I went into today knowing that it was going to be a long day. We were riding over 40 miles to get to Hilo, but once there we’d have 3 days to rest! Totally worth it right?
We slept terribly because for some reason L’s cough came back last night. He was up with a coughing fit several times. Then was up for the day by 6ish. 🤪 It’s always best to get the biking done before the hottest part of the day so we’re fine with early morning on bike days. Though we’d also read in Hawaii the hottest part of the day is like 10-4 so there’s really no escaping it!
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Pit stop selfies!
It was so hot right from the get go this morning. But we just chugged right along. The goal was to ride 20 miles and then stop for brunch. We made it to brunch just around 10 or so which felt pretty good.
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We sunscreened up after fueling up and we’re back on the road. Man, it is so hard to get going again after a long rest!
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Here’s L walking after Ty kicked him out of the chariot for whining. 😂 Didn’t take him long to decide he wanted back in.
The rest of the afternoon was just nonstop rolling hills and hot sun! About two hours after brunch I was dragging! Thankfully Ty knew to throw some energy gels and gu at me.
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There were a ton of gorges we crossed on narrow concrete bridges. We finally came to one that had a large shoulder so we could stop and enjoy the view. Otherwise our goals were to get off them as soon as possible!
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Pit stop view! Those giant dead trees were just so amazing.
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I did attempt a few photos today.
This one is right when Hilo came into view. That was such a sweet feeling. That and the fact Ty said we were at 1k feet elevation and the towns at sea level so I knew we had a fun downhill ride ahead of us!
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Not the time to attempt a selfie when a car is passing. But look at R’s face.
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I was so impressed with the kiddos. L was always willing for a turn on the bike. R was so brave on the downhills. She would just remind me to look forward and hold on with both hands. 😆 She did ask a time or two if we could move over away from the cars more. But for as crazy as some of the cars and roads have been I’m surprised there’s not more freaking out. They just roll with things pretty well.
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This tree in the middle of the cemetery was so huge. It was beautiful!
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This was such a good feeling rolling into Hilo!
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Our hotel was such a welcome sight and the staff was quite accommodating considering all the bikes and gear we roll up with.
Final numbers for the day.
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Just over 4 hours of biking, and almost 43 miles! We knew it’d be a long day and it was. Felt so good to get off that bike.
We finally got checked in, amongst a volleyball team, marathon bib pick up (the race is tomorrow), and the weirdest wedding outfits I’ve ever seen!
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R was dying over these dresses! She thought the bride looked and was acting like a real princess. 😆
We spent some time at the pool but by now L’s cough was pretty miserable. We missed the walk in clinic hours so we’re hoping to just limp him along till tomorrow. Why is his cough back?!
In positive news Ty seems to be on the mend. Also we saw a sea turtle from the pool area and Ty went out and snorkeled with it briefly.
L scratched himself pretty good on the lava rocks and R’s sunburn is healing but not great to look at.
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We’re all a bit of a mess. Hoping a few days off will put us all back to normal so we can tackle our big hill/mountain/volcano climb up to Volcano National Park. 😬
