Some roads must be walked to truly understand them. Paris' Champs-Elysees, Rio's Copacabana boardwalk, Havana's lively Malecon seawall-and the North Shore bike path. Running 3.5 miles from Waimea past Sunset Beach, the paved trail runs through a tunnel of trees between Ke Nui Road and Kamehameha Highway, with access to some of the world's best surfing. Nothing else in sports can compare; it's like pedaling a beach cruiser by a Wembley Stadium, then a Fenway Park, then a Madison Square Garden every fifty yards. In terms of star power, it's the surfing equivalent of bumping into Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan and Steph Curry in a span of ten minutes. But it's also a residential thoroughfare. Yes, it connects champion surfers and big-wave greats to their arenas, but it also provides families safe passage to school, a place for neighborhood kids to adventure. It connects friends and lovers, it's a place to share loose shakas and watufakas. Indeed, to truly understand the path, you have to walk it, as North Shore resident and photographer Arto Saari has done, capturing the vibe and vivacity of the thin asphalt thread connecting this fabled coast.
(Photo seen ABOVE)
"The bike path is special," says pro surfer Shayden Pacarro, pictured above. "When me and my family were living near Velzyland, we'd always hit the path and go cruise together-it was like our family outing. Plus, during COVID, with not being able to do big gatherings, the bike path was such a healthy alternative to being social. You could see everyone in passing, you know? Like, 'Ho, howzit, kden!' ... but you're still moving. It was a cool little healthy party on the path."
"The bike has been my way of transportation my whole life until I could drive-and I still normally just ride my bike," says pro surfer Zoe McDougall, pictured above. "Growing up on the North Shore, I rode my bike to school every day, packing my friends on the handlebars, going to surf-I've probably spent more time on the bike path than I have in my home. You can't be on the path without seeing someone you know-everyone in the neighborhood knows each other from the bike path, even if you don't surf."
One end of the path is at Waimea, and the other at Velzyland. In between it parallels the coastline, passing more than a dozen world-renowned surf breaks. Above, a surfer strolls up the beach after surfing "the Bay," as it's called, on one of the biggest days at Waimea last winter.
Pictured above, a posse of North Shore groms (young surfers) travel the path with the usual paraphernalia necessary for a North Shore adventure.
Mauka (toward the mountains) of Kamehameha Highway is the iconic Banzai Skatepark, where groms wait their turns alongside world champion surfers, celebrity skaters, local legends and fashion models. Professional skateboarder Clay Kreiner, pictured above, cruises in true Island style to a session at Banzai Skatepark.
"The path is amazing because you see big-wave legends like Michael Ho, Jordy Smith or Kelly Slater," says world champion paddleboarder and pro big-wave surfer, Jamie Mitchell. "Any time you cruise down the bike path on a day with good surf, you're going to see pros and legends and celebrities. It's really a melting pot in our world." On the day the photo above was taken, Mitchell says, "the waves were really good. I'd forgotten something back home and I was rushing back. You can probably see that little smile on my face is the look of someone knowing they're about to really score."
Skater-surfer Billy Fortier slides between light and shadow cast by the last rays of sun at a private pool on the North Shore.
If your name is Rayge and you're doing wheelies on a mountain bike in Crocs and ear buds before age 13, odds are you're from the North Shore. Indeed, keiki in "the country" grow up a little wilder-perhaps it's a side effect of all that raw energy in the ocean just beyond the bike path. Rayge Sussel-Suratt, pictured above, is a spearfisher, surfer and skater as often seen on one wheel as two along the bike path.
There's probably no place on Earth where so many of the world's best surfers live or have lived-permanently or part time-and all in proximity to the North Shore bike path. Seen here, two-time world champion, Olympian and local boy John John Florence with a young fan and his brother Nathan (seen at far left) shortly before a heat in the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout contest.
On a particularly big day, the local crew assesses, preps, stretches, prays, and possibly regrets coming down to paddle out at Waimea.
