Me and my Bike

Rishiri and Rebun 2013 Going through old files on the computer and stumbled on pictures I had taken with a phone while in Japan in 2013. These are from Rishiri Island and Rebun Island,  both of which are beautiful hikes. I made the mistake of doing them barefoot.... Mt. Rishiri rises out of the North Japan sea. Accessible by ferry from Wakkanai Getting lost... The peace and tranquility of the forests were a very nice difference to the chaos of Tokyo As you get higher the soil takes on a very nice deep red color Above the clouds the summit of Mt. Rishiri It had been a steady downpour for the whole day. I was wet, cold, and exhausted Emergency shelter - luckily I only used it a bit to change my clothes. The hikers behind me must have used it as the weather took a huge turn for the worst very quickly. Yum....2 day old Konbini dinner Beautiful morning after the storm had passed Island hopped to Rebun - breathtaking sig...

New Years Teardown Took the time today to tear down the whole bike. Some things need to be replaced or changed. This bike did a good job in 2016, and I'll be pushing it again this year in Japan, and possibly South Korea. Things to fix: - New hoods for shift levers               - MicroShift offers replacement hoods on their website for only $9. You get 2 pairs with that! - New Bottom bracket               - I made a mistake of buying an FSA Crank. The crank itself is great. But the bottom bracket has caused me loads of trouble. I've spent 2 hours before in front of home hardware store in AizuWakamatsu stripping down the bottom bracket and reassembling it. Not fun in hot weather! -New Crank (maybe)               - Instead of buying a new MegoEXO BB I've though of just replacing my whole crankset with Shimano or Sram. The cranksets compatible with the MegaEXO BB are not ver...

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...