The Ala Wai Mash

Went out a little late today. I had to wait for Eki Cyclery to open at 9am to get the strut kit Jayne put aside for me yesterday. Then I had to get water. During my ride, I stopped by McCully Bicycle and Sporting Goods and went through Ala Wai Boulevard before heading home, totaling 7.5 miles.

Strava Stats

1st Half
Distance: 5.6 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Moving Time: 0:29:19
Max Speed: 22.8 mi/hr
Avg Speed: 11.4 mi/hr
Calories: 126

Back Home
Distance: 1.9 mi
Elevation Gain: 51 ft
Moving Time: 0:10:53
Max Speed: 20.4 mi/hr
Avg Speed: 10.4 mi/hr
Calories: 55

Before sleeping last night, I thought about setting some biking objectives. I told myself that for starters, I should ride around 10 miles a day during the weekends, and around 2 miles, or maybe even 30 minutes a day during the weekdays. I remembered that Michelle bought an Outdoor Products Kilometer 2.0 Hydration Pack Camelbak thing a while ago for hiking, and since I had around a 10 mile ride the next day, I should make use of it.

I headed over to Eki Cyclery after dropping Michelle off to work and picked up the strut kit for my rear rack. It was a great deal at $6.95. I also bought a Long Sunlite Bicycle Wheel Reflector Set for $3.95! Eki Cyclery is located on Dillingham Boulevard and carries mostly Raleigh, Schwinn, and Dahon bicycles. They have a great assortment of accessories with prices comparable to my favorite LBS. The staff is also very helpful and knowledgeable and if they didn't know something, they will admit it and not beat around the bush. I actually walked around their shop for maybe 30 minutes before checking out.

When I got home, I tried mounting the rear bike rack, but then realized that I was missing the mounting screws! Luckily, McCully Bicycle and Sporting Goods had them in stock for 50 cents each (When I got back home, I found out that these were the same screws on the bike already used for water bottle holders and accessories uhhh). I installed both reflectors on the front wheel and headed toward the store.

After getting the last of what I needed to attach the rear rack, I kept on going up King Street toward Kaimuki. It was a little scary sharing the road with cars coming from the freeway off ramp, so I stuck on the sidewalk. I turned right onto Kapahulu Avenue and headed toward Ala Wai Boulevard.

There is a nice, flat, straight bike lane on Ala Wai Boulevard that I've been wanting to get on ever since I got the bike and it was everything I was hoping for when I did. The road was nice and smooth and had a 0.0% average grade through out the ride according to Strava. I got some real satisfaction from pushing through the gears, knowing that it was ALL ME powering the smooth ride and not a downhill. Naturally, there would be a Strava Segment on this stretch called Ala Wai Mash which I got 158th place on lol. Pretty fun ride regardless.

Ala Wai Boulevard consists of a few stoplights that are usually green. Car lanes are to the left of the bike lane and designated parking is to the right, so watch out for opening doors. The bike lane ends a long ways away from the intersection crossing McCully Street and signs suddenly tell you that you can take a whole lane. Cars turning right with you in the intersection will start getting impatient, so be careful toward the end.

I take McCully Street toward my usual route, down bumpy Beretania Street and up Piikoi Street. The end. I want to go back ASAP!

 

My friend told me to take a photo on the drive side which I found out was the proper way of taking bike pictures so enjoy! lol

First Ride, Tune-Up, Lock, Reflectors, and Brakes

Had a great first ride out today. Went to the LBS repair shop and back home totaling 5.6 miles.

Strava Stats

To the Repair Shop
Distance: 2.3 mi
Elevation Gain: 0 ft
Moving Time: 0:15:18
Max Speed: 18.0 mi/hr
Avg Speed: 9.0 mi/hr
Calories: 42

Back Home
Distance: 3.3 mi
Elevation Gain: 38 ft
Moving Time: 0:21:18
Max Speed: 22.8 mi/hr
Avg Speed: 9.3 mi/hr
Calories: 81

I took my bike to the McCully Bike & Sporting Goods Repair Shop for a tune-up and the guy there was very accommodating. He took a quick look over my bike and snuck me in a waiting time slot since everything looked fine. He told me to come back in an hour or so, so I went to Longs, got some C2o Coconut Water, then headed a few blocks toward the LBS.

I have been looking at bike locks online and previously thought that all locks were the same, until I watched some videos on how to properly lock your bike. I got really interested in Kryptonite locks because they have a key replacement program if you happen to lose all of your keys. I got the Kryptonite Kryptolok Series U-Lock with Transit FlexFrame Bracket and 4-Foot Flex Cable and the key numbers are etched into the plastic part of the key end. Amazon currently had them for under $40, but I needed it ASAP, so I just went ahead and supported my LBS.

Just fyi though, most if not all of the KRYPTONITE LOCKS SOLD AT WALMART DO NOT HAVE THE REQUIRED KEY NUMBER TO RECEIVE KEY REPLACEMENTS! (i peeked inside the boxes and checked)

Anyway, I asked the LBS if they sold reflectors and they just gave me a pair for free. They ended up being too small though :/

 

 

I also got a small cable to lock down the seat, but I am still debating if I should use it or not.

 

 

I headed back to the repair shop after an hour and my bike was ready. The guy said that he adjusted my brakes and gears and that most everything checked out, but the rear brakes were down to the metal. He replaced them and said to always replace the brakes because they are only $5 toward your safety and are very easy to replace myself. He charged me $20 and even installed the new lock I just bought on the bike. Seemed like a great place, so I will probably bring all of my bike problems to them lol. Does anyone know what brand of brakes these are?

 

 

The rest of the ride was a little nerve wrecking, trying to get used to driving on the road, but eventually I retreated back to the sidewalk. I took a different route to get back home taking in the beautiful local scenery (less busy streets).