The only people in Kailua that know how to use turn signals don’t live in Kailua.
(0)Author Archive for risu
Page 78 of 95
The partially cloudy skies and moderate tradewinds on Saturday made for perfect riding conditions. I hadn’t been anywhere near a bike for over two weeks ever since that bout with bad tapioca, so I was a bit worried that I would be in the suffering seat on this ride. The traffic into Waimanalo was typically bad on Kalanianaole at the merge, so I got to the trailhead a little behind schedule. Ckucke and Root were already there, but Jeff and Sara were running late since Sara had forgotten her jersey and didn’t want to ride topless for some reason. Continue reading ‘Back after a Long Absence’
I feel insulted – insulted that I am sitting here writing this instead of doing any of a bunch of things that I really should be doing right now. The shock I had at dinner compels me to share the experience, so here it is. Am I being altruistic or just plain angry? You decide.
I had dinner at the Windward Mall franchise of I Love Country Café. In ages past, I remember going to other franchises of this local chain for wholesome and healthy, albeit expensive (think current Zippy’s prices over 8-years ago), fare. Root will surely remember going there with Vern after evening bike rides from when the first one opened on Pi’ikoi. Breakfast was always at the Kahala one after the Honolulu Marathon Escort duty until that part of the mall disappeared to make way for some mainland store. Of all the places in the Windward Mall food court, this looked like a good place, so I stepped up to the plate. With good past experiences and name recognition – what could possibly go wrong? Read on… Continue reading ‘Vile Fluid’
For lunch on Wednesday, we walked a block up from the office to Cooke Street Diner on the corner of Cooke and the street where Tyke was shot. We had tried this small corner take-out lunch place the first week they opened. They had taken over the spot left after Mizutani’s Coffee Shop left vacant when they shut down several years ago. At that time, they hadn’t gotten their routines wired yet, but more importantly, I wasn’t really impressed with the food. I thought it was time for another try. In addition to the regular menu, there were over half a dozen specials, including two sandwiches. One of the specials was meat loaf, and I was compelled to order it. Plates came with a choice of white or brown rice, and tossed or macaroni salad. I chose brown rice and tossed salad. If it was a testament to the quality of the food at Cooke Street Diner, the place was full, and there was a steady flow of people arriving and leaving with their orders. I didn’t ask, so I don’t know for sure, but it looks like a family operation with daughter and grandma out front taking the orders and running the register, and dad and someone else back in the kitchen cooking and plating the food. My plate was prepared quickly, and I returned to the office. Continue reading ‘Cooke Street Diner’
It’s Wednesday afternoon and it’s raining on the windward side. Looks like no riding today. Boo.
I miked myself on the scale the other day - I lost 4.5 kg (10 lbs.) from the gastroenteritis! That’s over a kilogram a day! Too bad losing that much weight in 3 days in that manner sucked so much.
Whoo-hoo!
Scored an Easton Monkey Lite DH freeride/downhill carbon fiber riser handlebar for dirt cheap. It’s one of the last non-PRC-made Easton handlebars (hecho en Mexico), and is, of course, in the discontinued-for-2008 25.4mm (1″ standard) stem clamp size. At around 225 grams, it is only about 25 grams lighter than the EA70 Monkeybar it replaces, but it should offer a better ride and more turning stiffness. The orange center section almost exactly matches the color of my Chase frame! Score!
It was cheaper than the $75 USD quarter window vent trim for my FJ80.
Nope, I didn’t run off over the weekend and plop down cash on a USDM Toyota ist, but something I had for dinner on Thursday took me down on Friday morning. High fever, cramps, nausea, general sense of nearly total malaise – yep, good old gastroenteritis. I figure it was something at dinner, because if it was my laulau lunch plate from Yama’s Fish Market, I would have gone off around dinner time on Thursday. Since Root, Fabio, and I shared the same food for dinner at Chiang Mai Thai restaurant, it must have been the tapioca, since we all had different desserts. Continue reading ‘xD’
The anticipated volcanic haze rolled in as expected on Wednesday morning, and by the afternoon, it was almost sensibly thick. Even with the South wind, the clouds lingered around the tall peaks of the Koolaus and jockeyed for position with the sun, which was still high in the sky when I got home. With the clouds and vog, there was an odd lingering twilight. Right off the bat, I had a shifting issue. I’ve had this before: Everything indexes correctly, but he rear won’t drop into the smallest cassette cog. It was fine on the previous ride. The cable tension was correct, so I busted out a screwdriver and cranked the outer limit screw out nearly a full turn. After that, all was good. How that kind of gross misadjustment can occur without human interaction is beyond me. The derailleur and hanger weren’t visibly bent, and most perplexingly, everything else was OK. Next time I take the bike by the shop, I have to check if maybe a shift housing strand is migrating out and sticking out of the housing end cap and interfering with something. Continue reading ‘Hazy Days’
Two Thursdays ago, Root, Fabio, JT and I went to India Café in Kilohana Square for dinner. There was a lot of post-meal e-mail chatter about what we experienced the following day, but I’ll try and distill all of that down in this review. It was our first time there with the exception of JT, who had been there on several occasions. Fabio had eaten at the campus franchise a few times, but the offerings and presentation are different. There was a full menu with appetizers, main courses and desserts. There is no alcohol served, but you are allowed to bring your own. As soon as we were seated and received our menus, we were brought some papadums (fried spiced lentil wafers). JT said he usually just gets the vegetarian meal, which is a combination set with four curries and sides. There was also a set with a meat dishes, vegetarian dishes and sides. We decided to get the “dinner set for four†which was an all-inclusive meal including four entrée choices. Continue reading ‘India Café’
Two ditch rides in 24 hours and a Monday training ride were a good test for the newly installed Hope bottom bracket. There was a perceptible decrease in rotational drag over the OEM bottom bracket. Since the Hope has all-metal interfaces from the cranks to the frame, there should be a more solid feel and less flex than the OEM, although this is probably not something that can be felt by even the most sensitive rider. The bottom bracket held adjustment through the nearly 50 km of riding. It was quiet and creak-free.
Thumbs-up!
I’ll raise my initial assessment to Highly Recommended.