More Beer

Anchor Summer Beer--I tried this on tap in the San Francisco Airport a few months ago. This was the first time I had in a bottle. A.

XX Bitter Belgian Golden Ale...I remember liking this one, but no other details.

Back on the Sauce

Went off the sauce for a couple of weeks back in June. Sometime around 4th of July, I fell off the wagon. Celebrated by picking up a few beers I've never tried. Too busy/lazy to blog over the past month, so I'm posting them all in one big post. Don't remember the specific prices, but I do remember buying a $25 six pack.

Hite Black Beer Stout--certainly not part of the $25 six-pack. In Korea, Hite is to OB as Miller is to Anheuser-Busch. It's the #2 mass market beer in Korea. Actually, I think all beer in Korea is mass market, as I've never seen a Korean microbrew...in fact, pretty much everything in Korea could be considered mass market. As stouts go, this beer was not bad. As Korean beers go, this was damn good. It's a solid B.
Kapitel Waton Pater Ale--I'll never remember the name of this one. Was a good Belgian Ale...on par with Chimay. A.
Chimay...I'm ashamed to say I had never tried the king of Belgian beers. Good stuff that lives up to its hype. A.
Read Seal Ale--brewed by North Coast Brewery. Drank this 3 weeks ago...not very memorable, so I'll give it a B-.
Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis Hefeweizen...very good Hefeweizen. I haven' seen it in a six-pack yet, but will buy more when I do. A.

Lanikai Pillbox

Today we hiked to the pillboxes in Lanikai.

Found some interesting artifacts, writings and learned about peeing into the wind.

Haiku Stairs

Yesterday got up early to go hike the Haiku Stairs (aka Stairway to Heaven) with Jon, Wonderboy and a few others. Hit the trail at 5am, led by Wonderboy who was hauling ass to the start of the stairs. By the time this shot was taken a few stairs up the climb, I was already drenched in sweat.

This is a shot of the descent, slightly above this point, we entered the clouds and couldn't see anything.

View from the top...perfect for someone afraid of heights.  We were in the clouds.  The descent started off rainy, with my favorite kind of rain...sideways rain that went straight for the earlobes.  It also made the steps slippery...awesome.

I think it was military appreciation day on this slightly illegal hike.  Must've seen 100+ folks on the trail, mainly buzzcuts wearing t-shirts advertising their military affiliation.

Obligatory Garmin graph.  The 405 showed that I burned 132 calories...highly accurate.  We had an average speed of just below 1mph.  Highest gradient I saw on the graph was 43%, however at times the stairs were more of a ladder and the climb was vertical.

Checked off another "must-do" for Hawaii in the last summer here. The post-hike McGriddle sure tasted good. 

Prize Catch

Jack has a talent for finding bugs and dead animals. He was especially proud of this dried up gecko he found when cleaning out the house.

Aloha State Games

This weekend I participated in the Aloha State Games Cycling Event--Tour of Wahiawa.

Lining up for the Time Trial.  These pre-race exams are getting old.

Starting the Road Race.  Should've been my strongest event, but I dropped my chain on the 3rd lap, losing the lead group.  Too bad, since I felt pretty strong at that point.  By the time I got going again, they were way up the road...with only a few miles to go, I knew it would be a challenge.  Since I now had a good excuse in hand, I gave up.

Thrilled to be finished.

Since this is my last TT in Hawaii, I can pack up the aero bars...woohoo!

Wasn't able to replicate the success on the Big Island.  Part of the reason may be that I raced Senior Men instead of Master Men.  The cutoff for Masters on the Big Island was 30, and it's 35 on Oahu.  Although I may not be of Master's age, I'm definitely at the Master's phase of life...married, kids, etc.  Had fun though, and was able to hang in both the crit and road race (until the mechanical issue).