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.

is one of the rather more “intimidating” hills in Hawaii, but really isn’t much compared to Pineapple Hill and the Pali.  It was fun blazing past “roadies” who were downshifting to their lower gears on this hill during the 100-mile 2010 Honolulu Century that I rode on a couple weeks ago.  I revisited the hill on a nice windy day before meeting up with a bunch of coworkers for a Saturday UH game BBQ in Hawaii Kai.

Picture was shot with my new “point-and-shoot” Canon Powershot S95 camera that conveniently fits into my cycling pouch.  This camera does wonders, it’s amazing how much punch this little thing packs.  I’m almost confident that I could do full blown automotive feature with this camera and no one would be able to tell the difference when compared with a real DSLR.

I also plan to update my blog more often in the near future as there are big events/changes that will occur very soon in my life that I can’t yet disclose here.  More details later..

is a term that probably best describes my current status for the past 9-months.  Although it hasn’t been a year since I’ve began riding bikes again, this is one of the best experiences in my life, in terms of friendships, fitness, and self-accomplishments that I have obtained through my time riding in Hawaii.  Since my last post a couple months ago, I decided to continue with a 3rd build with a frame that I purchased in LA months before, but was contemplating to build.  I had a vision from the first day I saw the Affinity Lo Pro frame for sale, and I’m glad I kept the frame instead of selling it, to make my vision a reality.  This will probably be my last build (if not, for a very long time) since it’s everything I could possibly have wanted in a track bike, from the custom teal powdercoat to the smooth drivetrain setup.  RIDEABIKE!

occurred on 6/20/10, and the title was literally what the ride was all about.  Around 7:30AM, we headed out from Coffee Talk on top of Waialae Ave. in a pack of 20+ fixed gear riders.  It’s amazing riding around the island with a group that large.  There were many hills that were very intimidating, which tested every ounce of your strength and stamina throughout the ride:

1.  From Hanauma Bay to Makapu’u lighthouse, which was the turnaround point for some people.
2.  Going up Pali to head towards Kaneohe.
3.  Pineapple Hill, the mother of all hills, 4-miles and consistent uphill climbing out of Haleiwa.
4.  Wahiawa into Mililani Town
5.  Mililani Town into Waipio
6.  Aloha Stadium climb up to Target near Foster Village.

Pineapple Hill was the main test of the entire ride.  People talked about it from before as if it was the worst thing they’ve encountered in their life, and I understood why while climbing it…  We finished the 100+ mile ride around 4:30 at Kakaako Waterfront Park for a nice BBQ on the coast.  It was a grueling ride that I’m very happy that I accomplished.  It really put things into perspective for me as to what I can accomplish when I put my mind and heart into something.  10+ mile sprint rides feel like nothing now that I know how my body reacts to different scenarios.  Same goes for my attitude towards my job and life in general.

If you feel compelled to find yourself or test yourself physically and mentally, I highly encourage you to try and ride around the island or do something comparable.  It really changes everything.

1. New ride, Cinelli MASH; an upgrade from the Iro Mark V that has been great to me. Fixed gear riding has become an attachment to my life. It’s helped me exceed my fitness goals (I haven’t been 147 lbs. probably since I was a freshman in college), meet a great group of people that for once aren’t involved in the automotive scene/industry, and gave me a hobby to keep things fresh in life aside from my other dying hobbies.

2. Out with the old. As of right now (and many times before), I’m over the automotive scene. Ever since the closing of Hawaii Raceway Park over 5-years ago, the scene has become stagnated to the point where small groups of people interested in different aspects of the scene (import, domestic, JDM, VIP, etc.) are in their own little world trying to make something out of what has already been lost in Hawaii’s automotive scene. It depresses me to continue to dwell upon nothing. I know I’m being negative, but until Hawaii gets a real/legit racetrack, the scene will never be what it was, nor will it ever be on par with standards from the mainland. I still respect the die-hard enthusiast who continue to keep their fight going, but I’ve seen many people exit the scene at the same time. What’s left are these new kids who are doing the same stupid shit we’ve done back in the day but up to a new level. Children attending Hellaflush that don’t even know what the hell Hellaflush means; probably don’t even own a car also.. It’s sickening.

3. Security. I seem to have one foot down at my job, compared to complete and utter chaos from before. My job is stressful, I’m not going to bitch about it. If your job doesn’t suck (not saying that mine does), either you’ve found a career that will last you a lifetime (which is rarely has found) or you’re lying to yourself. I’m comfortable in the position I’m in, for now. But as you know, that feeling of “security” always changes with the seasons. Things never stay consistent; the feeling of “happiness”, “security”, and any other positive words in the dictionary is just temporary and is easily replaced with negativity. I’m happy…

I forgot about blogging since all I have been doing nowadays is reading blogs..  Christmas is just around the corner; however, not really feeling any of the holiday spirit.  Work is such a drain on life with barely any reward for the amount of labor put in to each day.  Being underpaid and overworked seems to define the characteristics of a secure job very well..

I’ve started to get back into bikes after learning about fixed gear riding and its benefits.  Simplicity, light-weight, and “oneness” with the bike; only a couple of the many things on my list that drew me in to riding one.  I don’t think I could ever go back to a geared bike after riding fixed.  Such an awesome feeling to be literally connected to the bike and feel a direct tranfer in power from your legs to the pavement.

If you’re in a search for a fun way to get fit and know the basics in riding a bicycle, I highly recommend you read up and research fixed gears.  It’s not for everyone, but it’s worth a shot to have another friend to ride along with.