars trying to squeeze by another. The car going counter-clockwise had to dip his right wheels a bit over the cliff edge!
After Kahakuloa Bay, we stopped by Julia's Banana Bread House, who we've been told by everyone we've met (Island Rider guys, Dan & Terry) has the best banana bread on the island. Funnily enough, some other banana bread house set up shop about 1/2 a mile before Julia's and Julia had to paint her hut bright lime green and put up signs telling people they were *the* banana bread shop everyone talks about. LOL! Capitalism at its finest!
Q:What do you call a Portuguese guy in a tree? Q:How do you get a one-armed Portuguese guy out of a tree? Q:How can you tell a Portuguese guy at a cock-fight? Q:How do you know the Portuguese mafia is attending that cock-fight? And so and so on.... LOL! I have a feeling that the Portuguese are the Newfies of the European community. Apologies to Chris and Trina...
We spent the evening at Ho'oilo watching the sun set and talking with Graham and Teresa, a couple from the UK who were honeymooning in Maui. Graham initially started the conversation asking about the Buells parked outside. Turned out we had a lot in common - we were both motorheads, he owns a few bikes, a ZX6R and a CBR600RR and he has a 1098S on order for when he gets back to the UK! His wife Teresa also rides and is a huge Dainese fan. They were interested in our California trip a couple of years ago because they wanted to do a coast-to-coast ride eventually. What was amazing about all of this is that Graham lost his left leg below the knee 5 years ago in the Battle of Basra when he joined the UK Reserves. All his motorcycles are fitted with a hand shifter. I thought this was fantastic that he could still pursue his passion despite not having use of his left foot! Fascinating guy to talk to!
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