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 wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving.” ― attributed to Roger Bannister

Each morning when I get up, there is one thing to do: ride. When I wake up, I eat breakfast, pack my bags, fill my water bottles and then get on the road. This helps to order the day, to remove the decision from the day. I know that each day I need to get so many kilometers done to get to the next checkpoint. Once the ride is done for the day, my day is sort of done. There is a joy in the predictability...but also a tedium about it.

I have reached the inevitable point of doldrums in the ride. The excitement of getting started, of the months of planning coming together, has faded. The rain, while keeping me cool, is no longer "fun" to ride in, and some of the major checkpoints have already been covered.

I am on Honshu, the largest island, where I will spend the majority of the ride. I am also riding in urban sprawl, moving from one mid-sized city to another. The mountains and oceans dictate where the people are in Japan. So far, my ride has taken me past small outposts, places where, despite the landscape, people have made their lives. That changed on day 6, when what felt like the entirety of the ride between Fukuyama and Okayama was spent in urban sprawl. Trucks were close to me, and stoplights were frequent. The joy of being on the road was lost.

When I got to Okayama, I cut the ride short for the day, hopping on a train to Himeji, site of a castle and a bit closer to the next day's destination, Kobe. It was the right call. The shorter day reinvigorated me, and being in Himeji gave me a chance to make a few minor repairs and feel like I saw something rather than just spending the days moving rapidly (though slower than a car or train) through the countryside.

Himeji Castle

The next day's ride was challenging in different ways, with the day ending with an arrival to Kobe that featured a LONG uphill section followed by a perilous downhill in traffic. Kobe is the beginning of the mega-metropolis that is Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto. Set in the narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, it is the least populated of the three cities and the least explored. It's most famous (for me) as being the namesake of Kobe Beef, the original Wagyu beef that comes with incredible marbling and a price tag to match. There was never a question of whether that would be my dinner on my one night in Kobe. It was fantastic.

To close out three days of largely urban riding, I turned north towards Kyoto. This ride too was a challenge, starting out with plenty of traffic lights, heavy traffic (for a Sunday) and uneven pavement that made for less comfortable riding after a week-plus being in the saddle. Soon, though, the urban landscape shifted to bike trails that followed the river all the way to Kyoto. This was a nice change of pace, only hampered by the constant gates that kept cars out, but also required me to dismount to pass through each time. Still better than the city roads, but it became frustrating over time.

Alleys of Kyoto

Helen, Oliver and I had been in Kyoto about a week earlier, which meant that waiting for me was a bag of fresh clothes and the opportunity to repack and sort through the gear that would accompany me the rest of the journey. There are things I had along that proved to be less than necessary. In the end, I only need one other set of clothes with me. Each night, I wash my riding gear and am in my "civilian" clothes so short that they don't get that dirty. They are just presentable enough that I can go out into the city. The stop allowed me to shed some weight off the bike. The two inner tubes I was carrying turned into one (with a patch kit just in case). The warm clothes that were along for Hokkaido are temporarily not with me, waiting for me to get further north. Chargers and some tech gear I had with me was not used as much as I thought and became redundant. The shedding of gear felt great, a lesson that I need far less with me than I thought, made possible through the infrastructure and cost of being in Japan.

Day 7

Distance (day) - 68 km

Distance (total) - 578 km

Climbing (day) - 211m

Climbing (total) - 4465 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 2

Convenience Stores (total) - 9

Tunnels (day) - 0

Tunnels (total) - 33

Day 8

Distance (day) - 67

Distance (total) - 645 km

Climbing (day) - 605 m

Climbing (total) - 5070 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 1

Convenience Stores (total) - 11

Tunnels (day) - 6

Tunnels (total) - 39

Day 9

Distance (day) - 85 km

Distance (total) - 730 km

Climbing (day) - 268

Climbing (total) - 5338 m

Convenience Stores (day) - 3

Convenience Stores (total) - 14

Tunnels (day) - 5

Tunnels (total) - 44