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The Flavors of Japan
Japan is, quite rightly, famous for its food. Japanese food and flavors have made it across the world with dishes like sushi becoming a...
Matthew Lautenbach
Aug 44 min read
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5 Things I Learned Cycling Up Japan
Two weeks have passed since I completed the journey, two weeks of recovery and reflection. My legs are feeling good, my tan lines are...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 207 min read
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Hokkaido
The ferry across the Pacific, from Hachinohe to Tomakomai, was a smooth crossing that arrived in the middle of the night. The arrival...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 157 min read
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Turning Inland
Having completed the ride up the west coast of Japan, I headed inland. There were subtle shifts in the weather, the terrain and my mood....
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 94 min read
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Kyushu's Northwest Coast
The day leading into Niigata was a suffer-fest, but it also marked a turning point in the trip. After a good meal and a night's rest, I...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 73 min read
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The Coastal Route
When training, the spaces between workouts, the rest, are as important as the work. Following up great efforts with recovery is a way to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jul 14 min read
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Random Thoughts from the Road
There is a rhythm to the ride, which is starting to fade into the background. The countryside is starting to look similar, as are the...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 253 min read
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Turning North
Leaving Kyoto, I felt lighter. Not just because of the weight I was able to remove from my bike by sending it forward, but also because...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 223 min read
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The One Thing
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning, a lion...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 204 min read
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Shimanami Kaido
In the weeks and months of planning, one place for riding in Japan kept coming up: the Shimanami Kaido. This is the best-marketed cycling...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 173 min read
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Shikoku
Shikoku, the least developed of the four major islands, is also where I spent the least amount of time riding. The original plan was to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 163 min read
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Kyushu I Hardly Knew You
Four days in and I have already finished riding the first of the four islands of Japan, Kyushu. Since I arrived on Saturday to Nagasaki,...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 113 min read
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Grandpa J Roads
One of my strongest memories of my Grandpa J is his love of taking the route less traveled. On trips, he did everything that he could to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 103 min read
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Beginnings
I am on my way. The planning, the excitement of the possible, the nervousness of what could go wrong has moved from the theoretical to...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 82 min read
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The Route
Planning Since the idea of doing this trip came into my mind, the route has come into greater focus. I knew that I wanted to end in...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 54 min read
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Japan Journey - the Gear
There is a saying, a mantra in triathlon, that there should be "nothing new on race day". No new gear, no new sources of energy. Race day...
Matthew Lautenbach
Jun 23 min read
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From Bottom to Top
of Japan Will I be able to capture an image like this? This summer, starting in just a few weeks, I will be undertaking a journey from...
Matthew Lautenbach
May 293 min read
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Starting
You have to start somewhere and Hello World feels both cheesy and a bit of a by-gone era. Over the years I have started and stopped with...
Matthew Lautenbach
Feb 201 min read
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