Hawaii Adventures pt 3: Maui
Here is a story that I started last November. It’s been in the draft bin for a while, now, and I thought that I’d finish it off.
I am very sad that there will be no Maui for me in 2009. I loved Maui.
Eventually the holiday had to end – It was tuckering me out. I caught a mid day flight to Maui and met Doc Aron.
After hanging out in the charming, hippy, rainy, funky, time capsule (the pool hasn’t been maintained since December 7 1941) of Hilo, Maui was a change. More fashionable (if Tommy Bahama is your idea of fashion). I enjoyed the funky ways, and cheap fruit of the big island. But Maui? I LOVED Maui.
The catch with Maui was that I had a big race in 5 days time and I had to ‘
tourist’ less and focus a little more on the pending race. Aron set me up with a rent a wreck, and housing 1/4 way up the mountain with Bill and Kris, who are a super cool couple living in a beautiful house with a dog named after the most aggressive cyclist of our generation – VINNY
I loved Maui. Like every other place in Hawaii swimming pools are free. I did a tune up swim 4 days out and sucked. So I did swim intervals over the next 3 days. It turned out that I was in a 27m (classic Hawaiian) but the result was that I got a few solid swims in with Kris. Not so much on the bike. I rolled around, did some run intervals on the track.
Everyday I drove around the island getting to the race venue. Ian of Specialized was there, and between Vegas, Kona and here, I have seen more of him than anyone else over the past month.
My last night in town I looked over and thought I saw a familiar face, but it couldn’t be. Sure enough Ryder Hesjedal, the first Canadian to ride the Tour de France (and recent 2nd place finisher on a Vuelta Stage).
