My personal hell section of the bike course is the climb from Kawaihae to Kawaihae Junction.

Yes. A fairly decent uphill and often with a tail wind means for a stifling and very sweaty effort over this stretch.

I had only ever ridden this bit when I was racing at Ironman Hawaii. I rode it in a training ride two years ago on an out-and-back to Hawi and I was quickly reminded, of how tough that stretch is both physically and mentally.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Wow this is priceless. From a 1st timer-thank you!!

From a 1st timer-thank you!!

For a first timer there - it all can be a bit overwhelming.

Some great tips and advice here for sure.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Any tips on a good place/company for some beginner surfing lessons? My 11 year old desperately wants to give it a try and that's one thing we never had a chance to look into last year. This year I want to make sure he has a chance. I'll just be watching though as we'll likely be doing it Wednesday or Thursday before the race.

I'm just going over spectating (from Oahu) but bringing my road bike? Staying on Alii Dr. Definitely want to do Koloko one day, but this route seems interesting as a longer ride. I have never been to the Captain Cook monument...are you able to get all the way to the monument by bike? As far as going south to K-Bay...which bay is that exactly or how far one way? How are the roads/traffic there? I was looking on Google Maps and it seems a little tight in some areas. Are there ample places to refill or buy water? Probably just looking for around 50-70 miles or 3.5-4.5 hours for a long ride. Probably Thursday. I think I'm going to do Koloko on Sunday before I head back home. I get in on Wed morning, but likely only a short spin in the afternoon. Friday I'm volunteering bike check in, so another short spin in the morning.

Any suggestions welcome. Not training for anything...just riding around for fun and to burn off some beer.

Just a bit south of Honl beach (1 mile south on Ali'i from the pier) are a couple of companies that teach surfing their offices are in the Mauka side of the road. There are also a couple of outfits down at Kahaluu Beach (next to he old Outrigger by the run turn around). And at the pier on the King Kam side (Kamakahonu) are the Kona Beach Boys.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

You won't be able to ride down to the monument. That's a long hike from the top or a 3/4 mile swim from the other side of the bay. You can ride your road bike down to K-bay and enjoy the scenery, stop at some coffee farms on the way out though. Or lock the bike up securely to something and go for a swim to the monument.

50 miles north round trip would be the resorts at a Waikoloa. South you could probably get to K-Bay and a bit more down to Honaunau perhaps. Provisions: in Kona, in Captain Cook and a bit at the National park in a Honaunau. Mostly water there.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Thanks for putting all this together (and thanks to the other contributors too). I'm not going - and haven't been yet - but its quite inspiring to read all the small details and local information. I've travelled elsewhere in Hawaii while surfing and so can imagine the locality to a degree as well. Having been hooked by the stories out of Hawaii in the early 1980s, it remains one of the many reasons why I pursue triathlon.

Mahalo

Thanks for the posts been to Kona a couple of times and still learning this threads are perfect.

Is there a place to buy bet juice? Not sure if beets are available. Been using beet juice for about a year and trying to determine if i need to try and ship or pack some in the luggage.

Many Thanks
Greg

I have never been. I will be arriving on 10/2 and am staying about 1 mile south of transition on Ali'i.

I was planning on riding some everyday until 10/9, but after reading this thread, I am a little worried and am actually considering bringing my trainer with me.

How dangerous is it going to be for me out there? My preference would just be to ride portions of the course, I probably wouldn't be going out for more than 2 hours (or 1 hour round trip). May bring the bike out to Hawi by car and ride back one day, just to be able to have seen everything.

Thanks for the information thus far, how worried should I be?

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Ironman Certified Coach

Currently accepting limited number of new athletes

Not very tbh. The problems with riders are almost always due to not riding on the shoulders. Anything else is rare. Try not to ride on the edge of a peloton out in the traffic lanes. If you avoid that you'll be fine. Don't run the red lights and if you're south on Ali'i the only stop signs you'll come to are the two on Ali'i Drive. The southern most one you can complexly avoid by riding on the shoulder where you'll naturally be anyway.

Don't take the melodrama too seriously. Riding in Kona is quite safe and fun. It's the bad apples that cause problems is all. It'll be easy for the most part to avoid them.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

if you had to recommend ONE coffee factory / plantation to tour, which one?

Also, how do you see actual lava flows without being ran off by roughneck locals?

Sunset from Mauna Kea... which road do you take up?

thx

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

If you want to visit the south point of the island and the green sand beach there are miles of red dirt roads along the coast. Lots of grass and wind and no shade. A must do every time I visit.

Great tips KonaCoffee. Mahalo for your kokua!

It's safer here than the mainland. Just watch the wind, never bring a trainer to hawaii!

Most likely Greenwell Farms just south of Captain Cook.

For the lava flows the eaiest way is to take a trip to Volcano National Park and drive to the Jagger Museum/HVO after dark and look out at the glow from the summit eruption (there is no surface flow right there). It's impressive. The laval is about 100 feet underground but lights up Halemaumau at night. Dinner at Kilauea Lodge is always very good and pricey. Volcano House sits right on the crater rim and is nice as well.

Mauna Kea is easy. Go up Palani (or another connector road like Hina Lani) and take the upper highway towards Waimea. When you get to the new Saddle road take that. It's also called the Daniel Inoyue Highway. Proceed along that towards Hilo and you'll eventually (well before Hilo) intercept the Mauna Kea Road. LFollow that on up to the top. Be sure to stop at the visitor center at the 9300 foot level coming and going. Coming to get some information and acclimate a bit to the altitude and on the way back as the U of H Hilo astronomy students often have their telescopes out and give little mini tours of the sky. By the way, it's really cold up there, even by mainland standards.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

qft.

I have a trainer. I have no clue where it's at though. Seriously.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Thanks

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

If you want to visit the south point of the island and the green sand beach there are miles of red dirt roads along the coast. Lots of grass and wind and no shade. A must do every time I visit.

Mark,

I love going to South Point.

It's one of those off the beaten path places and on few people's travel guides of the Big Island

Looking directly south from South Point the next land fall is the Antarctica!

If a big south swell is coming in, the wave action here can be very impressive.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Is it possible to day trip to Hilo and back by car? Kids are interested in a volcano helicopter tour and for our family it's literally $1100 more expensive to do it out of Kona vs making the drive. We're very accustomed to long road trip (Texas to Disney World straight thru multiple times). Just wondering what the drive is like. I mapped it and it was predicting about 2 hrs each way. Thanks.

Has it been as absurdly hot and humid in Kona as it's been on Oahu for the last three or four weeks?

We haven't had normal tradewinds for such a long time. I fear that if conditions on race day are like we've had here for the last few weeks, it will be total carnage on course.

Two hours via the new saddle road. Helicopter Tours are a lot cheaper from the Hilo airport for sure. 11 am might be a good time just before the lunch break for the pilots and before the afternoon clouds roll in.

The new saddle road is nice, much faster than the old road or taking the south point route or Hamakua Coast. If you're not in a hurry return via the Hamakua Coast.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

What are these 'tradewinds' you speak of?

Seriously, it's been absurd. Ali`i drive has been like a sauna. It really is the hottest time of the year anyway but this hasn't been fun.

Now fortunately, the past couple of days have still been hot and humid but the winds have started to come back.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

How do we sign up for a makai card at sack and spend?

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Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Just ask them for one. They have the little instant ones at the checkout counters. You can fill out the rest of the stuff later. It's the same card as for Foodland on Oahu (mostly) too. If you're in Honolulu coming or going you can get it there.

Free Hawaiian Air miles for me.

EDIT: I'm pretty certain KTA is cheaper for most groceries though.

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -- A fake Albert Einstein "quote"

Suncreen: I've seen people recommending planet sun, but spoke to a bikeworks (a dealer) who said the company aren't really distributing anymore.
Do you know anywhere which still does it?

If not, solrx was their other recommendation, thoughts on that?

Thanks