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Live from Oahu, Hawaii
The Scene in Hawaii - Cybercasting the Tropics
Arruba, Jamaica, Oooo, Thursday September 5, 1996, 11pm PDT
Certainly the allure of local culture is powerful. One does find oneself, on occasion, catching a wiff of surfboard wax and perhaps glancing wistfully at the gently breaking waves. One might be tempted by such things, but of course, Oahu is a teeming den of non-Web distractions, and one must be strong.
Viva Waikiki
Saturday Sept. 7, 1996, 11 am PDT
Heading for the north side of Oahu to catch the World Cup Cross Country practice sessions at the Kualoa Ranch, we drove out of town and instantly began pointing an yelling. Huge cliffs appeared on the left covered in tropical greenery;
Action on the practice course wound-down by early afternoon as temperatures and beach-allure climbed. World Cup Downhill qualifying begins at St. Louis park on Saturday at 3 pm PDT and Downhill Finals are scheduled for 6 pm PDT. We'll be bringing you updates as often as possible throughout the day with photos and audio soon after. (See details on the Downhill course.)
I Wanna Take Ya To Oahu...*
World Cup Finals Coverage Begins... sort of
Ok, let's just get one thing straight here: this is business. Sure we happen to be serving-up this particular cybercast from the lush tropics of Oahu, Hawaii and are sucking bandwidth a coconut's throw from Waikiki beach, but we're dedicated professionals of the Northwest Computer Industry, and this is work.
We've noticed several of the locals have a look about them -- as if they too were once on just a business trip... a trip where something went horribly wrong. They maxed-out the corporate gold-card at the Waikiki Beach Boys surf shop and stopped using sunscreen. They cannot be happy with such a life of neglected skin-care. We see that and are not tempted.
Stay tuned for more updates from the beaches... uh, race courses of the Mountain Biking World Cup Finals here in the tropics. Logo-covered riders are all over the streets of Waikiki, and Fed-Ex guys are staggering through hotel lobbies with huge boxes marked "bike." The World Cups are definitely in town. Qualifying heats begin tomorrow, so we're going straight to bed and will be on the courses first thing. It's very hot and muggy here in Hawaii, though -- maybe we'll just go get something cool to drink first...
-- Anya Zolotusky & Greg Prosl, Mountain Zone Staff
(*Beach Boys' lyrics have been misused without permission or regard for the artists' feelings.)
Honolulu and Waikiki are kind of anti-climatic. Those legendary names -- synonymous with paradise, lush tropics, and endless beaches -- don't prepare you for the tourist-packed streets. The association we keep coming back to is Las Vegas. The huge, boxy hotels loom between ocean and mountains, and designer outlets (Gucci, Chanel, Versace...) far outnumber the surf shops. If the beaches here were once idyllic -- a massive carpet of warm sand sliding into the intense greens and blues of the Pacific under the quietly looming Diamond Head -- they now measure some 30 feet from hotel deck to waterfront at low-tide.
the ocean spread out to the right behind a perpetual hedge of hibiscus bushes that grow here like weeds. This was Hawaii. In every direction, around every curve, the scene was paradise. We'll spare you the outcome, but in all the excitement, it seemed like a good idea to take pictures out the car window (the Avis folks wouldn't be happy with the logistics involved in a couple of those shots).
Kualoa Ranch sits between a range of these stunning cliffs and short run off to the Ocean. The views are outrageous. Walking the lower sections of the World Cup Cross Country course as riders zoomed around, it wasn't clear if they got to appreciate the surroundings. Temperatures well into the 90's and humidity reminiscent 
of an indoor pool could easily take the fun out of any view when pedaling up endless hills. Heads down and sweat streaming, the riders slowly climbed up the steep pitches, disappeared into the bushes, and came screaming back down through the woods. It is just the kind of course for which mountain biking was invented. (See details on the Cross Country course.)
-- Anya Zolotusky & Greg Prosl, Mountain Zone Staff
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