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Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
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Written by Mark Logrbrinck
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Tuesday, 03 April 2007 |
Tex in Hawaii
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Last year Vikki’s folks asked us if we wanted to go to Kauai, Hawaii with them. They own a timeshare on the island of Kauai in Princeville. We have been to Kauai three times, once for our honeymoon and the other times with Vikki’s parents. Yup, the in-laws twice. Heck they got a place to stay for free. How can you beat that? We got to Kauai on Friday the 30th. We had no troubles, just a long day traveling.
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The last time we were here I did a ride called Powerline Trail. This trail starts in Princeville. Did I mention we are staying there? It just keeps getting better and better. Powerline is a maintenance road for……you guessed it…..a power line. I can ride straight from the condo to the trailhead. It is about a 4 mile pavement ride to the dirt. Because that is what it is all about…dirt.
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Now let me back up a little. Kauai is the wettest place in the world, literally. It rains about 150” a year in Princeville and the middle of the island gets 450”. That’s a crapload of rain. I have looked up this trail on a map with rainfall amounts.  | | click to enlarge |
The area Powerline cuts through gets close to 250” per year. Now this tells you where there is dirt there is mud. Mud with a capital M. Lotsa mud. I ride, walk, wade through knee deep mud at times, take about 100 photos, listen to all kinds of birds, see a hog-hunter with about 15 pit bulls and I clean my shoes and feet in a puddle. It is mud practically for the whole 13 miles. It is beautiful. You feel like you are on the TV show Lost.
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I finally got back to civilization after about 4 hours. I am not that tired though. I ride down to the main road and start looking for the bike shop I saw the day before. I find Kauai Cycles in Kapa’a.  | | click to enlarge |
They kindly let me sit around and chew the fat while I wait for Vikki to come and get me. I just rode through the jungle and I am not going to ride 25 miles on a busy narrow highway back to the condo. I feel like I can though. Bruce, the head mechanic at the shop, tells me about a poker ride for the local access club. It is tomorrow on Sunday. I’ve got to do a lot of politicing for this one since Vikki came to pick me up today and I have not shopped or hiked yet.
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So I did my best begging in years. Vikki is ok with the poker ride. Whoopee!! I set out at about 8:00am and head over to the ride. It rained cats and dogs the night before. I am beginning to wonder if they cancelled due to weather.  | | click to enlarge |
I got hand drawn directions from Bruce at Kauai Cycles. They kind of went like this; coming from Princeville go past the fruit stand and then around a curve just past the school. This is all I got to go on. He said it was 6 miles or so. It turned out to be 10, but I found it. After almost getting stuck in the mud I find a parking spot. I get out and look around; I am surrounded by motorcycles and ATV’s.  | | click to enlarge |
I did not mention it is a fundraiser for C.O.R.K. (Combined Off Road Kauai). I have never been to a combined event. Here the groups are combined bikes, motorbikes, ATV’s and hunters. They work together, instead of against each other, for legal access. So it is a $30 membership and $10 for the ride.  | | click to enlarge |
So for $40 dollars I get to ride with the locals. Not bad since all the touristy things in Hawaii cost over $100, aside from snorkeling, which is also on the agenda. There are some bikes, but mostly motorized vehicles. So I mosey over to registration and get in line. The line, in typical laidback Hawaii fashion, is going nowhere and we are supposed to start in less than an hour. Then someone has a flash of intelligence; since all the bikes get to start before the motorbikes we get to cut in line. I get registered and head over to the rider's meeting. We get a head start on the motorcycles. Great. I only imagine sharing the narrow trail with them.
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We take off at a very leisurely pace to the first downhill. Did I mention it rained the night before? So everybody goes in a single file down this slick downhill. I follow. I make it about 2/3 of the way down, then I go down in the mud. I slide about 15 feet, laughing the whole way. I am not alone. Quite a few fall. We ride in the mud for the whole ride. It makes yesterday’s mud look like an amateur.  | | click to enlarge |
This mud is sticky, it gunks up drive-trains, wheels will not turn. The folks at the beginning think I am nuts for riding a single-speed. Now who’s laughing? They push up, I push up, they slide down, I slide down, the only difference being my chain and wheels are turning without having to clean them every 15 minutes. I have never heard so many chains and gears grinding. Not me though, with my good ol' Surly 1x1. It was a real slog fest. I fell 4 or 5 times, same as the first time, sliding the whole way laughing. It is like being a kid again. It was a blast. I met a lot of cool people and had a great time. The only drawback is I have to clean my bike, hopefully I can find a hose.
Tex
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