Update, Week 4 of April.

This has truly been a hectic week. The time is now flying faster than I can keep up. The bikes and trailers are awaiting transport. They should be on their way later this week. The three boxes totaled 149 pounds. We will take the rest of the stuff with us. For me it'll be a back pack, my camera, and the duffel bag that came with the trailer. Lisa was thinking about sending some of her stuff through the mail so that she won't have to deal with any baggage en route. Now all that's left is some yard work, storing stuff away, and a little house cleaning. The later includes emptying out the fridge and freezer. Fern is going to keep an eye on things here and take care of Pokahu. I hope he doesn't miss me too much. He looks so sad every time I go somewhere without him.

I only rode 85 miles this week. I needed to go shopping and box hunting, it also rained pretty good for a couple of days. And since our trip is coming upon us real soon, I didn't want to take the chance of catching a cold. It was all good though, cause I got in a couple of long rides in on my road bike. I'm going to miss those two guys, they are soooo much fun to ride. I invested in the SRAM-RED group up grade from the existing Shimano-Dura-Ace group that was on my Giant-TCR Carbon. Normally a $2000.00 up grade, but since the bike shop partially sponsors me, I only paid $1200.00. So far this bike cost me over $8000.00. Sounds crazy I know, but the thing is light, and it is fast! The SRAM-RED group is hands down the lightest and most precise of anything out there. It makes you want to go even faster. I can do 40 miles in less that 2 hours. Without the tail light, the mirror, and the pedals. It weighed in at a mere 13.5 pounds. Less than half that of most bikes.

Ted's 2007 Team "ONCE" Tour de France dream bike.

Bikes and equipment ready to ship.

This is just a short update to let you all know that the bikes and trailers are boxed and ready for the journey. They will be sent FedEx on May the first. It sure seems like a lot of stuff, I haven't weighed them yet cause I don't have a scale, but I'm guessing the three boxes are about 150 pounds total. And that's not counting our personal gear. We won't know for sure what the actual load we will be carrying till the day we leave Yorktown. Some of the stuff will get shipped back home once we get set up. Some tools, travel packs, and and what ever else we feel is not necessary. Since this is our first attempt at something like this, I'm sure we will find out with in a couple of weeks what works and what doesn't. So there's a chance that we will be sending back more stuff through the mail when the time comes.

My brother Ralph lent me this neat little net book. It runs Windows XP, so I was able to load all my GPS stuff along with the other programs I will be using that my other net book running Linux could not. I can't believe that something this small can do so much. Good stuff.

Thanks for checking in. Aloha, Ted.

Bikes and trailers, boxed and ready to go.

Pokahu, he watched as I packed. It's almost as if he knows I'll be leaving for a while. I wish I could take him.

Update for week 3 of April

From my secret spot I took this shot.
April 18, 2009

Aloha everybody,

Boy, time sure seems to fly, the closer we get to departure. It seems almost surreal. I find myself scrambling to take care of last minute details that just a few weeks ago seemed like I had all the time in the world to deal with. It's hard to believe, but we start packing our gear next week already. My family has been very supportive of this en devour. They actually took it upon themselves to hold a couple of sushi sale fund raisers on our behalf. The community has also been very supportive. Between Lisa and I, we have collected over $3000.00 from friends and family. We didn't ask for a penny of it, they just wanted to make sure that Molokai was well represented as we traveled. It really is nice. Now we can plan on a little more comfort when the need arises.

This past week saw some of the windiest weather yet. Riding in these high winds can be a little tricky, and toiling to say the least. You actually get more of a work out battling the winds than you normally would. The end of the week was easy as the wind subsided, bringing the temperatures up. I covered just under 130 miles cumulating in a 43 miler today. Once our bikes are shipped, I will concentrate mainly on road biking for fun.

My brother Ralph and his wife Carol took my mom on the Celebrity Millennium cruise last week. they went to Auckland New Zea land, and will island hop all the way back to Hawaii. It's a three week trip, and will be back on Molokai a few days before my departure. They are all old school, no e-mail, so I haven't been in touch with them since they left.

Things are slowly falling into place, and hopefully we will have a smooth transition. My daughter Krystal will meet Lisa and I at the Williams burg air port and spend the first day or two with us. She'll be vacationing in Virginia Beach. It'll be nice seeing her there and having a car to take in the scenery before hitting the road.

Thank you for your support, have a great week. Aloha, Ted.

Update week 2 of April

Lisa and I on kalua koi road

We take turns leading each other out.

Our camp site all set up and ready.

With thousands of miles ahead of us, we take it one mile at a time.

Hello everybody, sorry for the late update. Lisa and I were on another test over night ride this past weekend. It will be our last, since next week we will need to disassemble the bikes and equipment to get them ready for shipment. This is going to be a complicated process that will take a few days, and hopefully all of it will arrive at our destination as planned.

We were able to get the camping part done this time, and am pretty sure things will go well on the road. The weather was really nice, we stayed at Dixie Maru in the yard of one of the houses over there. I went for a 20 minute fishing trip and caught three fish. We ate them last night.

Sunday was also Lisa's birthday. She made 43, "Happy birthday Lisa!" We had brownies and ice cream along with a gut busting Mexican meal. We cheated, Fern and Terry made the meal while we kicked back after our ride.

Here is a short video of that day:

Update for week 1 of April, 2009

I can't believe it! It's April already. Just about one month to go till our Trans-America. I just heard from my daughter Krystal yesterday, and she's all set to meet us in Yorktown. I'm very excited.

This past week has been a windy one. mentally, the wind and the hills are a big demoralizing factor for those of us who enjoy cycling. It's a mind over mater kind of thing. A good friend of mine by the name of Mike Curiak, told me that riding a bike is 99% mental. It's the mental discipline that enables elite racers like Mike to endure the overwhelming odds pitted against them during those ultra endurance events such as the Ididabike, and the Great Divide mountain bike races. The point is to try to pretend that these obsticles don't exist. If you can do that, then they don't exist, and the elements become part of your ride.

This week, I covered 108 miles, but only two of those outings involved pulling the trailer. Since it is getting close, I want to ride my road bikes more often, because once I leave, I won't be riding them for over 100 days. I love my road bikes, but they are not touring bikes, and are not designed for anything but going fast on smooth roads.

Last weeks venture with Lisa and Fern relieved a few kinks in my set up. I have since made the correction, and will try to get another test ride in before we go. I've also proven myself to be right the hard way. You can't use a 26" X 2.125" tube in a 26" X 1.5" tire. There is simply not enough room in there, and the result is not only a blown tube, but also a blown tire. With no room for the tube to lay nicely in the tire, you end up with a pinch flat, that at high pressure (In my case 80 pounds) will blow up exactly like it did with me. I have since bought the right tubes. The reason for the switch in tires results from the fact that mountain bike knobbies are only good for about 500 miles on the pavement. This became evident in just a few short weeks. And with a trip lasting near 5000 miles, I'm going to need too many of them. A street tire will last anywhere from 2000 to 5000 miles depending on the load and surface conditions. I've also replaced my chain rings, the links were starting to rest on the shoulders of the rings causing irritating noises as they rub against each other. I also added a rear rack, and shed about 20 pounds from my original load. I realize I had too much cloths, I'll only take one stove, and go with an inlfatable sleeping pad, and possibly a smaller tent among other things. In other words, I'm leaving almost all the creature comforts home. If I find I am unable to live with out them, I can always have them shipped to me at a predetermined location along the way.

In three weeks we ship our bikes and trailers to the east coast, hoping that they will be there when we arrive. Hopefully assembly will go quickly, so that we will have enough time to do the necessary adjustments well ahead of our official departure on May the 12th. I am constantly checking the bicycle touring hub, aka "crazyguyonabike" for updated info on recomendations with bike set up, and energy supplementation. We'll be burning between 4 and 6 thousand calories a day from riding our bikes alone. I've purchased the "Bike Energy" application for my I touch that calculates calorie expenditure based on these factors: Total weight including bike and all equipment, total accumulative elevation gain, average grade, speed, distance, and temperature, along with road friction and wind resistance (The last two are determined from information gathered from http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/rolres.html and http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2007/08/06-tire-rolling-resistance-test-results.html . These two sites use scientific methods to derive formulas for figuring out tire and road surface resistance depending on your set up. All things being equal, it's amazing at how much difference the tires have on wattage expenditure. Air pressure seems to be a big factor. http://www.mybikeapps.com/Apps_/BikePower.html Helps calculate wind resistance for various types of bicycles based on frontal mass and aero dynamics using wind tunnel testing. These figures may not be 100% accurate, but they are consistent, and will give us a dependable formula to work with. If we fail to adequately replace the much needed calories, we will simply lose weight, along with the energy to maintain this type of exertion. That's why you don't see very many skinny endurance athletes. They either can't finish, or they die.

Before leaving you with this update. I'd like to tickle your funny bone with this home made video clip entitled: "Uncle Ted's Trick Shots"

"Cycle to the Sun"

I miss placed this video clip over a year ago and thought I lost it for good. Today, I found it, "Yippee!!!" I wanna share with with all you guys.

The Haleakala Hill Climb, or "Cycle to the Sun" as it is commonly known as. Is considered the toughest and steepest paved road bike climb in the world. Considered a "Beyond Category" because of the length and elevation gain involved. You go from sea level to over 10,000 feet in about 34 miles, a fit athlete {(like myself) He-he-he}. can make it in a time span of just over four hours. An elite athlete, a little less than three. The average couch potato? Well, lets just say they should not attempt this one. Hope you find it worth your while. Aloha, Ted.

Update for week 5 of march - to week 1 of April

Aloha on this cold and windy over cast morning here in Kualapuu.

What a week it has been. 108 miles this week, but 76.2 of them were fully loaded. Actually over loaded. Pardon me for the affluency of my posts, but since time is important to everyone, I try to keep things entertaining for those of you seeking artificial stimulation without the actual use of artificial stimulation.

Our big pre-ride, over night rehearsal.
(Click on images for better view)

Okay, where was I................? Oh, and 38 of those were either against the wind, up hill, or both. If you weren't at home in front of the TV all day on Thursday, you would have noticed that the wind was howling. I would say in the 35 maybe 40 mile an hour range. Head wind all the way. Lisa and I started our ride from her place at Kenani kai. Right off the bat I had a problem. I forgot to bring my bike shoes. I haven't ridden a bike without using them since 1995. I felt naked without them. I was tempted to go home and get them, but time was ticking. I could have gone home, and met them along the way, but that would not have been according to plan. Besides, this would give me a chance to improvise. Notice I said them in the previous sentence? We met up with Fern at the top of the climb from Kalua koi. Fern had ridden from Mauna loa, and would accompany us to Pukoo where we would be spending the night camping. Or so we thought. Anyway, after a short break, we proceeded on our way to Kaunakakai approximately 15 miles east. No problem, down hill right? Well, when the wind is blowing stronger than you are going down hill, it makes for an interesting bike handling experience. Especially pulling an over loaded trailer. The bike wonders slightly from side to side before you have a chance to correct it. Partly from the wind, and the weight imbalance fore and aft. And you don't slow down as fast either.

After a grueling 15 mile battle with the wind, we stopped at the Pizza Cafe for lunch. I took this opportunity to catch a ride with my mom and sister to get my shoes. I couldn't resist. After over eating, we continued east. By now it was after 4 in the PM. I wasn't sure if we were gong to make it before dark. We kept a steady pace, bucking the constant head wind all the way. Occasionally we stopped for a minute or two to regroup, and break the monotony, and use the (you know what). It was after 6:00PM by the time we reached Manae Goods and Grinds. There we stopped for a few minutes knowing the we had less than a mile to go. I went in and bought the biggest can of ice cold juice that they had. It hit the spot so well, that I wish I had a bigger stomach so I could drink another one.

Peter Ward (Part owner of MGG along with his wife Kehau and son), happen to be there when we pulled up. I knew he wanted to join us, but since we were just about done for the day, I didn't invite um. By the way. Peter is my boss at my regular job. Good thing I didn't call in sick for this one.

By the time we pulled up to our destination, the sun was nearing the horizon, and we were in no mood to set up camp. Actually, there was no room in the yard for my set up. The latter is a better excuse than the prior. We ended up living the good life eating and sleeping indoors where it was nice and warm, and protected from the ever persistent wind.

Because of the lengthy nature of this post, I won't bother with the detail of our return trip. However, it was every bit as exciting. Here are a few pictures from our ride:

Lisa Davis completing the first climb.
"Hi Lisa!"

Fern and Lisa discussing strategy.
Ted realizing he has too much stuff

Ted and Lisa, partners in crime.

Close up of these criminals.

Final rest break before calling it a day.

All in all it was a great preview as to what we might expect on our journey.
Lessons learned: Carry less stuff. Double check equipment list. Stay with the plan.

Thank you all for joining us on this one. It's only 5 more weeks and we are really excited.
Aloha till next time, Your cyber host, Ted.