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And Then "the Stuff Really Hit the Fan"....

Sunday, 26 April 2020 23:10

By Scott Myers

Before the stuff really hit the fan, Andrea and I did a trip to Maui with our travel bikes (steel Ritchey Breakaway cyclocross style bikes, we got these long before "gravel bikes" were a thing).  Maui is a favorite place to bike for us and this year we finished the triple crown of Maui cycling.  If you have never heard of it, it is either because you aren't well read on awesome biking or because we made it up. 

Ride 1 was the West Maui Loop, about 85 miles and more vertical than you can shake a stick at.  We did it under wind advisory, which is probably not a best practice since they don't really go "boy who cried wolf" with wind around there. It looked like the tornado scene from “Wizard of Oz” at times, but we were treated with beautiful winding roads along the ocean with incredible views.

Ride #2 was the East Maui Loop, 105 miles with enough vertical to nauseate a Napali. Epic for sure. You spend the day circling Haleakala (the famous volcano) and end with the famous Ride to Hana in reverse. But in between is insanely gorgeous and fun cycling. Leave your 19mm silk tubulars at home for this ride (unless you have dental work you would like removed), because you hit a stretch of maybe 20 miles of the roughest road you have ever seen. I suppose it keeps the riffraff out. But in the end, it is worth it for sure....

Ride #3 was the climb of Haleakala, sea level to 10,023 feet and back. You know it is a doozy when you spend more time on the descent alone than your longest trainer ride leading up to it. The scenery of this ride is very different from the other two, but you are treated to quite a diversity of climates, landscapes, and views.

After getting back from a tropical location, we did the only logical next step – bought new cross county skis from Gear West. This was right before the lockdown, but Corey spent a silly amount of time helping us agonize over the right gear. We can’t say enough about the Gear West crew – they really are remarkably good.

It is funny now to reflect on this trip, because it was only 6 weeks ago, but it seems like it was a different era. Now in the reality of COVID, Scott is working from home supporting General Mills manufacturing and working just as many hours (people are eating a lot of cereal right now). But it has been nice not having work-related travel. Plus, our dog Lola gets to help with lumbar support, which is a favorite job for her.

Andrea is still going into work (physical therapy), but not as many hours as normal. So with both of us home, we get to train together a little more often. But we miss swimming for sure. And it is a little strange how traffic patterns have changed – the trails around us are a veritable hootenanny with people escaping their houses while the roads are relatively quiet. We try to do a daily Youtube video of yoga or mobility and throw in stretch cords here and there.

We have been doing triathlons many years – over 30 for Scott and almost 25 for Andrea with no missed years. So we really hope we don’t have to miss 2020. But all in all, we are pretty lucky when you consider the front-line workers battling every day or people with tremendous financial hardship or terrible sickness. Meanwhile, our biggest problems are when can we get back to our hobbies and how can we get the dog and cat to get along with each other.

Hope everyone is doing great and we look forward to seeing you soon!