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 Nagasaki, Japan, to Wakkanai, Japan. From one of the southernmost points in Japan to the northernmost city in Japan on a bicycle. I am about two weeks away from being in Japan and three weeks away from getting the ride started. I am reaching the point in planning where anxiety is starting to collide with excitement.

I have never really done anything like this before. I have not been bike-packing, preferring instead to overpack for trips by airplane and focused mostly on cities. I am never that far from my laptop, a great coffee shop and the conveniences of modern life. On this trip, I will be.

I am not a stranger to cycling, even over longer distances, but this will be more days of cycling long distances in a row than I have ever come close to doing. The total trip will be over 2500 km, spread out over around 25 days. Quick math leaves me doing about 100 km per day on average. Mentally, I am relying a lot on the last few days before I depart on the fact that cycling is the only thing I have to do each day. There is no work, though there will be museums and temples and sights to see along the way that will take time; these will be a chance to break up the ride more than anything.

A fair question is, why am I undertaking this? "Because it is there" is part of the answer, but as so often is the case, there is more to it than just this. This is, in some ways, my mid-life crisis in full effect. I want to know that I can do this, that my body can handle the exertion, and that I can still fully embrace an adventure. It also, in a thoroughly modern way, is the result of "the algorithm". The cycling videos that I watch from time to time, combined with a January trip to Japan, had a video pop up in my YouTube feed that planted the idea in my head, an earworm of an idea that never departed. Thank you, Oscar, for the beautiful video and the idea!

I love a big goal, something to focus my intentions and give me something to work towards. Like black turtlenecks and blue jeans in Steve Jobs' wardrobe, knowing I am going to cycle every day takes the decision out of the day. I know that I will have some time on my bike every day in preparation for this. Since January 5, I have cycled every day but one, the day I flew to Japan, "losing" the day to time zone differences. Outside of that, every day has had some time in the saddle in preparation.

Living in New Delhi, a lot of these days have been on the trainer. The ride in Japan will be significantly different in ways both good and bad from the air-conditioned comfort of home. The time will pass more quickly with the scenery passing me by, but I will also be subjected to the whims of weather, the hills, traffic and the Japanese order which will (correctly) require me to stop at all railroad crossings, stop signs and lights. It will be an adventure, full of excitement, fatigue, frustration, learning and joy!

Welcome to the ride as I discover my world and myself. I am about a week away from beginning, and I cannot wait. More will be posted in the coming days about the preparation, my bike and the route I plan on taking. Once I get going, I will post photos, videos and stories from the road.