I guess you can't take the mountain biker out of me yet...taped helmet, winter shoe covers, and a big air strapped to my bike in case I get a flat. Bisbee was a great experience, I have never raced an all womens race before and the Pro 1-2's are tough. Hammering on the flats I had no problem but as soon as hammering occured on a climb....ouch! Hopefully going into Gila I will use a little of this climbing experience to pull me through. I got to stay with my amazing friend Bonnie in Sierra Vista, so I had great company and a cozy place to recover. I leave today for Gila and I am going to camp for a week, and Kevin will meet me on the last two days of the stage race. I can't wait!

A big thanks again to Marianne and Bryant for putting me up at their amazing house and making my Hawaii vacation better then planned. I defanetly maxed out every second I could while I was there. I am paying for it this week with sleeping alot and eating a ton. I leave tomorrow for 10 days to race Bisbee and Gila. Hopefully I am ready, after Bryant ripped my legs off in Hawaii. Me and Kevin are going to meet up in NM at the end of the Gila race, I can't wait it has been too long.

Ben bodysurfing!

Lisa and Ben at Waimea Bay.

Dinner with Mike and Hilary at Kona Brewing Co.

I love Hawaii. What a great last couple days. Yesterday we surfed Barbers 2 hours and then we went on a waterfall hike up Manoa Valley, and the went out to eat with good friends Hilary and Mike. Today was epic, I finally got to go on the Stair way to Heaven hike, Matt my neighbor up at Makakilo showed us an awesome route from the back side, because the have a guard sitting at the entrance of the stairs, turning people away. We did it in 5 hours and it was amazing, this is one of the top hikes ever. I had great company and we were all the same pace and really enjoyed every minute of it. Then after the hike we met up with Ben and Lisa and kayaked out the the sand bar. I am destroyed, I can hardly keep my eyes open. There are so many great pics that I could not choose. Here are some good ones, I will post more later. Tomorrow, ride, surf, Jack Johnson concert. Only two more days :(

My three hiking partners, Matt, Bryant and Kevin. Major studs, we were all around the same pace and covered alot of ground in 5 hours. Unforgettable!

Matt and Bryant heading down the stairs.

Me being a dork, all muddy.

Bryant, having second thoughts.

Stairway to Heaven hike with Bryant, Matt, and Kevin

Kevin 2 cooling off in one of the falls.

Hike up Manoa. Ben rope climbing up the falls.

Surfing at Barber's with Ben, Lisa and Kevin 2.

Another great day, we rode around the island with 100 plus miles. Beautiful scenery and Bryant was a great partner we kept a steady pace that we were both happy with. Then we met Ethan, Stacey and some friends for dinner at a Greek restaurant, it was yummy, I ordered one of everything, I have been eating non stop since I got here with all this training. Ben and Lisa just rolled into town, so tomorrow is just and easy ride in the morning and then hang with them all day. Surfing is a must tomorrow!

Suset Beach

Waimea Bay

This morning Bryant and I did a group ride on base, it was pretty fast pace with me reaching my limit a few times, I hung on until the end, but I was worked. Then we climed up this 3-4 mile steep climb, Aiea Heights. It was a great day of riding, perfect weather with a sprinkle at the top of the climb. We are going to ride around the island tomorrow, should be epic.

Bryant and I hung out with me and Kevin's neighbors from Holomoku St this evening. They are all so great, and active like me and Kevin so we have alot in common. All the kids have grown up after being away 2 years. They all had good things to say about the couple renting our house so we are lucky. Matt is going to take us up "stairway to heaven" on Friday, that is one of the things I have never done. He also loaned us his boards for the next couple days, so we don't have to rent. Everyone looks really good, and it was good to catch up.

I made dirt pudding for the BBQ, big hit for kids, because it looks like dirt. Oreos, pudding, whip cream and cream cheese. Yum

Murphy and Lane eating dirt pudding.

Buffy and McCully

We decided to skip the traffic and head for the North Shore this evening out to Waimea Bay. It was just breaking slightly on shore. Bryant and I headed out for a swim and tried the workout where you pick up a rock underwater and throw it, it burnt both of our legs. Bryant fixed me a killer stir fry dinner. Marianne headed off to Chicago today, we miss her already along with the cats. Tomorrow we are going to head up to Makakillo for a BBQ and borrow Matt's surfboards after we do a hammer fest ride on base, should be a good time.

Bryant getting ready for a swim

Bryant diving into a wave.

I did some of the best riding the island has to offer today. 6 hours total with stops, and it would of been longer if Bryant wouldn't of felt sorry for me and asked me to lunch with him and Marianne. I started by riding at 6AM this morning and commuted with Marianne to work on a bike path that Kevin would take on his way to work every morning, I finally saw some of the characters that they both talk about. Then I left from there and rode into town down Nimitz and headed up University to the old stopping grounds. I grabbed a coffee from UH and road around campus and up Manoa before I headed over to Tantulus for a great climb with switch back roads and no cars. Then turned off to head up the Pali and hit the back roads which were so nice. I checked out Pali lookout and then headed back down the hill to meet Bryant and Marianne back on base Hickam for lunch. I wore the jersey Sue gave me because it has Hawaiian looking flowers on it and I thought it would help if people would think I am local and not hit me. It worked. I made it back and it was a great ride. Hopefully going to hit some waves later and get Bryant on a surfboard.

Pali Pass road, beautiful and saw one car.

Tantulus ride, 5 miles up, 5 miles down, and only saw two cars.

View of Diamond Head and Honolulu from Tantulus