December 11, 2014
What We Thought of Going Hawaiian
We chose Hawaii for this trip as a warm place to cycle with Winter coming on back home. We had always found Hawaii attractive because of the five harsh volcanoes on the one hand, and the lush tropical environments on the other hand. Because the basic distance around the Big Island is just 500 km, 700 km with side trips, we looked on Hawaii as just a short and easy spin. This turned out to be a misconception. Even without problems that cropped up with Dodie's knees (and back, and also shoulder), Hawaii is only truly easy only if you just hang out at the beach. Locals know that the hills, deserts, and rains can make it very challenging. Before returning, we will be making sure that the knees are good and/or that the route is carefully planned to take advantage of the relatively few affordable B&B's or hotels.
The general indifference or hostility to cycle touring, and the supremacy of the automobile, that we find in all of America, exists here too. To this is added the indifference or hostility to all but standard tourists, who move about in rental cars or bus tours. This finds its extreme expression in the rules and prices around camping at the beach parks (almost all parks/camping involves beach parks). In future, if we would be camping, we would ignore these rules and also avoid paying the unreasonable fees.
Hawaiian Pros
Fascinating geology, plants, animals
Interesting Hawaiian culture
Great weather
Many roads with broad shoulders
Reasonable drivers
Lots of available good maps
English language
Better food than elsewhere in America
Possible to find camping gaz
Hawaiian Cons
Crazy camping reservation system
Extremely high camping prices
High prices for B&Bs, food, car rental
No dedicated bikeways
Moderately hilly
Hawaiian Air restrictions on camping stoves
No easy way to transport bikes between islands
Lots of traffic on the limited number of roads. Many noisy pickups, semi-trailers, dump trucks.
Areas where services are lacking and carrying a lot of water is necessary
Hard to find more than 700 km of space to cycle in
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