The Himedomachi Cycling Club

This is going to be a short post because it’s been a pretty bad day overall. One really crappy day in three weeks is a pretty good batting average, so I’m going to look on the positive side. Or at least try.

The family dynamic at last night’s ryokan was pretty odd. The futon was too short for me and I had to put the pillow on the floor to fit. Light streamed into my room and woke me up at 5, so I was already feeling crotchety. I had my photo taken. The zip of my very expensive frame bag broke and I taped it closed with black electricians tape, the cyclist’s secret weapon.

I was supposed to follow a beautiful cycling path. My Garmin had other ideas and essentially quit on me. I spent most of the day on a busy road with the temperature over 30. I drank five litres of fluid and hardly went to the loo. So many tunnels. I now cycle through them feeling blasé. My pace.

The prefecture of Fukui flipped over to Kyoto. I didn’t see the sign, just the kanji on the number plate changed.

Amanohashidate is one of the three scenic views of Japan and has influenced a large number of Japanese poets. I’m approximately 1000 years too late. It’s now overrun by tourists. A rock band on a raised stage were giving a concert. Rental bikes cost 400 yen and avoiding collisions is the principal activity. I turned back after 100 yards and joined a swarm of tourists waiting to cross a swing bridge that had swung. You can take a cable car up the mountain and look between your legs. Apparently you still see swarms of tourists, but they look cuter upside down.

I cycled down the scenic cycling path to my BnB, passing two semi derelict cement factories and a car graveyard.

When I walked in the owners kid, who was watching TV, dived under the sofa. The owner gave the impression she had never spoken to anyone before, let alone a foreigner. The kid pointed out the “No noise after 11pm” rule twice.

I guess this place is an old shop where the owner lived upstairs, abandoned and then converted. It’s huge and bangs in the wind. I’m the only customer. No surprise.

I asked myself today what am I doing. I had one brief shouted chat with someone who was marshalling a cycle race. A car beeped at me and I told them to go fuck themselves. Not a good look. Not the zen equanimity I ask of myself. I’ll survive. One bad day in 21 is a good batting average. Chin up, young person.