Japanese Odyssey 2018 - Day Six and CP5

Day Six - Monday 5th November, 2018... I can't believe it is five years now... 

I was thinking about this day as I prep for my next Japanese Odyssey starting in three weeks or so. No, I am not prepped, I'm not fit, (not bike fit anyway and no-one ever said yoga makes all the difference with cardio) so I thought I would refresh my mind a little by reliving the day... by updating the article.

By the way CP means Checkpoint.

By the time I was off the ferry, done with breakfast, getting changed and moving again it was around 1pm - time flies when you are having fun eh? Not. Those faffing skills are developing well. But it was time to head for CP5. CP5 was, I dunno maybe 45kms from the ferry, not too far but the route meant (for me anyway) backtracking.

My plan for CP 5 was up to the top and then back down again - now this is how my mind works. After approx seven weeks of route planning it was only when I got to the start of the climb that I figured ‘wait... I can unload my bike... and ride without the 30lbs of gear... I am a genius...’ only seven weeks to figure out that simple solution. 

So the gear came off and I flew up that hill... when I say hill it was a bit more. The segment itself was 10.1kms and 945m elevation gain, combined with brutally steep grades (30% in places) and brutal gravel (2cm-10cm chunks... I only fell off twice - once up and once down). But I had the perfect bike - 650b wheels, 47mm tires and a 40x46 drive train. I flew up the ‘hill’ at a phenomenal 6.2km/h... I know, but it felt fast... and I did get the KOM (yes… there were only two other recorded times... not the point, and please don’t share that info... we are sticking with KOM)... even though that KOM took 1h 38mins at an average of 200w - not bad after 6 long days in the saddle and riding through the night.

Anyhoo... It wasn’t because I was ‘trying’ to get a fast time, it was cos it was getting dark... and I was in a spooky forest... and I was feeling a bit nervous... and well... there are goats n stuff.

I got back down, loaded up the bike... mostly (couldn't see very well) and cruised into town... needing food. Five nights I had been riding, four nights under the stars and one riding through. And I had only had a couple of meals that were not from convenience stores (I know, you can say it... ‘aww... muffin...’ thanks, I feel better) I stopped outside this very nice looking restaurant called ‘Cafe on y va’ yes, French... somebody opened the door “Konnichiwa…!!!” somebody yelled.

I went in... (of course I did) now, this is day six, I have spent five nights roughing it, I have just raced up a terrifying mountain at 6.2kmh - saturating myself with body coolant... which worked far better than I wanted, especially on the way down... and I still had tons of coolant left (yes, freezing and still drenched in sweat). Think about it, six days hard (ish) riding, soaked... ever had durian...?

Anyway, beer was first on the list - obviously I had to replace lost coolant. “Food?” The 'yelling' somebody yelled? The somebody was a women.

“Yes... do you know any hotels close by?” I kinda whisper... I’m trying to set an appropriate decibel level example...

“Here!” Yelly woman er… yells. Obviously my example went unheeded...

Now, I gotta lot of info to cover here so I will try to do it succinctly...

Ready? Okay... bath - she heats her own hot water, from a wood burning boiler, with wood she cut down last year... tatami mats, shared with her mother, traditional Japanese style... washing machine for my ripe gear... no shoes, yes shoes, no shoes (very confusing) dry upstairs, dry downstairs, dry upstairs... do this, do that... coffee machine for morning, happy cows, happy chickens, sausage, beer, salad, beer, came here five years ago, studied in Toronto, endurance runner... coffee beans, chocolate cake... leaving early... sleep is overcoming me... and... 

I retire to my immensely comfortable room, cool but the bed had a really thick down duvet - gonna snuggle up in this… sleep hits me hard - I’m out.

But, remember two nights before when I was dreaming of the hotel room… and got kicked out? This was even better than those dreams - laundry sir, dry clean cycling clothes, power, a real bed... Yes sir.

Hmmm... real food. Salad, corn chowder, and 'Cinderella' beer - yum.
There was more beer and more food... and more beer...

That was the end of the day. CP5 was brutal - thank god it was over... 

Inside of 'Yelly woman's" Restaurant On Y Va

Tatam mats... my first experience... they are just liker erm... mats.

The best bed in the world. True story.

Japanese Odyssey 2018 - Day 5.

Day 5 - November 4th 2018 - Sunday.

The Kumano Kodo

The park was just as good in the morning, even better actually, the toilet was a functioning toilet... better than the none functioning one from day two... it was a squat toilet tho… but we are not going to discuss that again. By now I had established a bit of a routine, up, coffee, food, faffing around, start riding.

The start of the ride was pretty good - remember that 2km 45minute climb from the night before...? I headed back to the town, I needed supplies and my electronics were not electronic at this point, just lumps of weight. So it was back to the convenience store to charge and very slowly resupply... I probably hung around for a hour, enough to charge the electronics, lights and power banks (a little, but enough).

I hadn’t made the coast yet but I was only around 50kms away. There were a couple of climbs, one was a pretty tough 250m elevation gain over 3.5km - 7% average… maybe I will just ride at 4.6km/h… 

Down to the ocean, got there around 1pm had lunch at a local place. Food was a bit blah but the location was great. More charging so a slow lunch again - not faffing, just pretending to faff.

I eventually started moving again but things with my knee had deteriorated - it had become a significant 'ouchy-boo-boo.' Yes, it is a thing.

By 3pm I was moving very slow, one legged pedalling really. 

The question was do I continue and keep ticking off the kms? The weather was warmer and dryer and there was still almost three hours of daylight. Or stop and rest/treat the knee somehow?

I didn’t seem to be moving fast enough for any other option so I stopped at this beautiful bay - it had concrete jetty that would allow me to ease my way into the ocean, nicely shaped pebbles to dig into that muscle, beautiful view. Hmmm... why not rest even more? Have a sip of scotch and a couple hours kip? Maybe it will give the knee a decent recovery...?

It was around 5:30pm when I woke - the tiny thermal sleep pad was fantastic on the concrete... maybe fatigue helped :) My knee? I couldn’t tell, I think at this point I dropped the saddle 5mm, (I was running out of things to try). I started riding and it was still (what felt like) grinding; I was running through my various option and actions taken - cold water, hot water, massage, rest... strapping maybe? But I’d opted out of bringing the physio type support strapping due to weight and volume, I had gorilla tape but the practicalities...? They seemed limited. 

Maybe a heat pad? I stuck one on under my knee warmers - it helped. Not sure if it was the pressure initially, or the increasing warmth, or the seat adjustment but sure enough my knee wasn’t grinding and now seemed to be tracking straight again. Pain still, but more manageable. 

Time was ticking, I felt like I was falling behind... So with a rested knee, I thought I would make a push for the ferry - 170kms or so. 6pm, good riding conditions, warm(ish), not damp... Without any major climbs I hoped for 10 hours... The road had tracked inland - more hills, more humidity, and cold... the one heat pad on my knee became...

• two on that knee.
• one on my other knee
• one on each of my feet
• one in each glove
• one on my sternum
• one on my lower back... and
• one zip tied to my phone... to try and stop the battery draining too fast.

10 heat pads...

...And 12 hours, it had been a long night but my knee had survived, maybe even improved somewhat. 

I cleaned up and changed at the ferry terminal; plugged in my electronics again - I had a hour to wait, ate some crappy food, and probably drank a coffee. We started loading at 8:15, 8:25 I plugged in again... 8:30 I was out... until the ferry docked and I was politely told to ‘get off the boat’. 

Still groggy I slowly navigated to the next important destination - food. This is when I discovered how accurate the ‘Blue-Dot’ tracking program was (MapProgress)... I spoke to wifey after breakfast - “Did you eat a burger?” she asked.

“Er... yes...”

“I discovered I can look at satellite images and zoom in...”

“Oh...” I said, wtf I thought...

“I think Amy went to Starbucks...”

Hmmm... Starbucks coffee...

Can you imagine, I am half way around the world on this epic 10 day, bike-packing ultra endurance (you can put quotations around that ‘ultra’ - there I just did it for you) event... riding sometimes in what feels like the middle of nowhere and wifey can see where I am grabbing breakfast...?

Wifey was also telling me how she had been cold in our bed. "I had to put an extra blanket on..." 

"Aww... diddums... were you cold in your house, wrapped up in a big duvet, with the heating and fireplace on... and your extra blanket...?" Ha! No, I didn't say that at all... that was the voice in my head, and I (currently) had that voice under control.

But wait... this is the start of day six...

And Strava? 228kms today... but only 223 calories. 

Japanese Odyssey - Day Four... yes, cos it is the day after day three...

Day Four - Saturday, 3rd November.

Man my sleeping bag was working too well, 6:30 I woke. And even with the barking competitions throughout the night I felt pretty good.

I had gone to sleep, damp, salty, sweaty, tired... still dressed win bike gear, yes, the blood constricting squeezy kind of bike gear... I even kept my heart rate monitor on. Ha! Dumbass. Why did I bring that? 

I came to, did a quick video of my private shrine/temple/location... Then it was time to be up and running... well riding. Not covered in frost this morning so bonus.

As you can see...

The day started out misty or foggy as you can see. I did rug up; not sure of the elevation but I was in the mountains somewhere and even though it wasn't particularly cold, it was humid. On a side note I have come to dislike humidity it makes cold feel colder and hot feel hotter.

As you can see... the sequel.

As you can see... the shrine was in a park and bonus the park had washrooms... which is very exciting. True story. Now I normally do not get excited with washrooms but when you are in the middle of the middle of nowhere... they are a literal relief :)

As you can see... the sequel - part II

Of course there was the ubiquitous vending machine for my morning coffee and guess what was for breakfast... yes, the delicious ricey beefy thing from the night before. Not quite as delicious cold but better than the seaweedy things.

After quickly enjoying the facilities (pooping), a quick coffee and I'm almost off - just some faffing around for 45 doing god knows what...

The road was small and narrow, it followed the uphill path of a river. I think it was probably the best day of riding I had on the whole journey... well until the night but that's later.

Lucky for you I took a bunch of pics. 

 I came across a lot of bridges that seemed to serve limited purpose... yes, I know what a bridge is for... they just seemed to go nowhere... however, they did provide a number of photo ops.

I'm going up river... 

 This was both the upside and downside of the journey. On one hand I got to see and experience these stunningly beautiful places, but the most I could do was take a quick picture and then race off.

Steep bits.

And the road was really quiet, maybe I passed three or four vehicles the whole time. There were some fishermen around fishing... did I really have to explain?

But... I still had not reached CP 3... I was getting close... kinda...

I was getting close but the road was steep - I actually thought I hit 44.4% grade at one point but it was just my handlebars popping up... steep for me meant slow. I had chosen the steep option for my routing and it followed this path through a tourist attraction - there were lots of people mountaineering... (yes, it was that steep) I remember passing this dad and two girls who must have been 4 or 5 years old... walking at about 2.5kmh... I zoomed past them cos I was going 3.8kmh. 40x46 drivetrain... more than 50% faster! Yes sir.

Let me explain, 40x46 gives me 85% of a wheel revolution for each turn of the front chainring - a pedal stroke. I was probably riding at about 30 RPM cadence. So each minute equalled 25.5 spins of my wheel. My wheel is a 650b with 47mm tires. Therefore each revolution equates to 3.142x680mm = 2,137mm or 2.14m... times 30rpm x 60 minutes gives me 3.8kmh... or... I could have looked at my bike computer...

I'm pretty sure the sign meant 'please park your bike here' pretty sure.

So... not very fast... 

The ride down was easier... I stopped at some kind of market/tourist place to stock up. This is were I came across the organizers - Emmental and Gouda. We chatted suffering, pain, cold, misery, loneliness... all the good stuff.

E&G had been working on their suntans but cos it was cold they were only doing one leg at a time... 

Either that or they only had one pair of leg warmers between them... pretty sure it was the suntanning tho.

The rest of the day was uneventful for me - still chasing CP4 I must have caught it eventually, even though it had been  trying to escape.

Down river.

My knee had started to become painful to the point where it was affecting my ability to ride. By around 7pm I was struggling and looking for options for treatment - Onsen? Massage? Physiotherapist...? Surprisingly in the middle of nowhere there were very few around.

But I did find an Onsen foot bath... let me paint a picture... it is the night of day four, I had been riding for 60 or so hours, my feet had been in the same shoes and socks for that time... the foot onsen was very welcome. And bonus - some random dude gave me two tangerines. He was trying to talk to me but that language barrier thing was a erm... barrier.

I continued after my 'spa' break but I knew my tank was getting empty... and the humidity was becoming tiresome - cold with lots of climbing meant I was soaked in my own perspiration making my clothing heavy and providing diminishing protection... which is the adult version of 'are we there yet...?'. 

I arrived at this town around 10pm, and I figured it was time for a hotel - three nights of roughing it was beginning to take its toll... plus my dynamo was not doing its secondary job of charging my power banks, so I needed power, I needed to recharge both I and my electronics... so hello Google, what do you have for me.

Pretty eh?

Convenience store... power... internet... Ah ha Here is a hotel, only a couple kms away... Did you know that 2kms downhill is a lot closer than 2kms up a steep bloody road…? 45 mins later and I am at the hotel… Even more drenched... But a warm cozy bed waits, a hot shower... fluffy towels... heating... I can peel off my sweaty four day, crusty, cycling gear, charge my electronics, dry my clothes and jump into a real bed… it will be delicious…

If they had a room...

Do you have dogs? Have you ever seen your dog after he/she has done something wrong (ate your steak dinner for example…) the way he/she kinda slinks off, tail between its legs, looking back at you with these big sad, puppy dog eyes… yes? That was me.

It is midnight, my dreams of luxury for the night have been smashed, crushed, stamped on… and I have no place to go… not even a way to a manger, with no crib for a bed… (see what I did then?) Gravel parking lot? Nah. Steep scary, dark, forest full of wild animals waiting to eat me…? Hmmm… nah. Wet, swamp land behind the hotel…? Nope…. not so much.

Where does this driveway go to…? A park!!! With a toilet!!! And a soft, flat, mossy area to sleep on…!!! Really private and quiet…?!! This maybe...? Nah…

Only joking - it was perfect ,and bonus, I didn’t have to pay the $250 hotel rate - well that is what Google was saying… not that I trust Google that much after the road incident anyway...

It is late, I am exhausted but I am also soaked - an old army trick to dry your clothing... sleep in it. Not the most comfortable so can I sleep? I’ll count down from ten. T…

Only 168kms today... damn I am getting slower :( and I only burned 324 calories... pretty sure I burned more than that. Oh, and at some point I had breached CP 4... again memory is poor here but I think it was at the bottom of a something... somewhere... maybe.

Japanese Odyssey Day 3... I think... yes, I know I was there...

Day 3. Friday 2nd November.

So up around six and off I go. CP Three here I come. This shouldn't take too long... unless you are good at faffing around... not sure what time I hit it... maybe around three hours after I should have... that's three hours, only if you ignore the two days already behind schedule of course.

I didn't get to CP 3 that day though... and really I don't remember much... and I didn't take many pictures.

The first part of the ride was city riding - busy roads, loud traffic - not much fun. Flat for the most part but brutal all the same. I vaguely recall seeing some amazing structures and thinking maybe I should take a picture... as I passed.

Busy roads, industrial area, brutal highways... Google... hmmm apparently Google does not completely understand the option it offers to ’avoid highways’. Nope, cos it told me to go on one… and I did… wtfai (where the… am I) I think a number of trucks were trying to gently inform me by blaring their horns... "yes, yes, I think I understand... 17 of your mates told me, oh, go on, you can do it too..." Bugger! Or… help…

Wait... I see a gap between the walls... can I get down that? Not much choice, hoof the bike over, tippy toe on my road cleats, almost, almost lose the bike, I just manage to save it by jamming my shin against this nice sharp, jaggedy thing... relief... wait... fuck, that hurts... oh and blood too... cool. Not.

I navigate (yes, getting better) back to the real road; the one running parallel. The one Google should have told me to ride… The one with the cops screaming by… horns, lights, traffic swervy thing… you know doing that ‘chasing a criminal’ gig... I wonder what could be the rush... not much crime in Japan, I bet they never get to do that... I bet anything could get them excited... maybe even just a cyclist... oops, I'm er... I’m just gonna go this other way... 

My nerves settle and I am off up the 28 towards Iga, beautiful road following a river... Aww... look the road is closed. The Japanese are so polite when they are telling you to f*** off, the road is closed. They bow, smile, cross their arms in this X shape... (I eventually discovered it means "no, sorry, you fogging, foreign idiot" I smile bow... and tell him to look the other way... 20 mins later and he does! I told him I would go around the road works... he laughed... I discovered why - it was either a 20 foot vertical drop to the river... or a 200 foot near vertical climb - the work crew were using climbing gear. Less negotiations to get through this time.

I keep riding - looking at my tracking it looks like I backtrack about 30kms... brilliant eh? I continue and around 7:30pm and I am going through a town... I'm in a supermarket to stock up and I ask 'any restaurants?' This is in my broken Japanese which strangely sounds exactly like Northern English… “Local House" he says in his broken English, which sounds exactly like Northern English without the ‘Northern’ bit. Closes at 8pm… he seems to indicate. Yes I was telling fibs, it is in almost zero english... Another customer comes who is apparently the ‘Local House’ matriarch... 'yes yes come with me' I follow…

Local House? I had no idea what a Local House was but I discovered I love this 'local house' - cozy, warm, rustic, smiling owners and customers…? Yes. I love local house. Three old guys are eating, and the patriarch seemed very interested in me - "Riding? From? Wow? What do I want?" (that's the abbreviated version obviously) I have no idea how to order anything, I shrug my shoulders, smile, both palms up… it is the international body language for anything. Rice? Beef? He asks. A nod and a smile... and a big beer please... Beeru! I deserve Beeru I think.

Food was Fantastic! Yes capital F. I ordered another to go… then I was on my way. It is amazing how a hot meal can change how you are feeling - my energy levels were in the ground, I was tired, cold, miserable, hungry... it was dark, getting late, I was in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to sleep... and then a good hot meal, a friendly face, a smile and my perception changes. I am off again, feeling re-energized - few more hours on the bike will be okay.

But... I still hadn't reached CP3.

I keep riding until around midnight… it is getting late… some riders keep going… some make other choices - I eventually get to the point where I can either climb up this pass, late at night or try and sleep... I found this park area with a toilets and a temple or a shrine... I'm not sure whether it was a shrine or temple…  but it was the kind where idiots can sneak in and pitch a bivvy... you know, that kind. Sleep came easy, 14 hours in the saddle helped. I was awoken a couple times during the night by some critter (monkey I think) screeching and causing all the local dogs to start yelling. Japanese dogs are like my dogs, they like to be the last one to bark... it took these twenty or so dogs about 40 minutes to find the ‘last-to-bark winner’. Glad I was able to wake up for that… oh, wait… round two…

And the stats? Another 180kms, nine hours moving, not much elevation gain. It was a mentally tough day, lost, illegal highway adventure, closed road, backtracking... it is not really bothering me though, I know it is just part of the experience.

Japanese Odyssey 2018 - Day Two.

Crunchy Frosty

Day Two... Thursday 1st November.

Woke in farmers field, (a relief... and not surprising really, since I went to sleep there...) guess what? My -2 sleeping bag, mat and bivy bag worked a treat! I was warm and cozy… even though I was covered in crunchy frost (which is kinda the same as regular frost but with an additional adjective... true story). Guess what one doesn't want to do when one is warm and cozy, wrapped up in a down sleeping bag, when everything outside is crunchy frosty? Yes, exactly - get out of the warm cozy down sleeping bag, get on a saddle (you can read extra uncomfortable brick here) and force your exhausted and loudly complaining legs to push those pedals. One doesn't want to do that, nope... But, one doesn't have a choice, does one? Nope.

Or Frost Crunchy...

Beautiful day tho, I did a Katie Kookabura impression, dragged myself out of 'cozy' and started riding, and I kept going for at least 8 mins before I stopped at the first vending machine for, yes, hot, tinned, vended coffee - yum! Not really, but you know, caffeine.  I had some breakfast - yes, one of those seaweedy rice things - yum! Again ‘yum’ was a broad definition, the real answer was ‘this is food, I need food, best eat’.

After my delicious breakfast I was on the road moving again around 7:30am. The day started with a long climb... I was still rugged up (you read the bit about the frost) eventually I am getting hot... I stopped, de-robed, packed the items and started again. Unfortunately I discovered I was only five mins from the top... Even though I was hot, the temp was still cold and I knew if I didn't rug up again I would freeze going down the hill... so I stopped again and got my gear out and rugged up... again...

Nice brickwork eh?

I happened upon Matt Brady around 11:30... he had stopped the night before around 7:30pm... five hours before me... and then started the next morning after me... and he was still ahead… :( he had also turned left at the 152 saving 16,000 kms... not really only around 15kms - same thing. And he was cheery, barsteward, I taught him a lesson tho, I was cheery back. Ha!

I followed the 153, passed two ski resorts, (you can read 'lots of climbing' here). On one of the climbs Amy passed me... bitch, and you know what she said? "Hello..." exactly! Bitch! So I chased her, well, I followed from an ever increasing distance... same thing. She is tiny tho, I think my left leg weighs more than she does - only cos it has a bruise, with some swelling, (probably 250g extra) she is definitely heavier than my right leg tho...

Eventually nature called...

Er... oh, I dunno, choose your own caption.

Lets just back track a little here...Japan is different from any other country, well that I have visited anyway. They have vending machines everywhere - that little tiny village with no shops, no Post Office, only 10% occupied buildings...? Yes, vending machines. And convenience stores? Japan defines 'convenient' they are everywhere, everywhere... Lawson, 7/11, Family Mart... everywhere. Let me just re-emphasize... e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e….

Well... almost everywhere.

Unless… nature calls… I did have my ‘Tom Dumoulan’ contingency plan... fwoosh. That was a relief. Yes, I'll kept the details limited... you can use your own imagination. Maybe I'll add some details later, if you are unlucky.

Green stuff

Great road tho, I followed the 153... I originally planned to head down to the ferry but at some point it seemed to make more sense staying north of the planned ferry road - yes, my planned route went one way... Me? I went the other. Not surprising really, it had only taken me 350kms to cover the first 250kms.

I rode until 9pm and I was getting close to Toyota - I was just beginning to consider sleeping options when I found myself on a quiet country lane, next to an orchard... Hmmm... it was quiet, flat, soft(ish) and fruity... perfect. I stopped and crashed... well after a satisfying sip of the scotch I had been carrying. Only 14 hours and only nine moving... hmmm... 185kms covered and 2200m elevation gain - still not enough tho :(

Interestingly by this point (two days) the lead guy was already four days ahead of me… four days!!! 

And... how about the stats? Well Strava said... ah, just look at the pic. 



​

Japanese Odyssey 2018 - Day seven and CP6

Day Seven - CP6... it was sposed to be so easy... two points if you can name the band.

Cafe On y va... morning came and yes, I had to go. Man I felt good, a bed, great great food, clean dry clothes - I think I even dried my sleeping bag and bivvy. Chocolate cake for breakfast :) fresh coffee... don’t get me wrong the hot coffee from the vending machines was okay... but you know... I pack my bike well, and off we go. CP6 - easy peasy.

CP5 was brutal, the others were okay, maybe CP5 was unique...

Ha! …I hadn’t hit CP6

So I started, I was backtracking. I needed to get up over a small pass (450m or so) then up to CP6. It shouldn’t be too bad, 100kms or so, lots of climbing but I should knock it out by early afternoon... I shouldn’t get lost. I’m doing okay, my power banks are charged, my phone, bike computer, lights, camera, action... (oops, sorry no action) all charged. I also feel like I'm beginning to understand/know what I am doing with this navigation game.

I ‘shouldn’t’ get lost... I shouldn’t. Of course not, cos if I did get lost I may find myself on the side of a very steep, grassy mountain, six hundred miles from civilization, trying to climb said mountain in road shoes (and cleats... these don’t work well... in case you are wondering). And if I did get lost I may finally end up in a six foot deep, concrete culvert, carrying and pushing rather than riding my steed... And if I did get lost and that happened I probably wouldn’t ‘knock it out’ by early afternoon... it may even be late evening... 

Or around 7pm… 7pm (ish) I hit CP6 - 1516m elevation... in November, pitch black... dark, misty, or foggy, or cloudy... whatever, it was cold, damp and dark. And lonely too, I had not seen a vehicle, or for that matter, any signs of life for what felt like days... It was only hours but you know... I’m doing my exaggeration thing. But no vehicles for hours... I wonder why...?

But it was done, CP6 was done - I thought CP5 was tough, CP6 was tougher. But done and then it was down hill.

Two things. One, I discovered why I had not seen any traffic - the road was blocked, roadworks, big machines and an 8’ deep ravine to navigate. Should be easy in the pitch black with my 50lb bike and road shoes... muddy too… everything helps.

The second thing was wildlife - I discovered the famous 'Devil Goat' (I made up the name), black, black eyes, black horns, didn’t move, just stared at me. I'm not afraid to admit it freaked me out as it slowly materialized out of the mist... then these two slinky things - like big ermine... a deer - tiny with antlers almost the length of its body, and of course raccoon dogs - Tanuki, tons of them - built like corgi dogs.

Eventually I get to civilization, and around 9pm another hotel — shall I stop? It is late, I am cold, I’m gonna need to bivvy up in a hour or so anyway. Hotel…? Well why not? And yes two in two nights. Getting soft? Nope, I started out soft.

And it was an Onsen hotel - Onsen being natural hot spring baths. Apparently this hotel is famous - if you are ever, ever going to have an Onsen this is the way to do it. And... I will provide instructions... cos that is the way I roll. Yes Sir.

Step 1. Put on the traditional Japanese robe - the one that makes you look like a samurai warrior... a warrior getting ready for mummsy to tuck him in for beddy byes.

Step 2. Grab your facecloth sized Onsen towel and walk through the changing rooms.

Step 3. Go out of the building to the tram car. Press button.

Step 4. Ride tram car to outdoor Onsen.

Step 5. Take off provided Onsen footwear, remove warrior pj’s, shower, put facecloth on head and step completely naked into the female outdoor Onsen.

Step 5a. Get kicked out of the female Onsen and sheepishly go to the male Onsen. (Didn’t really happen.)

Step 6. Relax.

Step 7. Reverse steps 4 through 1.

Step 8. Drink two large beers and collapse into bed exhausted.

Step 9. Sleep like a sleepy Samurai Warrior.

End of day seven.

Japanese Odyssey - Day One.

Day One

My alarm was set for 4am, I woke at 3:59... a few last minute packing adjustments - don't need this, this and that. Pack everything ready for storage and I am off to the start - 15kms, hopefully it won't take the eternity of last time.

KM Zero - Nihonbashi Bridge...
Time for some pics.

I left my accom at 5:30 ish, 15 km ride to arrive at 6:15 for photos - not a poor pace… can i keep it up…?

The traditional pre ride pictures were taken and just 10 mins behind schedule we depart Nihonbashi Bridge, Tokyo's historical Kilometre Zero.

Incidentally two people were riding commuter bikes... incredible! 'Maybe', I thought, 'maybe, I have a chance...' Ha!

We head out, first as a group but we rapidly split - some riders were moving faster than my sustainable pace - best not try and chase... no point in burning matches. Tokyo is an amazing city, clean, modern, crime free (almost) and big. Our first CP is Cross Coffee - one of the sponsors, it is approx 30kms from the start but still within, what is considered Tokyo City and the many many traffic lights - stop, start... stop, start... it is physically demanding - every time I touch my brakes I am wasting energy. But... I get to see the beautiful Mount Fuji which was probably more exciting for me than you... but, hey, this is about me... no?

Mount Fuji... kinda like Kilimanjaro but with a
shorter name - true story.

The small road to Wada Pass

Cross Coffee CP, a convenient requirement, it allows everyone to check their equipment - GPS tracker, loose straps, batteries, charging etc etc. It also marks the end of the city limits and the countless god damn traffic lights - good, I've seen enough to last the whole ten days.

We leave, I leave... CP1 is a couple hours away - Wada Pass, up a mountain road, and it is time for the serous Maybe I better load the pantry - coffee, milk, yogurt, rice snacks, hot fast food, chocolate...? I stop at one of the thousands of convenience stores and load up with grub, sample the local ‘junk’ cuisine… to be accurate it was a long way above junk :) some yakitori (skewers of grilled meat - usually things like chicken… chicken skin… chicken cartilage…) boiled eggs (they are salted, soft and delicious) spicy chicken and the staple - rice.

Hmmm. another pic of said small road.

I'm off again riding along the river eventually leaving it and climbing up to CP1 - Wada Pass. The road is pretty steep. As I was riding I kept seeing these numbers on the side of the road… 30, 39, 46, 54 etc etc. Definitely not kilometre markers - I wish but they are too quick. The penny dropped at about marker and 'bend' 53… that was around noon. I saw Tobias at the top and I shared some food. Eventually his gf arrived as I was leaving.

Around 3pm I checked my bike - rear brake was rubbing… probably costing me at least 256watts… or maybe 2.56watts... I tried to fix it, this consisted of looking at it intently, shaking the wheel, tapping it... you know the advanced bike mech stuff. Not sure my mechanic skills were up to the task.

Around 5pm I stopped at a gas station - it was  cold and I needed to rug up; M and B arrived and we rode together for a few hours. The route called for either climbing over a big Pass or riding through a long (about 5km) tunnel. The pass would have been beautiful but it was dark, cold and conserving energy seemed a good idea - the tunnel won.

Lots of calories... no?

Eventually we lost M - she was ahead and planning to meet her BF.  B and I found a restaurant, ate some food and continued together for another couple hours. Eventually B stopped to find a bivvy spot around 10 I think. Incidentally B did not have much cold weather gear, just a small puffy jacket and a bivvy bag... no sleeping bag!  Lots of riders had chosen that option - a lot less weight to carry but...

I continued - I wasn’t tired and I wanted to be exhausted before I stopped, otherwise I wouldn’t sleep… I eventually got lost (again) around 12:30 am, I was riding around in circles trying to get onto the 153… I could see it, I passed under it… but access was miles away and... I was cold. Maybe, maybe it was time to get some sleep, temp had dropped (down to -2 I heard) and I was obviously tired enough that I passed out pretty quick… I was wondering about Barney... no sleeping bag...

I was in a farmers field laying next to a workshop I think, I had been on the move for 20 hours... only 210km ish covered… already behind my hoped for schedule… maybe tomorrow I can make up some distance... maybe.

Look - a water falling thing, kinda like one of those things, you know a erm... waterfall.

Japanese Odyssey - The prep.

The Ride.

Maybe... I should start by telling you about the Japanese Odyssey eh? That may make sense.

Hell! It's Hell I tell you.

A visual of Hell.

Wait, would prefer more detail...? Oh okay then.

It is a self supported ride around (this year) the southern half of Japan. Some points...

• It is self supported. I know I said that already, I'm just emphasizing... in fact, I'm gonna emphasize even more... it is a self supported ride and on my bike I carry-
• Sleeping bag, bivvy bag and sleeping mat.
• Food - I buy from wherever I can and load up my frame bag 2-3 times a day.
• Spare parts, tools and repair kit. All the bits and pieces I could reasonable carry - spokes, inner tube, chain link, multi-tool etc.
• Cold & wet weather, and spare cycling gear.
• Spare footwear - sometimes road shoes does not work. Lightweight tho like flip-flops.
• None cycling clothing - a shirt and climbing pants
• Heat pads - I had nine of them on one night.
• Bike lights, one dynamo driven, one rechargeable and three rear USB.
• Electronics - phone, wifi modem, GPS tracker, power banks x2, plugs and a shit load of cables.
• Dynamo hub - to run the front light and charge said electronics (well, the light worked).



Locked and loaded.

• The gear weighed about 30lbs - not too bad.
• There is no set route, just a series of checkpoints - 12 in this case; which were really 20...
• Emmental and Gouda organized it... they cannot count.
• Time allowed - 10.5 days.
• Estimated distance 2600kms
• Estimated elevation gain... 40,000m. My first route plan called for 119,000m.
• Mostly road, some gravel - my bike was set up for mostly gravel. Cos I'm a dumbass, that's why.
• There is no safety vehicle, route markers, checks at the check points... nothing - you are on your own.

Why did I, or why would I want to do this? Not sure. I have asked myself this question many times... the best answers I have come up with...

Why...? Why would we do this?

• I'm in the middle of a mid-life crisis and I cannot afford the expensive version...?
• I wanted to challenge myself...?
• I wanted an adventure?
• It was there... it became and option... did I want to look back one day and say 'glad I didn't do that...?' nope. So I signed up.

The Gear.
It required preparation... a lot.

I had six weeks... to train, to source, select and purchase all the equipment to be used/carried - even the frame-bags to carry the gear (Apidura by the way, fantastic, but not the waterproof top tub bag - the closure is rubbish).

 And in addition to all the gear, I had to modify the bike - 

• Smaller wheels (650b).
• Wider tyres (47mm WTB Horizon's),
• 46 tooth rear cassette (from a 40)
• New chain to accommodate the cassette.
• Clip on TT bars
• Endurance seat - 
• more comfy you see, the one I got lasted three days before it felt like a brick wrapped in sandpaper.
• Dynamo hub.

The bike itself is a Giant TCX Advanced (Carbon) with a SRAM 1x11 drivetrain and 160mm disc brakes. It's a cyclocross bike, but modified to be less race and more gravel.

My bike is where...?

I had some challenges, my wheels, dynamo and dynamo light were coming from the UK and they were delayed by a week. Hunt Wheels, the supplier, did overnight them which was great, they left their facilities on Thursday, London Heathrow on Friday and hitting Vancouver Friday night... not bad eh? One thing I have discovered about Canada is the shipping or postal system is not quite as efficient as anywhere else in the fogging world... except for maybe the odd, third-world country. My wheels arrived Wednesday, my flight was Friday... I had to instal the brake discs, buy and install the new cassette, road test the wheels, dynamo and light, install new chain, adjust, dismantle and pack. A proper road test...? Not really... maybe I could do it in Japan - I landed on the Saturday and with the race starting Wednesday 6am, it should be no problem...

Unless of course the airline loses the bag... apparently it stayed in Canada... which meant it would not arrive in Japan until at least 7pm the next evening... It did arrive eventually - Sunday evening. Monday morning I unpacked and rebuilt the bike. Monday afternoon I went for the first proper test ride - the bike, wheels, dynamo, tires, cassette, chain, gears, dynamo light and... my navigation software...

Of course I had the option of testing the navigation software in Canada... but the thing is though, I live on a mountain - there is one road... pretty easy to navigate. The first real test was Tokyo - the biggest city in the world... a proper test. Maybe I should start with an easy challenge... I know, I'll ride the 15kms to the start. Noon I started... 3 hours 40 mins and 35kms later... I get to my planned destination. Hmmm... it does not bode well for a 2600km race. It was a steep learning curve tho and I made the return journey in 50mins or so. But that leads me on to my actual route planning...

Route Planning.

I used a combination of Google Earth, Ride with GPS and MapOut - they all had their pros and cons. This bit is not that interesting... I wouldn't read if I were you - look at the picture of the beer instead.

• Google Earth
• Pros
• Great for looking at roads/routes in Japan from here in Canada.
• Free
• Quick route planning including roads, public transport, sometimes bike, hiking.



Hmmm... Beer.

• Great for finding services - convenience stores, bike shops, hotels etc.
• Cons
• Really heavy on power
• Really heavy on data
• Requires internet connection, and thus limited in remote areas.
• Ride With GPS
• Pros
• Lots of other users and their routes are visible
• Easy to download kmx files to Google Earth
• Easy to download kmx files to MapMe
• Cons
• Expensive monthly subscription.
• I found it complicated and hard to use - it appeared I would need to spend a whole bunch of time (that I didn't have) learning how to use the software.
• MapMe
• Pros
• Simple
• Easy to use, I could trace a route quickly, follow and modify on the fly.
• Cheap - $7 for the app.
• Easy to modify memory use - you can download/delete global maps.
• Cons
• Elevation gain was inaccurate - it overestimated.
• Limited detail.

I think it is this way...

If you have one get the MapMe app. However, I have since discovered Komoot... on the next adventure I will use Komoot for planning. 

Logistics.
Or getting to the start point... 8,000kms away... with my bike. It is not that difficult really, a good bike bag (thanks Josh) and a couple of flights. But, you also have to consider pre and post ride accommodation, luggage storage building and dismantling your bike.

Most airlines will carry bike bags - they are usually heavier than regular luggage, especially if bike touring, mine weighed 73lbs at check in. FYI I discovered 70lbs is the max.

For accommodation I used AirBnb; I found a place about 15kms from the race start. I was also able to book the same place post ride and they allowed me to store my luggage during the ride - bonus.

Pre race.
It is Tuesday evening, 6pm and I arrive at the 'pre-race' meeting. Pick up my cap, water bottle, gillette; eat some food, drink a beer, listen to the briefing and leave.

Suddenly I am exhausted. I realize all the urgent planning, preparation, research, purchasing, organizing, training and traveling stress is over. All I have to do now is get up a 4am the next morning and ride my bike. I don't have to think or worry or plan or stress or test. As my head hits the pillow, I realize the hard bit is over...

Next is day one...