Finishing the job

6/05/2011: Miyazaki to Nobeoka (then train to Osaka) 103.21km

Me and Russell were not in a massive rush this morning as we had a few goodbye beers in Murrays bar last night. It could be the last time i ever see Murray so a few beers were allowed. Just before we left the apartment a few drips of rain began so we headed to a starbucks for a heart warming cup of tea but the rain just got heavier.

There was a sensible option of just getting on the train in Miyazaki but this would cost an extra 4000Yen so we decided to cycle. It was wet but we were cycling, for a couple of fully loaded bikes a blistering pace, we got soaked but kept warm, it was only when we stopped we could feel the chill. Considering the rain we made it to Nobeoka in good time and caught an earlier train.

Train as mentioned before is the pain in the gluteus maximus of putting the bicycle in a bag. Russell being a cheeky sod reckoned we’d get away with using a scooter cover that we’d bought for 100 Yen (60p). We quickly rolled the bikes past the first possible obstructive station worker but on the platform someone came out of an office and said we could put the bikes of the train as they were. He disappeared back into his office and as the train was due any minute (you can rely on a train being on time in Japan) we opted to make a dash for it.  The train came, we bundled our bikes on and we were on our way, now we just had a change onto the famous ‘bullet train’ or ‘shinkanson’ to get away with then we’d be in Osaka. 

I was looking forward to the bullet train, it travels at 300kmph (i think) and would cover 600km in just over 2 hours which is much quicker than cycling and its much more luxurious than any other train i have ever been on. But we still had to get on the bloody thing with our bikes before any station officer decided we couldn’t. Getting to the changeover we ran and dragged our luggage to platform 13 and by luck the amazing bullet train we needed to be on was sat there waiting so we piled on with the doors literally shutting behind us. As the bullet train is on wider tracks this therefore means its wider inside thus meaning there was more room for the bikes, happy days. Once we were organised we took our seats and enjoyed the epic ride, when the train really gets going you can feel yourself being pushed into your seat by the G-force created.

In triple/ quadruple quick time we had made it back to Osaka, it was 11pm and after a stop for beers it was mid-night by the time we got back to Russell’s apartment to finish them. It had been a long day and i was cream crackered so as you can imagine slept exceedingly well. 

Miyazaki

1/05/2011 to 5/05/2011

The week down in Miyazaki was a good one but by the end i was ready to leave. We drank litres of soetue (not sure on the spelling) which is the cheapest alcoholic drink in Japan, its awful stuff and the fact it is used as an antiseptic or stylization in hospitals is enough to show its strong stuff. We didn’t just drink, on Murrays day off we headed to the beach, the weather wasn’t great but we had a go round a velo drome on which Murray even though he is 48 but he is a former BMX champion in Japan and New Zealand beat both me and Russell over a single lap. Murray has some of the most powerful legs in the world and he won the time off the start where both I and Russell were slow, over 2 laps and I’m certain we’d have smoked the old dog.

It was great to catch up and the week flew by, i was ready for some peace though as Murray and Darren who lives between are both pretty crazy old dogs living it up till the early hours though Murray does this after he has shut his bar at 3am!

The Godfather 30/04/2011: Seiki to Nobeoka (then train to Miyazaki) 86.74km

Waking up i felt crappy and knew the outdoor living had got the better of me, i had a horrible cold which meant i was sneezing every few minutes, my head was rocking and had very little energy or enthusiasm to ride a bicycle. After i had packed up i went to the convenience store for the ritual of breakfast and a wash. While sat outside i got chatting to a local who was asking me about my trip. There was nothing unusual about this but he came back 5 minutes after he’d left with a hat, two drinks (one milky looking drink called ‘calpis’ pronounced ‘cow piss’) and 1000Yen. The 1000 Yen was hidden in the hat which had a message written inside, ‘Fight James’ and some Japanese which i decided not to try and translate.

  Russells train was an hour late and neither of us had a clue of how far we had to cycle to get to Miyazaki where we would meet Murray who we use to Pedicab with and nicknamed the ‘Godfather.’ When he did arrive i was sick as a dog, my dripping nose was uncontrollable and i felt like cow pat. After some food we were on our way, not to long into the ride we were waved down by a couple of guys who had bought us some drinks from a vending machine, i was doing ok for drinks today. We continued on and after an ice cream and a cigarette for Russell we appeared to have chosen the hardest road we could. The uphill’s were steep and down hills dangerous in spots, this made life for Russell very difficult as he was on his trusted fixed gear bike which he was pushing up some of the steeper hills.

As we had set off late we had the ambition to ride until mid-night to get to Murrays bar for a few beers. On the outskirts of Nobeoka it was almost 6pm, rain was beginning to fall and we still had 100km to go, a quick call to Murray confirmed that the rain would be coming down all night. Having already done 80km me and Russell (Russell persuaded me) to get a train the rest and we’d cycle the rest another day so my conscience could be clear that i’d cycled what i intended to.

Fixed gear +cigarettes 

At the train station whatever my body had been running on to get me this far was gone, i felt utterly drained but as Japan is Japan i needed to find a bag for my bike. You cannot bring a bicycle on a train in Japan unless its in a bag, i assume that the train companies have some shares in bicycle bags. I was done but Russell was pretty motivated in the search for a bag for my bike, we failed in the search and managed to squeeze both our bikes in the folded tarpaulin he used on the way down. We clambered onto the train which arrived on time, how strange is that.

In Miyazaki we assembled our bikes in the train station much to the annoyance of the ticket people as we were ruining their Zen. We then cycle a couple of kilometres to Murrays bar where we drank till close, then with Murray went to some more bars and once the sun was up went back (to what was Russell’s old apartment) to the apartment we had rented for the week, all arranged via The Godfather.