Month: June 2019
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Hors de Combat
It will probably be a few weeks yet before I’m ready to ride again, so now is a good time to look at what didn’t work out this time, and what could be improved. DNF In the “Did Not Finish” category I’ll look at things that just didn’t do the job they were designed for.…
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Scratched!
I wondered during this ride if my legs or my lungs would be my downfall, but a different vulnerability got me in the end. After pedaling across England from Land’s End to Carlisle, just shy of both 900km and the Scottish boarder, I succumbed to saddle sores. Along the way we’ve encountered horse trails, gravel…
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In transit, with bike
I flagged the first taxi I saw, and then the driver and I spent the next five minutes struggling to get the bike in. The bag was too wide for the trunk, so in the end we got it in the rear seat on a slant, with one window open. On my return I’ll have…
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Why?
We stopped in our favorite local sushi counter for a last meal of good Japanese food before I depart for England. When Nana told the master I was off for two weeks of cycling in England and Scotland, he had only one question: Why? Meanwhile, I noticed some familiar faces among the condiments. And then…
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Last-minute prep
I’m departing tomorrow evening for London. It will take me 24 hours to get there (with a nine-hour layover in Beijing), and I’ll be there less than 24 hours before we set out for Penzance, and hence, Land’s End. Meanwhile, I’ve been taking care of a lot of last-minute details. I had a regular doctor’s…
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Cycling Osaka To Nara On Japan’s Steepest National Road
Jonny a.k.a. Backpackingman has had a go at Kuragari pass and writes about his exploit here. Fearless Leader Joe, Sanborn and I took on this same mountain pass in November and lived to tell the tale with a few differences. First, we’d started from Kyoto and gone to Nara before joining Rte. 308 heading west,…
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I hope she’s not claustrophobic
The most important part of packing for Lejog is getting Kuroko ready for the trip. I didn’t think my Ostrich bag would provide enough protection for a flight, and so back in January I ordered the highly rated Evoc Bike Travel Bag Pro. And it’s been sitting on the balcony under a tarp since then.…
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Motivated by the approaching deadline
I’m flying in five days, and there are still a number of things to do to get ready. The forecast was for rain all day (although it’s just been overcast since an early morning rain tapered off), so I set my sights on finishing up a lot of prep work rather than riding. First I…
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Cool, cool …
Today’s headlines Cracks found in nuclear reactor that could lead to the full evacuation of Edinburgh and Glasgow Well, checking Google Maps, we’re not going to be any closer to that than about 100km … For reference, that’s 2.5x closer than I live to the Fukushima No. 2 reactor …