My new toy: the Weber One Touch. A masterpiece of design. An icon. The VW Beetle of grills. I couldn’t be happier. Sure, I’d rather be driving the Ferrari of grills. But I don’t have the deck, or the budget. My dad’s been using the same One Touch for about 25 years. It’s a thing of beauty.
So I now own a surfboard, a grill and have a Hawaiian drivers license in my pocket. I think my application for Hawaii citizenship can go through now.
Filed under: Gadgets, Hawaii, Sport, Surf | Tags: granny, kimo's, robert august, surfboard
I am now an official member of Hawaiian society.
Not because I registered to vote here – which I did recently, as if my vote will count in an overwhelmingly pro-Obama state – but because I stopped shelling out ludicrous amounts of cash for board rentals and bought my own. Come to think of it, they probably wouldn’t have allowed me to vote if they knew I was not a surfboard owner; I am now legit.
The purchase did not come easily, which was a surprise to me. I would have thought buying a board in Hawaii was like shooting fish in a barrel. I should clarify: it is easy to find new boards, of course. I was looking for a used long board for a decent price. One of the reasons this is not a buyers market, I would guess, is that serious surfers collect boards like guitarists amass stockpiles of guitars.
So there I was, scouring Craigslist and the local shops, and coming up with nothing. All I was looking for was a ten-foot-plus beater for around $300. Then we heard about a place called Kimo’s Surf Hut located in Kailua. So we drove over for a a few hours of sun on Lanikai, a superb and somewhat secluded beach, and stopped in at Kimo’s on the way back to Honolulu.
As soon as I stepped into the shop I knew I had come the right place. Kimo’s son immediately showed me a couple boards that fit my criteria. Then his younger brother came and told him Kimo had one that had just come in that was perfect for me. I walked back out into the sun and there it was lying out on a couple of wooden workbenches: an old, yellowing 11-foot epoxy Robert August longboard by Surftech.
It’s about the most dinged up piece of junk you can imagine, but it still floats, and for a guy who still surfs like a granny, it is choice.
So ten years of advancement in bike design just passed me by while living in Japan. I did see the occasional high-end road machine zip by, usually gaijin-owned, but in the land of mama-cherries, never had much interaction with anything more advanced than single-gear, basket-mounted neighborhood cruisers. Man was I missing out.
With gas prices rising and my beltline expanding, there was never a better time than now to get back in the saddle. Honolulu is such a small city, I am surprised more people don’t take advantage of pedal power. I guess people are starting to, though, judging by what the bike shop pros are saying.
With my recent history of riding bikes designed in circa 1975, I didn’t have much knowledge to go on in making an informed purchase. I did know that I didn’t want to buy the crap they sell in Walmart. That was a good starting point. Then, by chance, I lunched with a friend whose boyfriend works in The Bike Shop. That’s right, they have the cajones to call themselves simply the bike shop. The store seemed to be staffed by former bike messengers and failed downhill racers (aside from the owner, who resembled the Simpsons comic book guy) – slightly intimidating to a novice like me, but also quite knowledgeable.
They steered me toward the Crosstrail, by Specialized, an entry-level hybrid that is perfect for commuting and light trail riding. I swapped out the trail tires for some kevlar-lined fatties that are built for speed but can handle the potholes and grassy shortcuts that abound in this neck of the woods. The attention to detail and functional beauty in every part of the bike, from the grips to the saddle to the gearshifters just blows me away. The frame is light and super-solid, the ride smooth and powerful.
All day long I sit in my office like a schoolboy waiting for the day to end so I can enjoy my bikeride home.
