Me and my Bike

First night on the road in Utsunomiya. Comfort food after a rainy day  Horrible weather outside of Nikko, Tochigi prefecture Haven from the rain and cold. A cafeteria inside that serves up a decent curry! Just north of Niigata West Coast Honshu Obaachan pretending to race a bike Monkey after leaving Yonezawa The road down to Lake Hibara Nice bike stands posted around the small city of Kitakata Departing to Mito. 241 km to go! Getting into Ibaraki prefecture East Coast Honshu....200 km in to my ride to Mito. The pain was starting to set in. Dinner after Kitakata to Mito haul....241 km is my PR for now Two bike are better than one On the sands outside of Kujukuri

This was my first solo trip to Japan back in August September of 2013. I fell in love with travelling outdoors in Japan, mostly because of my experience in Hokkaido. These photos were taken in Wakkanai and Rishiri Island. I'll go back by bike one day...

Little samurai village hidden in the mountains of Fukushima. Wonderful place, and extremely fun to ride to. I won't say much, just let the pictures speak about it. But one thing...Ramune that has been chilled on the road with fresh, running mountain water tastes extremely good.

 After a few days of rest, I was in Kitakata, my mothers hometown. Home of the famous Kitakata ramen. I left Obaachans house early and headed up route 121 towards Yonezawa. Continuous climbing and tunnels were rewarded with  a beautiful descent into the city. Next routes were 3 and 2, heading south towards Lake Hibara. Route 2 was an extremely challenging climb. I was rewarded however with the sighting of some monkeys eating flowers on the road. The descent, again was breathtaking, constant switchbacks leading down to the shining lake. I continued on Route 2 till I hit Route 459, which brought me back into Kitakata. The climbs in this area are beautiful. I look forward to coming back and trying more. Keep on going up Climbing Climbing Climbing Onaka ippai Baby and Mother The view from the descent Lake Hibara on Route 2 Kitakata Ramen for lunch!

Another late update. Got up early to get ready for the race. The small hostel had filled up overnight with other riders. Chikako-san's husband gave me a ride to the starting point. He was volunteering to ride the 130 km course as a staff member. I would probably see him out there. There was about 3,000 riders present. 1,000 doing the 130 km course. It's my first bike event. I was so excited! Started off strong. I caught up with some faster riders and continued to pass others. Soon enough we caught up to the A Course riders, who had left 20-30 min before us. One of the greatest feelings was leading a train of riders at 30-35 kmph down the coast line. I was pushing hard, and some friends asked if I could continue that pace. In my mind I wanted to get at least top 200. Breaking away from the bigger groups, I continued at the speed, with 2 other riders in my course. We hit the climbs, and began to pass the others. I kept my eyes on the guy in the white jersey follow

Haven't had a chance to get back to this since my Blogger app crashed. Anyways, day before the Sado Long Ride. Got up early, after a night of prepping ingredients to make ramen for lunch. Today's plan was to ride out towards Lake Kamo, to see some environmental conservation work being done on some a small estuary there. The program was being led by a friend of the hostel owner. She explained to me that she had been trying to enlist the help of the local fishermen in cleaning up the estuary, as they were some of it's biggest polluters. Lake Kamo estuary Winds were fairly strong, but the weather was great. Not a cloud in sight. I decided to take a short tour of the island that my 130 km course of the race would not cover. Biking to Ryotsu, I headed down highway 45. The scenery was beautiful. Heading down Route 45 there are lot's of small islands with little shrines on them. I continued to ride, until I realized my mistake. I had promised to make ram

Out late last night looking for a coin laundry. Got up at 4 am to catch the ferry to Sado Island. The ride is just over 2.5 hours, and is quite comfortable on the Tokiwa Maru ferry (Sado Kisen Line). Even a full cafe on board. Sado is incredibly beautiful. Quiet and peaceful too. I am staying in at the Green Village Patio house, about 10 km inland from Ryotsu Port. They sell freshly baked bread as well, and it seems like many visitors that stop by as well. Got my race packet. Did a little 35 km tour of some sights, and the starting zone. Looks like it will be nice riding, if the weather stays the same. There should be about 3,000 people total attending this event. Sado seems to be great for riding, with smooth roads, good climbs and descents and beautiful scenery. Temple pictured is Myosenji. Sado is full of Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Had dinner with my host, Chikako-san at a conveyor belt sushi place. Communicating in broken english and japanese we were making ramen brot