Circumnavigating O'ahu on a Bike

Yesterday on 3/1/2026 I completed a complete circumnavigation of the island of O'ahu.  It took me 15 hours 9 minutes and 5 seconds, and I had more than a fair share of incidents that tried to hinder the completion of this route.  This post will recount my experience of the route, as well as a how to / what I would have done differently.  This was a super difficult experience, but that made it so much more rewarding.

In preparation for this route, I have a Specialized Allez Elite Road bike with a rear rack.  I would definitely recommend having some sort of way to carry things on your bike.  You will not want to do this with a backpack on all day.  I was planning on doing this ride with my homie Noa. We bought some snacks, had our gear, had 2 extra inner tubes, bike tool, and a patch repair kit.  Noa spent the night at my place in Kaneohe, and we were set to start riding at 6am.  We woke up at 5am, ate a dozen eggs, finished packing up our bikes and hit the road around 6:08am.  When we woke up it was torrential down pouring in Kaneohe, we thought about not going, but I checked the radar and it said it would stop soon.  We assumed it would be around 150 miles and about a 12-hour day, hoping to be back before sunset.

We started in Kaneohe headed towards north shore.  Before getting on route 830, we stopped at Safeway so Noa could buy a water bottle and we were off!  We took route 830 to route 83 towards Laie, about 20 minutes into we got poured on, this was the only rain we experienced all day, but it left our shoes and socks wet for the entire day. As we approached crouching lion, Noa got a flat.  I was a bit worried we got one so early, but we had 2 spares, so I went to go work on his bike as Noa had never replaced an inner tube.  The night before we had left Kaneohe, I had made sure Noa's bike had quick release wheels, I checked his front wheel and he did, so I knew we were good.  Turns out his back wheel was not quick release, and we needed a wrench which we did not have, my bike tool is not very nice and doesn't have one. It was 7am and there are no stores around besides a cafe I did not think would be open.  As we walked towards the cafe, we asked any local residents who were up if they had a wrench.  We didn't have any luck.  As Noa checked other residents, I went to the cafe and found them to be open.  I asked the worker if they had one, and somehow, she found us a toolbox with a wrench.  1 hour later and we finally replaced the inner tube on Noa's rear wheel.  We were now 1 hour behind schedule which risked us returning right after sunset, so we couldn't have any more delays.

We peddled for another 30 minutes and Noa's rear tire got another flat. We saw where it punctured so we tried to patch it without taking the wheel off since we still didn't have a wrench.  We couldn't get the patch to work so we peddled another mile and found a store open, we went inside and found a wrench and bought it.  As I replaced the inner tube, Noa tried to better patch the old one.  We set up his bike and continued on, with no more spares, and one patched tube.  We haven't even gotten to the dirt road section, and we had no more tubes, so I was starting to worry.  Now we were 2 hours behind schedule.

We continued for another 5 minutes, and Noa's rear wheel exploded.  At this point we had no other option but for Noa to take the bus back to my house.  We were about 30 miles in and were right next to a bus stop.  I debated going with Noa, but knew this was my last opportunity to do this ride before I move off island, so I pressed on for the both of us.

I stayed on route 83 till Haleiwa first stopping at Banzai skate park to refill water and do a kickflip on some uncle's board.  When I got to Haleiwa, I stopped at a surf shop to see if they knew of any bike shops that had inner tubes.  There weren't any in Haleiwa, but he told me to check Ace Hardware.  So, I went to Ace and surprisingly they had some.  They only had Schrader Valves, but a 27" tube that said worked with 700c tires.  I bought 2 just in case in preparation for the dirt road section of Ka'ena point. I continued through Haleiwa town to Ferrington Hwy and turned right towards Kaena point. 

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I took Ferrington to the end of the road which turns into a dirt road for 5 miles around the point to west side. I had road tires which survived the dirt 4x4 road.  The dirt road is slow moving without gravel tires, but it was rideable. There is one section you have to hike your bike, but it is like .25 miles max. The dirt road had some mud, and my brakes and bike were all blocked up with mud.  Once I finally got back to pavement, I stopped at the beach shower and washed down the whole bike and ate some snacks.  I was so ecstatic that I didn't get a flat and that I survived the dirt section.  I am very familiar with dirt riding as our Biking the Baltics adventure was primarily on dirt roads, but there I had bigger wheels less prone to popping.

Once around the point you get on route 93 and ride that all the way to E Beach or electrical power point.  On the way there I filled up water at the fire station and got some burger king to refuel.  At this part of the ride, I needed to start mapping to town (Honolulu) as I am less familiar with this side of the island, especially not on H-1.  I used Google Maps and it had me exit at Ko Olina. Do not take this exit, take the next exit for Kapolei.  You will be on a very busy highway, but it is your only option.  Once in Kapolei you can hop back on Ferrington hwy.  

On Google Maps, there's a road that connects Ko Olina and Kapolei.  This road is not yet built and just doesn’t exist yet. At the end of the Ko Olina side there is a off road driveway I thought Google Maps wanted me to go on so I followed it to the worst part of the ride.  I had to trek/bushwhack through an overgrown farmland, and it was miserable. The bushes were chest high at parts, hidden rocks everywhere, and thorn trees everywhere. I could have turned back but with my 2 hours of delays I thought I could get through the .5 miles quickly, and turning around would add 30 minutes at least to my ride. I hopped a gate to get in, and rode/walked as far as I could.  I found a construction road after about 15 minutes of bushwhacking.  I threw my bike over a barbed wire fence, threw a branch on the barbed wire so I could jump it and then had to jump another gate to get to the construction road.  Once on the road I threw my bike over the gate I knew I had a problem.  I was all cut up from the thorns and lodged in both my tires were about 5 thorns each.  Both my tires were flat.  I took my bike apart and went to put on my new Schrader tubes, but my rim hole couldn't fit the valve.  I then started patching the inner tubes however I could. The thorns were so lodged in the tire, and I didn't have tweezers, so I was biting thorns out of my tires, and the thorns I couldn't get out I sanded down so they wouldn't re-puncture the tube.  I patched as much as I could, but it was no use, I was chasing too many leaks.  I put Noa's patched tube in my rear tire and had a flat on the front.  At this point, I thought about calling Adaline for a rescue pick up.   I was now 3 hours behind schedule, it was 4pm, and I was not even in Kapolei yet.  I looked up bike shops and thankfully there was a bike factory 1.5 miles away.  But they closed at 5pm.  I rode as quick as possible, stopping occassionaly to try to add some air to the front and I made it to the bike factory before they closed.

I bought 2 inner tubes, replaced only the front one as the back was somehow holding, and had them pump both up to 100 PSI.  I refilled my water and left for town.  The shop workers thought I was nuts for continuing my ride, but I was in too deep.  My only motivator was "I'll just keep riding a bit to get closer to Adaline, so she doesn't have to drive as far to get me."  I left Kapolei now with 2 full tires and an extra tube just in case there was a thorn I missed.  Leaving Kapolei I took Kapolei parkway to Renton rd then turned left on fort weaver rd. and took that back to Ferrington hwy. Once on Ferrington hwy there is the airport train that runs above the road.  I followed that train line all the way through pearl city to the airport, to town.  I stopped at a 7/11 for water and a donut along the way.  Once the overhead rd./train ends I took Dillingham exit and road on that shitty road (as it is under construction and very bumpy) to King St.

I then took King St all the way through town till it turns to Waialae st which I followed all the way going under H1 until you hit to route 72.  On the way to route 72 I passed "K Park," a famous skate spot on island and saw a friend there and said what's up.  Once on route 72 I followed that all the way to Kailua. At the point I hit route 72 it was now 7pm and dark.  I road on route 72 up passed Koko Head, and up Hanuma Bay.  This hill was brutal after already going 110 miles.  This is the part of the ride that was super sketchy as there are no streetlights from Hanuma Bay to Waimanalo.  I was diligently watching for cars, had my lights flashing and took it as fast as I could to get through this section.  Once in Waimanalo I could relax again as the shoulder widens and the lights are back, and I knew I had this in the bag, I have done this ride before.  I took route 72 up another fat hill until I turned right at Keolu dr then left around emerald lake on Keolu Dr. into Kailua town.  I then went down Oneawa st to Mokapu Blvd. which turns into Kaneohe Bay Dr, up a few more hills and I was finally home! After 15 hours 9 minutes and 5 seconds, 136.4 miles, 7510 calories, and 11,000 feet of elevation gain (I don't know if the elevation gain is accurate, I think it more accurately was 2,100 feet) I had finally made it back home.  I was so hungry and thirsty, and Adaline had food already there for me.  Noa was there as well as Mariah and Ali.  They all showed me love and listened to me tell my journey.

This journey was excruciating at times, those moments where you ask yourself why you subject yourself to such activities, and such adventures.  After some thought I realize that not only do I love a good adventure, but I love to suffer.  Suffering helps you appreciate the little things more (such as warm food, a bed, etc.), but it also makes accomplishing your goals feel so much better.  The harder something is to do the more accomplished one will feel.  Doing hard things keeps me alive and I can't wait for the next adventure.