じてんしゃ の 時! Bike Time!

This is Rhett typing. I suppose I have to blog this subject as it is one of the few times I have done something without Alexis.

So yeah, I decided to go on a nice long bike ride. I wanted to go check out our nearest Pacific Ocean beach (as opposed to the beaches in the bay). I checked out google maps to get a general idea of where I was heading (though this ended up being futile). I didn't look with much detail as it was an adventure, thus I was likely to go where it looked fun to go. The spot I was heading for was about 35 kilometers (~20 miles) away and though I haven't really trained up to ride that distance, I figured I'd be okay.

So I set off for my destination. The scenery was lovely. The interesting thing about the layout of Japan is that there seems to be no zoning laws which creates a very fascinating clutter of all sorts of buildings put right up next to one another. It is not uncommon to see a very nice house crammed up against a rather degraded house which might be right next to a rice field.

One of the great things about Japan is that almost every busy road has a bike-lane or side-walk suitable for biking along, which is so much more than one can say of the US. Though notice I said "almost". I would often be biking along happily when all of a sudden the sidewalk would either switch sides of the road without a crosswalk or simply end. This would force me to wait to cross on a less busy road, go back to the last crosswalk to cross over, use back-roads to try and parallel the road I was on, or just ride on the street. Needless to say, I got lost on many back-roads. I simply used the position of the sun to determine my directions and generally tried to stay heading south.

Much time passed and I finally decided that I was hungry and took a break at Mos Burger: the quintessential Japanese fast food burger joint. I ordered a double teriyaki burger with onion-rings, a chili-dog, and a large melon soda which came out to about $10. I'd say that's quite comparable to US fast food, and the taste may have even been a little better. At this point I could see some mountains in the distance which meant the beach was near.

Once I arrived at the beach, I had a short conversation with another cyclist. He only spoke Japanese and I speak none, but we were still able to have a short conversation somehow. There were large rocks all along the beach and of course I had to climb them and enjoy the view. I found one with a perfect spot to lay down for a quick nap, so I put a little sunscreen on and took a half-hour nap. From there I headed back towards home and faced the same confusing paths and doing zig-zags to try and find a steady path only to hit dead-ends or head in the wrong direction. But in the end, I found my way home just fine.

I was definitely worn down by the end but I still had enough left in me to keep up with the traffic through Gamagori. So of course I got on to google maps when I got home to check out roughly where I rode. My 70km (~40 mile) bike ride turned into a 100km (~60 mile) bike ride. Though, that is if I had taken the fastest route and was able to use the roadways. So I estimate the true length of my ride to be somewhere between 125km and 150km (~75 and 90 miles).

To wrap things up, I stretched out my legs and Alexis gave me a nice leg massage. The most amazing part of the ride to me is that I never became sore after the ride even though the longest I have ridden in the past couple of years is no more than 35km (~20 miles). Lesson to be learned: always stretch and get a massage after heavy physical activity and you'll never become sore.