There are plenty of stories to be told from an incredible week in Hawaii, with most obviously centered around the HURT 100 race. I had an absolute blast from 'almost' start to finish on my trip (I'll explain that later), for now though a quick recap of my final day on the Island of O'ahu.
I woke up on day seven having spent the night in a hostel. My travel/racing companions had all moved on to other islands or returned to winter and the only person I had met in my eight bed dorm room the night before could only be summed up as a bit of a tool.
Come Wednesday morning I had actual thoughts of heading to the airport to see if I could just catch an earlier flight home. This was shocking to me. I thought about it for a second and realized my hostel experience hadn't been what I was hoping for. I've travelled a decent amount and hostels have always acted as a central meeting place that would usually preclude amazing adventures with complete strangers, many of whom I still have contact with to this day.
SO, I hadn't met anyone cool and there was the slight let down of flying solo for the first time all week. I simply gave my head a shake and headed to the beach for a few hours to take in the amazing day. Around noon I headed back to check out of the hostel and to store my bags, as I had a 10:30pm flight. As I'm packing my things a girl walks into the room wearing an Arcade Fire t-shirt. Alright I think, she's probably Canadian and likes good tunes. We get to chatting and after informing her that I was on my last day, verses her being at the very start of a six week stint she simply said to me.
"I guess you can't do much on your crutches can you? I dunno, think of something fun to do and I'll do it. I'm up for anything..."
Is that a challenge???
I walked around the corner from the hostel and glanced at the scooters. Meh, not my style. Then I noticed the Harley Davidson Fat Boy...and there was very little convincing on my part beyond that that.
I've owned a half a dozen rides in my life, but it's been awhile, far too long to be honest. I of course decided to ignore possible set backs such as broken foot (which is pretty much healed now anyways...right...)
"I bet you've never rented to a guy on crutches before."
"Actually, we have."
"Alrighty, so no additional waivers to sign then."
Since Hawaii has no helmet laws, and as the saying goes, when in Rome...
Oh yeah, and my partner in crime Angela Parks is an ER Nurse, so I could almost make an argument insinuating that I'd really thought this whole thing through properly.
Either way, if I had an official bucket list, this would have been right near the top. It was a fantastic end to yet another great trip to Hawaii. I can't wait to head back again next January...though I'd trade the Harley ride for a 100mile run almost any day!
Oh yeah, and I swear we didn't get up to 115km an hour, it just looks like it Dad...it just looks like it...
GR
Come Wednesday morning I had actual thoughts of heading to the airport to see if I could just catch an earlier flight home. This was shocking to me. I thought about it for a second and realized my hostel experience hadn't been what I was hoping for. I've travelled a decent amount and hostels have always acted as a central meeting place that would usually preclude amazing adventures with complete strangers, many of whom I still have contact with to this day.
SO, I hadn't met anyone cool and there was the slight let down of flying solo for the first time all week. I simply gave my head a shake and headed to the beach for a few hours to take in the amazing day. Around noon I headed back to check out of the hostel and to store my bags, as I had a 10:30pm flight. As I'm packing my things a girl walks into the room wearing an Arcade Fire t-shirt. Alright I think, she's probably Canadian and likes good tunes. We get to chatting and after informing her that I was on my last day, verses her being at the very start of a six week stint she simply said to me.
"I guess you can't do much on your crutches can you? I dunno, think of something fun to do and I'll do it. I'm up for anything..."
Is that a challenge???
I walked around the corner from the hostel and glanced at the scooters. Meh, not my style. Then I noticed the Harley Davidson Fat Boy...and there was very little convincing on my part beyond that that.
I've owned a half a dozen rides in my life, but it's been awhile, far too long to be honest. I of course decided to ignore possible set backs such as broken foot (which is pretty much healed now anyways...right...)
"I bet you've never rented to a guy on crutches before."
"Actually, we have."
"Alrighty, so no additional waivers to sign then."
Since Hawaii has no helmet laws, and as the saying goes, when in Rome...
Oh yeah, and my partner in crime Angela Parks is an ER Nurse, so I could almost make an argument insinuating that I'd really thought this whole thing through properly.
Either way, if I had an official bucket list, this would have been right near the top. It was a fantastic end to yet another great trip to Hawaii. I can't wait to head back again next January...though I'd trade the Harley ride for a 100mile run almost any day!
Oh yeah, and I swear we didn't get up to 115km an hour, it just looks like it Dad...it just looks like it...
GR