I have lifted the name of today’s meandering blog article from the late great Ed Ward, friend and Rock and Roll historian, who always had a few ‘miettes’ to entertain you with.
I’ve been on the bike. Not enough to call it training for Race Across Switzerland, but I’ve been out. Last week (it could have been months ago, the way time is warping in Japan) I went towards Mount Fuji on a beautifully sunny day, with high hopes of getting some closer photos. My first mistake was to take Route 1 up through Hakone, an always-popular hot springs resort area, but in these days of Japan’s over-tourism, it’s a true hell to ride up, being the main road in the area. I was cut off 3 times, twice by buses, probably trying to get to their next stop on time.
The way back down the mountain was much better, on the Old Tokaido Road. The crazy-tight switchbacks near the top were the highlight (below left). As for Fuji views, I didn’t realize that my climb took me up a ridge that offered none at all. Below is the best I could do, about 3 kilometers from home at the end of the ride.
I had better luck on my next ride, probably because I was with locals. Kazuyoshi brought along Kumiko, and we headed down the coast to the top edge of Izu Peninsula (a place I will have to dive deeper into next time – it has a lot of potential). Our turnaround point was the park at the end of Manazuru, a little cape that juts into the Pacific.
I think I’m doing reasonably well with route design so far, although I’ve got one more that goes back to the Hakone area tomorrow, so I may be speaking too soon. Here’s the thing: I’m essentially riding on the southern edge of the largest megalopolis in the world. Tokyo and its indistinguishable city neighbors have a population of over 37 million people – pretty close to that of California or Canada. Until you come and ride here, it’s hard to imagine what this means for traffic. Luckily, I’m at the end of it, or I wouldn’t be riding at all.
From what my new friend Eriko (a local tour guide and travel agent) tells me, though, the population suck of Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka means that there are some truly empty roads in this vast country. Next time I’ll see a bit of those, I hope.
I’ll finish with a bike-related sign that tells you what you shouldn’t be doing – a very popular theme in Japan. In this case the word ‘Dame’ (pronounced dam-eh) is written above the front and back wheels of the bike, reminding us that it is forbidden to ride while drunk or when using your phone, one of which I’ve done in the past (before smart phones existed). I can confirm that the police don’t like it very much
The Vicious Cycle 