Hotel Room Blues

Yes - the above is a photo of tonight's plan! A can of dark Yebisu (pronounces e-beece) beer, and catching up on some Japanese study. If I want to have even the whisper of a chance at passing the level 2 Japanese Level Proficiency Test, then I'd better stay motivated!

Staying in a cheap business hotel in Japan is very comfortable. The rooms are very small and simple, but clean and comfortable. There are always vending machines somewhere in the hotel where you can buy cigarettes, beer and soft drinks, and even a machine that dispences Cup Noodle.

The Hamakita Plaza Hotel, where I am staying this week, is great - there is an izakaya in the basement (below gound floor). I am planning to go there for dinner (again) tonight.

I'd love to post more pics, but the dial-up type of connection I am using is making it tough to upload large files! I will definitely make up for that when I am back at my home base with high-speed access.

A walk in the park (Hamakita City)

The week is going by quickly! As I realize it is already the end of March, I know how true it is that Time is, indeed, a Winged Chariot that cannot be outrun.

It can't even be out-walked or outridden, I suppose.

Knowing that speed will not succeed in overcoming Time, and that perhaps a leisurely pace may be more conducive to appreciation of Time and all it has to offer, perhaps I should not feel so bereft this week as I find myself bike-less. It is an interesting situation, not being able to ride. On the other hand, I am relearning the pleasure of a slow walk in the mornings. There is a lovely park next to the hotel where I am staying, and already the morning walkers are beginning to recognize me. I took a few photos in the park this morning.


A Flowering Tree (Japanese house and blazing sunshine in the background).



Another interesting tree, with a line of trees in the background.

A flowering tree in bloom with a blurred morning sun in the background

Air H

No post yesterday; we had to work out of town, and I still am working out of town. I am now watching the morning news (in Japanese) in my hotel room. And it is, again, the magic of technology that is letting me post. I am hooked up to the internet via an Air H card - a device that fits into the PCMCIA adapter in my laptop and lets me dial up to the internet using PHS technology, similar to cell phones. It's a great tool when you are on the road (as I will be all this week).

I am teaching in a very beautiful rural city this week, and I hope to be able to take some good pictures to post.

Scenery in Susono

As the sun rises earlier, we can get out for earlier morning rides. Spring is a great season; though it has been rather brisk these days. Our morning ride left us with cold fingers and toes, but the bright blue sky and fierce sunshine afforded some beautiful views along one of our usual morning routes.

The photos below were all taken at about 6:30 a.m., just around the corner, really, from where we live. Seriously - not one traffic light between us and the places where these photos were taken.



Frosted Field - the overnight low must have dipped below zero (Celsius), as this field was decorated with frost.




Tea fields can be found throughout Shizuoka Prefecture, which is famous for it's green tea. We pass a few little tea fields on our morning ride.




I just thought this was a lovely place to take a short break.





On the way back home, coming down hill, we get this panoramic view of Susono city, Numazu City, Izu Peninsula and the Pacific Ocean (the long arm-like piece of land on the left is Izu).

Spring Cherry Blossoms

Spring is here - well and truly here. Gone are the days of the 7:20 a.m. sunrise! Today, sunrise is at 5:39 a.m.; and I am waiting for it. The sky was light this morning by 5:15. That is a refreshing change from the dark days of winter.

A spring custom in Japan is to do hanami - literally, flower viewing. The sakura (cherry blossoms) are the prime symbol of spring, and, like so much else in life, their beauty is fleeting.

With a keen sense of the transience of life, the Japanese usually gather under cherry trees in a scenic area (a park, along a river, etc...) with their friends or family, and simply enjoy looking at the cherry blossoms. Just one or two more weeks and the sakura should be blooming here in little Susono, and perhaps we can do our own hanami.

Here is a photo of an early blooming cherry tree in Izu:

Road vs. Mountain

I was away on a business trip yesterday and today, which meant no riding for two days. I did, however, have a chance to brush up on my Japanese by watching some Japanese TV in the hotel, and, of course, chatting with the taxi drivers, hotel attendants, waiters and waitresses, etc... I love having a real chance to practice my (as yet very weak) language skills.

Brian, however, did get out for a ride. He picked up an old, old, old, bicycle, which he stripped and rebuild into a sort of vintage road/ cross bike. He loved the feel of it, he said. The smoothness of the tires, the fluidity of the ride as he cruised along the early morning streets. Unfortunately, the bike frame is a little too small for Brian; but (and more unfortunately still) it has given him a taste for the road. He is now browsing the Yahoo Japan auction looking at road bikes in his size.

Having been a roadie, I do understand the draw. I myself am afraid of sampling a road bike again, for fear that I will immediately buy another road bike.

Riding mountain and riding road are both intoxicating - but in different ways. When I used to be a roadie and would cover 100 to 120 km in a single ride, the distance and the speed were where the high came from. Riding mountain, neither distance nor speed are so important; rather, it is endurance and technical skill that come into play. In both, road and mountain, strength is a crucial part of success.

Friends and Foes

I said that today was to be a day of rest; and it was, sort of. Awake at 5 a.m., I knew it would be one of those rare days with nothing but sunshine. And, it is a national holiday, so...we had to ride. We did take it easy, though. We rode for about 30 minutes, and only did 7km.

We had one errand to run today which took us way across the prefecture, but just a stone's throw from one of our favorite bikeshops. We bought a few small parts, then talked shop with the owner. He is a Foes fan, and was proud to show off some of their newer frames. We engaged in a little bike talk (riders everywhere speak a common language, wherever they are from), and I mentioned my old Foes that I haven't been riding since the derailleur hanger broke. Our bike shop guy excitedly showed us the derailleur hangers that he had in stock.

My Foes never fit me quite right, so last year, when the part broke, and I heard of another frame for sale (the Bulitt), I decided to just retire the Foes. But a bike as perfect as that deserves better than to sit, unloved, on my back balcony. I will do the minor repair, and give it to someone who will treat it better than I did.

Recharge Your Batteries

This little bit of advice I offer, both literally and figuratively.

Brian and I went for a hell of a long ride today. We reached the top of the mountain, looked at what we had done, and saw that it was Good.

But the fun was yet to come - all hard work deserves a reward, and our off-road downhill track that cuts through the mountain, back down to where we live, was the sweetest reward of all. It is steep, rocky, rooty, and quite technical in places.

We picked up great speed on one of the less technical sections, rode across a small, rocky stream, spun a corner, and surprised a group of dirt bikers (off-road motorcyclists). They must have been stopped for a rest, and were just getting ready to hit the trail again themselves. Kindred spirits, I think. They smiled and greeted us as we rode past them; I think they knew how we felt, and saw that it was Good.

But there are no pictures today. We discovered while stopped at a particularly picture worthy place that not only had our camera battery died, but so had the spare battery we always pack (obviously, not recharged).

And now I am exhausted to the core of my being, and I understand that, though today was Good, a day of rest is necessary to recovery; and so, tomorrow there will be no ride.

The advice I have to give is:

Always Recharge Your Batteries.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Brian finds great pleasure in working on projects. By projects, I am referring to physical "building"-type projects, much like repairing or even building bicycles. I think he finds a peace, or serenity, in it that he doesn't find elsewhere.

I have begun to understand, and even appreciate, this myself. It is much like cooking - you have something concrete to foucs on; a rational process that requires your full attention, and drives out all of the little daily pressures that can build up. And at the end of the project, there is a visible reward, a solid, tangible product.

I don't know whether I have ever thought so much about it before, but now that I have started to read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (highly recommended to me by Brian), I am beginning to see how projects are important to the self.

Brian and I built my red Bullit together last autumn; it was the first time that I had built a bike from the ground up, and I find my Bullit more satisfying for having put it together myself.

Our next mutual project is to completely re-invent an old mountain bike that I have been using just to get to the corner shops, etc...It will have to be completely cleaned, stripped of most (if not all) of its parts, and have those same parts replaced. I am, of course, planning to build it into a single speed.