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. 



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