Cycling Training

March 5, 2013

Two Hours

(6) 30 second sprints     Max 830 watts

Shinagawa to Kamakura

We stayed at a gaijin hostel called Shinagawa guest house. The rooms consisted of nothing more then tatami mat flooring and futon beds.. But the AC was cold and the price wasn't bad for Tokyo. The location was also very close to Shinagawa station. The cost was 5000 yen per person. That's considered cheap in Tokyo. The staff and guests were very friendly.

Riding in Tokyo wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Of course there were traffic lights every 200 meters or so but once we got to the outer edges of the city we started to make rapid progress. The riding thru Tokyo was pan flat but once we got closer to Kamakura we hit some small rollers.

Tokyo to Osaka 600k ride July 2011

I went to Narita to pick up the cycling crew. Tim and Rock flew in from Los Angeles and Jerry from Florida. The bikes were put together at the airport and the bike suitcases were shipped to a friends house in Kamakura were we would later stay. Puting the bikes together at Narita airport went alot smother then I thought it would. Tim and Rock had their bikes together even before I arrived. Once we got the bikes together we had to take the wheels off and put them in bike bags for the train ride to Shinagawa. In the future we decided that it would be more cost effective to simply buy a bike in Japan instead of bringing one over. American Airlines charged $300.00 for each bike. To ship the empty suitcases to Kamakura cost us $80.00. The bike cases are about $250-$400.00. While visiting some bike stores we saw road worthy bikes for under $200.00.

Ube to Fukuoka (Kyushu) 116k

This day would be my last cycling day. I was really looking forward to getting off the bike and taking a long needed rest. I've rode my bike almost all day for 13 straight days. I probably should have rested a day or so to recharge but I also wanted to get the ride over with. The first week was really fun. The roads were interesting and I was meeting people everyday. This week I have not met a single person on the road and I'm riding in heavy traffic all day. Riding on the sidewalk is a bummer.....so slow. I wonder what happened to all the people who were supposed to be going to Kyushu? I was now just peddling as fast as I could to the shinkansen(bullet train) station in Fukuoka (Hakata).

I took the 5 minute ferry ride across to Kyushu. Total cost was only 700 yen. (7dollars). After getting off the ferry I saw a sign that read 77 kilometers to Fukuoka. My last 77 kilometers. In the bible the number 7 is the number of completion. It was an appropriate sign. Once again I found myself having to ride on the side walk for most of the 77 kilometers. I hit another bump on the sidewalk and my back rack came crashing off my bike. I had 56k to go. This time it was broke for good. I put everything in my backpack and waved goodbye to my busted rack.

Fukuoka is the largest city in Kyushu. It felt so nice to wake up the next day and not have to ride the bike. I packed my bike up and headed for the train station. I rode a little over 1300 kilometers in 13 days.

Shunan to Ube 72k

Up until this point I have avoided the rain. Today my luck ran out. It was raining hard. In Japan it seems to rain at least once a week. Ive ridden for 12 straight days without even once breaking out the rain gear. My rain gear worked really well. However, I forgot to buy shoe covers and water was starting to slosh around inside my shoes as I peddled. At about the halfway point I got a flat tire. Fixing a flat in the pouring rain is a drag. But I got it fixed with no problems.

I stayed at another generous friends house and they even barbecue some very tasty meat for me. Very nice family and a very funny dog.

Japanese houses.

These are some pictures of ordinary Japanese houses. Why did I take these pictures? I cant remember. When you are riding over 100k everyday you tend to think about alot of different things....but later on you cant cant remember what or why. The fog of war.

Hiroshima to Shunan 122k

Nice coastal ride the whole way. Scenic little towns....ship building industry. Fishing boats everywhere.