40.1 mi / 10.5 mph / 1308 ft. climbing
Home: Jolee House AirBNB

Last evening, closing her left eye was the best solution for the pain that an insect had somehow injected into Rett’s eyeball. While squeezing one eye shut prevented her from getting any enjoyment out of our oceanside campsite, it was at least compatible with sleeping, and allowed her to get both some pain relief and sleep during the overnight hours. Unfortunately waking revealed that the temporary comfort was not a cure, though at least the pain hadn’t worsened, and in fact seemed to be slowly lessening.

Yesterday’s transition to the dry side of the island meant that we could sleep without a rain cover for the first time in memory, which was lucky because the heat might have suffocated us if we had needed to put the rainfly on.

These Hawaii County campgrounds are unlike anywhere we’ve stayed on the mainland, and are closer to the primitive DOC sites than the luxurious holiday parks we’ve become accustomed to in New Zealand. The no-designated-sites bit is what makes me mentally clarify then as DOC sites, but then the shelters, garbage cans everywhere, and as much potable tap water as you want makes them feel like tremendously-extravagamt DOC sites.

We got an early-morning ass-kicking exiting the park, as we had to climb a 10% grade to get back to the highway (thankfully the sign on the downhill showing 14% was an overstatement).

Back heading south toward Kona, Rett was hit with a coughing fit while riding. The unknown venom was affecting her whole left side from the eye down, suggesting some type of allergic reaction. Luckily a coffee truck appeared at a pullout on the highway and I was able to buy a cup of ice from them ($1) to help soothe things down somewhat. Because it wasn’t until 11 miles in that we were able to pull into the retail area of an isolated seaside housing development to buy some antihistamines.

I was amazed at how much she was able to enjoy the ride despite her affliction. Yes, the simultaneous sight of three massive shield volcanoes (Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Hualalai) demands your attention and awe, but so does the coast of Big Sur, and traffic-stress there caused her to see less than she saw today with one eye half-shut.

Today’s ride along the Ironman bike course felt much more like what I knew from TV. We had the broad smooth shoulders, we crossed the iconic black lava fields, and even saw many more Ironman wannabes doing day-rides out of Kona. Again I was hearing Dan Hicks’s melodramatic narration in my head, pitting us as heroes against the towering forces of nature that built this island.

Another 18 miles after the antihistamine acquisition, we reached the next bit of civilization, a gas station near the Kona airport (which also happens to be the turnaround point for the marathon portion of the Ironman). But this enormous brand new facility also featured a hot food counter, sushi, fancy sandwiches, and almost anything else you could want. We ate our selections outside in a large covered area with several tables, reasonably comfortable in the mid-80s temperatures, as long as the sun wasn’t beating on us.

When we finally got to the outskirts of Kona, our first stop was Target for some more of those good American values. Continuing on, we turned down onto Ali’i Drive, a name that instantly rang in my head, presumably from watching all those years of NBC’s Ironman coverage. Because when we hit the harbor and its bright blue water, there was the sign marking the start of the Ironman! The whole downtown waterfront area surrounding it was super cute, but it was a bit of a shock to feel an order-of-magnitude more “tourism” happening. I had assumed that Hilo and Kona would be roughly mirror images of each other on opposite sides of the island, but no, the feel was completely different.

The several miles of waterfront riding was fun and physically pleasant with the light sea breeze coming off the ocean. But then for the final half-mile to our AirBNB we had to turn inland (which on Hawaii, always means “up”). The hill was brutal on its own, but worse, we were suddenly going the same direction and speed as the wind, so the heat became suddenly unbearable. Luckily we got a nice welcome from the host at our shared multi-room AirBNB, and will settle in for a few days.