Spirit of Japan 2

Day one

Posted on 2014-05-01 09:58 by rv

Japan has an astonishing tendency to give you exactly what you want exactly when you need it the most.

I am too tired to even type this, and I didn't even cycle that much today. A combination of jet-lag and mishaps I guess. Continuing on where the last post went off, I boarded the plane just fine and arrived at Narita just fine. Normally the customs dude asks me to open my bag and has a rummage around, 9 times out of 10. But today, with a gigantic suspicious bike bag and a huge dry bag which could have been stuffed full of anything, they let me pass without even opening a single one. Oh well, all the more time for me to build my bike.

The naked bike

And that's where it kind of went wrong. Somehow my chain got mangled up and had a loop in it. I thought I was prepared, carrying tons of tools this time, plus the experience of fixing my bike in the past, but I am ashamed to admit that I was unable to get rid of the loop, even after half an hour of fiddling with it. That kind of put an end to the whole 'let's cycling!' thing, so I had to look for a plan B.

I finished putting the bike back together so that I could at least roll it, stuffed all of my panniers and other things onto a luggage trolly and went looking for a taxi driver to take me to a bike shop. That's when I realized that I hadn't picked up my mobile internet dongle yet, so I had to pass by the post office. Which was two floors up. Narita has tiny, TINY elevators. I somehow managed to stuff the luggage cart in one corner and then jammed the door with my foot whilst pushing the bike into the elevator in a vertical position. Incredibly cramped. Then I accidentally got off at the 2nd floor instead of the 3rd floor, which is where the post office was, so I had to get back into the elevator, except this time it was occupied for 5 times in a row by people going from 1st to 3rd, and there was no way in hell that me and my luggage would fit in there, so I had to wait. I did get my mobile internet in the end, and even managed to ride the elevator down again to get to the taxis.

There was only one taxi that looked remotely large enough to fit all my luggage, so I went and asked the guy how much it was to the nearest bike shop. Then the driver was like "why do you need to go there? I can fix it for you" and then he fixed it. Turns out his older sister is a bicycle enthusiast and he had some experience fixing her bicycle. Of all the random luck..

All in all it took a good two hours, getting all the bits and bobs mounted. I remember the bike shop guy from London complaining that he had a lot of trouble getting the Surly front rack mounted, but it was easy as pie. Even I could do it in under 10 minutes. I took a short break inside to eat and drink something, and then it was time to cycle!

Oh no! Forgot to put on sunscreen! 10 minutes after starting I had to take a break to put on sunscreen. Despite applying sunscreen 3 times over the course of today's afternoon, my face still got red, and my arms are burnt. Navigation was a breeze thanks to the offline maps, courtesy of the MapsWithMe app. I'd have preferred to use ViewRanger because it has a lot more features, but it's such a fucking pain to get the maps into it, whereas MapsWithMe just lets you download the entire country with one tap. Way better.

This creepy dude kept hanging out near my bike with has scratched-up tablet

The first cycling steps were hard, but familiar. It took a few minutes getting used to the increased load on the front wheel, which makes turning a lot harder but also makes the bike way more stable when going fast. It'll take a few weeks to get used to the extra weight, because that's a killer. There weren't a lot of slopes today but there was a very strong wind pointing in exactly the wrong direction, and I really had to fight to make progress. I felt like I did on the first real cycling day of the Spain trip: somehow burning fuel from somewhere, but not generating a lot energy.

Zig-zag time

Around 16:00 I started to zigzag a bit, trying out some smaller roads, looking for potential places to camp, but (this bit of) Chiba is just way too flat and built-up, camping really was out of the question. So I figured I'd head into Mobara, the nearest town according to the road signs, but that turned out to be another 12km away. For about 20km I was following a road that was filled with giant outlet stores, massive car shops, giant supermarkets and all kinds of huge warehouse-like buildings. Not very entertaining.

Right around the time when the sun really started to show signs of going down, I wandered into a conbini and asked if there was any hotel or youth hostel around, as I hadn't seen any or even any signs for them on the way in. The conbini lady told that there was a business hotel just around the corner. Of all the dumb luck (x2). I arrived there, took the last room they had available and went out for a walk to take some photos. I'm not sure why I did this, it just came naturally. Must have been a programmed action that I still remember from the last cycling trip.

I need to sort out my luggage. I'm definitely carrying too much, though I'm not sure if I'll want to send something back over the course of the trip. Will have to do a couple more days to find out. But mostly I am having difficulty accessing the things I need. I started with my system from last time but things got jumbled up during the hassle of building the bike, and also because I've now got my big bike bag hanging over the front panniers, preventing me from easily accessing them. Another thing that bothers me is where to put my camera. I used to have simple compact with retractable lens, which would easily fit into the top zipper of my pannier where I could reach it in a split second. Now that I've switched to micro four thirds, that pocket is too small, and reaching inside the main pouch is just too tedious if you just want to take a quick snapshot while you're cycling around. I tried mounting my shoulder-strap camera bag onto the top of the big bike bag on top of the front panniers, which is a near-ideal position but the camera bag is too small and tedious to open, so I still can't take the camera out quickly. Might have to buy a new camera bag, or else a handlebar clip/mount or something similar.

Deliciously average bento

That's all for today. More tomorrow? More tomorrow.

(Trying to avoid Twitter and Facebook for this trip. They feel too real-time..)

Posted in Japan , Spirit of Japan 2

The moment after which nothing can go wrong

Posted on 2014-04-30 10:35 by rv

There's many choices you have to make when you're traveling; many things that could go wrong because of your decision or choice. But there is one exact moment after which nothing you do, arrange or decide affects your travel, and that's after you've passed through the security check at the airport. That's when nothing can go wrong any more. I just passed through 10 minutes ago.

The decision that worried me the most was how to get to the airport. One option would be to cycle to the airport and bag the bike on the spot. If all goes well, that's by far the easiest and cheapest option. But also the most risky. You could have a puncture on the way, you might not know if your bike will fit in the bag, or how to bag up all your panniers. Also, since you're packing your stuff in the unsafe area of the airport you risk getting robbed. The actual risk of this depends on which airport you're flying from, of course.

The alternative is to pack everything at home, which means you now have to choose if you're going to use public transport or a taxi to get to the airport. Public transport was really not an option for me, as it would involve two transfers, and the London underground is way too tiny to comfortable transport a bagged bicycle plus a massive bag full of luggage. And, as it turns out, today there was a tube strike, so it wouldn't have worked anyway. The last argument against public transport for my particular case was that I would have to walk 10+ minutes to the station. That's just something you can't do if you're carrying a bagged bicycle and 20kg of luggage.

So, a taxi it is then. These are crazy expensive! At least in London they are. I found various offers online varying between 45 and 75GBP to get to Heathrow from where I live. You'll have to pick whichever one seems reasonably value-for-money (I couldn't possibly use the word 'cheap') and also trustworthy. As for the latter criteria, none of the taxi companies seem to qualify, so a little chancing and faithing is involved there. If you choose this option, your immediate next worry will be if the taxi will actually show up in time and if you can arrange an alternative in time should that happen. Once your driver does show up your final taxi worries will be the traffic and if the driver will try to scam you at the end. In my case the driver turned out to be a nice guy who arrived much too early, which was good since the tube strike caused massive traffic and it took a good half hour longer to get to the airport.

Arriving at the airport, almost nothing can go wrong. Almost. What if British Airways really did only allow me one check-in bag, even though the website said I could have two? (Yes, I worry a lot..) Then comes the horrible moment of weighing the luggage. If you've prepared properly you already know how heavy it is, but you might be pushing the limits a little in which case you might have to repack. In my experience airlines tend to be insanely strict about the weight limit, but will often let you take part of your luggage as an additional carry-on item. Once you've done that (and asked for the appropriate 'fragile' and 'do not stack' stickers) it's off to the oversized baggage drop-off. There's never a problem here, though if you're unlucky your baggage handler may seem like a person who enjoys inflicting pain on luggage. Don't worry about that though, since there's nothing you can do about it (except complain afterwards if they break something).

Lastly, the security checkpoint. This is when you usually remember about that water bottle, massive tube of toothpaste and giant swiss army knife that you forgot to put into your check-in bag. Oh well. Once you've cleared this minor hurdle you're done! No more decisions you make will affect the quality of your journey from now on. All you have to do is sit down, relax and enjoy the ride.

(/me practicing blogposting again! I'm a little rusty..)

Posted in Spirit of Japan 2 , Travel

Preparations

Posted on 2014-04-26 21:11 by rv

Four days from now I will be embarking upon what will be at least the second-biggest, probably the biggest cycling trip I've ever done, and I don't feel strongly about it at all. My mind keeps wandering, but not to the trip. Instead I think about what I'll do after I get back. How I'll have a go at making my life in order: getting a proper apartment or house, getting a car, moving out and so on. How I'm going to get from the Tokyo area to Nagano without crossing too many mountains has hardly crossed my mind, and that's only the first of the many challenges that await me.

Yesterday was my last day at work, and I can't help but contrast it to my last day at AK in Japan. I remember working until the last minute to ensure that my systems were documented and would continue running for the many years to come, as I was the last one with in-depth knowledge of the system that I built. There was always that little bit more to do, but then I finally had to go and join the rest of the guys as we headed off to my farewell party. Yesterday could not possibly have been more different. The project I am working on is well-maintained and there's three people at least as knowledgeable as me ready to take my place. No farewell party either, which is my choice really, as I'm sure I could've gotten the guys to grab some drinks with me. But I just didn't feel the 'farewell' vibe. And rightly so, since I'll be back there in a few month's time. I'm sure that by then the project will have left me behind and I'll have to start all the way from scratch again.

Another point of contrast is my personal life. Last time I cycled Japan, I had no apartment, no job and no girlfriend. This time I have all three. It's very clear what I'll come back to, so no need for my mind to do much soul-searching during the trip. I guess I'll have to occupy my brain in some other way. I suspect this will cut into my motivation, since I know that it's so easy to give up and head back to the stable life I've built up here in the UK. The mere fact that cycling is 'an enjoyable activity' for me is of course a great factor in my choosing to do this trip, but not enough by itself. It's not even the fact that I want to go back to Japan so badly, because that feeling has kind of disappeared after last winter's trip. If anything, my main motivation is exercise. I'm getting fatter and fatter, and I know that I need to lose some weight. Cycling is the most enjoyable way to do that for me.

There's no scrambling. Everything urgent at work was transferred or documented long before I left. I've taken care of all administrative stuff for the next two months already, arranged transport to the airport and am comfortable with how I'm leaving my room while I'm away. I've already made a list of everything I need for the trip and bought the things I was missing. I've got a spare bike bag if for some reason the first one breaks. I've got spare brake blocks, spare tires, spare everythings. I've bought a warmer sleeping bag after last weekend's Dartmoor adventure and even the mobile internet connection has been taken care of. British Airways is granting me two check-in items this time so I don't even need to worry about having overweight luggage. Too smooth.

This is the point where I say "nothing can go wrong" and am then suddenly caught off guard by something I completely forgot out. So let's not say that.

I'm still not feeling it! Because everything's going so smoothly I'm hardly feeling the urgency of the situation. I'll bag up my bike on Monday, leaving me all of Tuesday to buy anything missing or to fix anything broken. If the taxi ride goes according to plan then I won't be feeling the true travel vibe until after I arrive to Japan. It's hard to predict what will happen the first two days. My plan is to cycle south to Chiba and figure out accommodations along the way. Then I'll take a ferry to Kanagawa and cycle to Atsugi for a brief stop before heading North to Nagano. What happens after, no one knows. I'll worry about that when I get to Nagano.

Soon!

Posted in Spirit of Japan 2 , Thoughts

Motivation

Posted on 2014-04-06 13:04 by rv

It's still nearly a month to go until the start of the cycling trip and I am finding myself oddly prepared. Flights are booked; tools, gadgets and supplies are bought; bike bag is taken care of. It all works out somehow. I'm even lucky enough to fly with a BA flight that allows me to check in two bags, so there's no need to lug around all my panniers as carry-on. The only thing I'm still a bit unsure of is how I'll get to the airport, but even the worst case scenario of having to cycle there in the morning and then bagging the bike on the spot is something I'm quite prepared for.

I did my very first cycling trip in 2007, and the very biggest and solo cycling trip in 2010. It's hard to believe that there's only 3 years in-between those trips, and already 4 more years have passed since. It's as if I've experienced those years in Japan in bullet time and now time (and life) has returned to normal. Things have changed a lot since 2010, and so have I. And that's also part of what will make this trip excellent and unique in its own way. Last time I specifically went cycling because I didn't know what to do with my life and I wanted to keep the final decision open, but this time I know exactly what I want to do with my life, and what I want to return to. If, after four years, I still felt the same way as I did back then, then I wouldn't have made progress as a person. But things are starting to fall into place for me.

Things are going to get pretty tough. I'm heading to Hokkaido which is a lot colder than Kyushu. Last time I was cycling towards summer, now I'm heading away from it. Besides that, actually having a life to return to means I'll be more easily tempted to just head on home whenever I feel like it. That's one theory, at least. The other one is that because I know I'll have a home to return to, I'll be more comfortable about cycling to the finish. Who knows. Either way, I'm really looking forward to it. In terms of distance this trip could easily turn out to be longer than the last one. I've improved a lot since then. I actually know how to fix a flat tire this time! I can withstand the cold better after last winter's ice climbing adventure. For the last trip's preparation I often cycled 12km and back to the seaside on a flat road; these days I often cycle 25km and back in the hilly English countryside. With a new bike and less luggage than last time, this trip is definitely going to be awesome.

(Alright, that was me trying to motivate myself >_<; move along folks, nothing to see here)

Posted in Spirit of Japan 2

Cycling

Posted on 2014-03-27 22:56 by rv

Posted in Cycling , Japan , Spirit of Japan , Spirit of Japan 2

The ones that matter

Posted on 2014-03-26 12:53 by rv

In 2007 I did my first ever bike trip. My friend and I had just bought brand new discount touring bicycles and we were eager to try them out in Kyushu. It being our very first cycling trip ever, we had no idea what to expect. In retrospect, nothing we could possibly have expected would have been as amazing as the actual trip. That's when I knew I was hooked to fully loaded touring.

The years after that I've done some smaller trips, but never anything that had the same impact on me as that very first trip. Until 2010, the year I left Japan. I was determined to go out with a bang, and, not knowing whether to stay in Japan or not, I decided to just go cycling instead and see what I would come up with along the way. It was the first tour I ever did by myself, and it was as novel an experience as that first trip back in 2007. Since then I've done several smaller trips: the Netherlands, Spain, Sicily, and bits of the UK. Most of those were not fully loaded as I wasn't carrying a tent with me, or was carrying it but did not use it.

I have a constant feeling in the back of my mind that I did not quite 'finish' Japan. There's many ways in which you could consider a cycle tour of Japan 'complete'. The most common definition seems to be that of the "一周" (issyuu,): one lap. Traversing the entire coastline of Japan, or as much as is allowable by roads.

I'm not going to do a lap around Japan, but I have decided on something else: this year, I will finish cycling Japan from North to South! I've done Tokyo all the way down to Kyushu, this time I will do Tokyo all the way up to Wakkanai. Fully loaded. I've planned the first few days of the trip but I will let randomness guide me for the bulk of the trip. I'm not planning to know how to get back to Tokyo until I reach Wakkanai. I have my girlfriend to thank for this idea: I was planning to do a two-week trip myself, pre-booking hotels and staying around the Tokyo area. But she convinced me to bring my tent and do some camping, and that made me realize how long it's been since I've done a proper adventure cycle.

One month until the trip. I have a lot to do.

Posted in Cycling , Spirit of Japan , Spirit of Japan 2

← Newer posts