A month goes by pretty quickly these days, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. Yesterday my “ikka getsu” of riding in Japan this winter came to an end with a 120km ride up to Miura Peninsula; famous for tuna, big white radishes and being the base for the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet. I only saw the radishes.

Along the way, we stopped at the most ornate train station I think I’ve ever seen, in Enoshima, a beach resort and tourist trap on the coast.

When we got past the daikon (radish) fields and hit the south side of the peninsula, Yukio decided to run over a giant nail and I got to watch my first Japanese tube change. Other than the fact that he didn’t use a tire lever, it was very similar to what I’ve witnessed in France. And as you can see, there is always a trusty supervisor (Kazuyoshi in this instance), ready to offer help, or at least helpful advice.

We never stopped much for photos ops, so here’s one on the run, taken at Miura’s fishing port.

Where we did stop, we posed. Kazuyoshi is the photographer in this case.

And finally, it seems that no long ride in Japan is complete without a sit-down lunch, this time at a local teishokuya (set menu restaurant) in Miura. I made a near-fatal choice of katsu-don, a dish that could have disastrous results if you had hills to contend with afterwards. Luckily for me, it was a flat 50km or so back home. I’m still full 24 hours later, though. Let nobody tell you that you’ll lose weight in Japan. There’s simply so much good grub here…and thanks to the supremely low yen, cheap!

I’m not sure what to wish for here. If Shoko’s mom is still living this coming December, I’ll be back for another month. If she’s not, it means I get my wife back. If I do get back, I now know lots of good roads and a few good riders to fill up my time. Mata kondo, guys!