was byfar the most epic ride I’ve been on in a while.  Veteran’s Day couldn’t have been any better; riding around with a group of friends throughout Hawaii, you can’t possibly ask for more…

Some of the main attractions ridden to: Chinatown/Downtown for lunch in the business district, Pali Lookout, Waikiki Beach for the sunset, Market City in Kaimuki for some grindz at Gina’s Korean BBQ.

event went on yesterday.  After a week of rain, the weather actually cleared up just in time for the race.  However, the wind never let up, so drafting as a team was key.  The task for the race was to get from Pearlridge Shopping Center to the fountain in Waikiki the fastest as a team.  The only rule was the entire team of 3 needed to complete the race in order for their finish to count.  I rode with Sau and Seth who I have always looked up to for building up my strength to keep up with them during sprints and distance riding.  I guess this was my ultimate test to see if I could accomplish what I set out for myself back when I first started riding almost a year ago.

The ride was awesome, we finished 1st at 40:15 on a 14.0 mile course, averaging 20.9mph.  I was able to film the course using a GoPro HD camera; however, I didn’t realize the sealed housing was prone to fogging under climate changed..  The lens fogged up halfway through the race.  I tried to make the best of the footage, people that haven’t been to Hawaii probably won’t recognize anything in the second half of the video though.  I was pretty upset after loading up the video.  I know the video says 13.2mi route, but it was really 14.0 miles, I didn’t realize my calculation was off until after I edited the clips.  Other than that, it was great to have a friendly competition with a bunch of friends.  This is something that needs to be thrown more often.

pearlridgeXwaikiki Team Sprints from dresearch on vimeo.com

is one of my main “homies” that I try to roll with often.  His attitude’s always positive, always mashing hard, and never gives up.  These key traits make him the ideal cycling partner during group rides and sprints.  It seems that we always end up pushing each other to ride harder.

This is one of the only real riding shots I have of myself during the day.  I wish I had more cool shots like this, but it’s just too difficult when you need another rider to pace, hold the camera steady, aim straight, and not crash into something while trying to take the shot. Most of the bike shots I see are always of a bike stationary without the rider using it for its intended purpose.  I always wonder who’s the person that owns and rides each frame.  Maybe I need to get something going here, a new outlook on photography in the local cycling community, instead of the typical automotive shoots that I do.

has an extremely scenic, litter/bum free beach that is hidden by a large hill that blocks off the view from the boat loading dock at the end of the harbor.  I admit, again, that living in Hawaii makes you take a lot of things for granted, including the most beautiful beaches and scenery in the world.  I was fortunate to find this place while riding around Kapolei with one of my fellow fixed riders, John.  His slammed xB was in the Wet ‘N Wild carshow at the time, so we decided to venture out into the industrial sector of Kapolei since I haven’t been out there on bike before.  Aside from some putrid smelling areas from waste processing facilities and chemical plants, it turned out to be a rather nice ride in comparison to the busy car-filled streets in the city.

was held today at Wet ‘N Wild waterpark in Kapolei.  This marked the final carshow for the Helluva Rides series and also was the largest of the 3.  The showing was pretty good, not much new cars, but alot of the same with more improvements.  Aaron’s xB is always looking its finest with a perfect fitment and stance to complement everything else that’s so crazy about his car.

This show was also the first feature I have done using only a point-and-shoot camera.  Lets see if you notice a difference.  It was hilarious walking around snapping shots with such a small camera; if only people knew…

ACCESS // dohcresearch.com/features/helluvarides3