Day 2
Goal: Hita (made it!)

Estimated distance: 66 kms
Actual distance: 72.43 kms (bit of wandering around)

Average speed: 18.22 overall (since km 1 on my odometer, tough to raise it!)
Ride Time: 3h 52m
Travel time: about 7 hours(!)

Mountains: 2 nice, easy ascents; 2 most excellent descents.
Tunnels: 0 (hurrah!)


I must admit, I felt terrible this morning. I was sore, I was tired and bleary, and I wanted to quit. I think it's the constant starting and stopping on busy roads that really drags me down. From Yanagawa to Kurume, I was shockingly slow, two hours to go 20 kms. Bleah!

Once I got out of Kurume though, I got into farm land, and it was smooth sailing. In plains areas like this one, they always seem to do the same thing, have the main road close to the mountains on one side, have it practically straight a light maybe every few kilometres. I love country riding, oh yes. And for once, I got through Kurume without incident! ...except for a really terrible lunch.

Anyways, I really picked up the pace, got a rhythm going, and I felt very good indeed, all the way in to Hita. The opposite of yesterday, where I was good in the morning, and terrible in the evening. The heat did not help. I was stopping constantly just to get in some shade or into somewhere air conditioned. Between 12 and 2 I just wanted to crawl somewhere and sleep. Man it was hot.

The first thing I saw getting in to Hita proper was an 'urban pyramid', which I am convinced every city must have. Yes, let's make a pachinko parlour with an Egyptian theme, and attach a stone pyramid in which there is an arcade. Classy.

Having some technical difficulties. Kind of worrisome so soon on the trip. My front bag holder is broken, in a way in which the brace can't be removed, meaning I can't fix the problem. It slides down every so often to rest on my brakes. Not good. I've created a jury rig, but not a very good one. I will try to make something better tomorrow. It's understandably hard to get it to stay in place, with all the bouncing around I'm doing. Japanese roads are terrible. If you're on the sidewalk, you have to deal with constant dips up and down (one was so severe it launched my front bag off my bike). If you're on the road, you have to worry about trucks, and run over the recessed drainage grates, which causes your bike to shake violently, especially if you're carrying a lot of stuff. I'll persevere, though I may be sending some of my stuff home earlier than I'd planned. Too much weight...

Writing this from an internet cafe. I had some requests for changes to the page. You can now all comment on my entries! Not that I can read these comments until well after I arrive home, but hey... had to sign up for a member's card, even though I'm just using it for one day for one hour. Japan is obcessed with member's cards. The place is pretty swank, with cubicles for internet use, or playstation 2, or just relaxing. There's a book & DVD room you can grab stuff from, you can even get food delivered to your cubicle! There's a rack of blankets and pillows near the entrance. I fear many a geek lives in this place.

Anyways, sorry for the verbosity. Maybe it's better when I use my cell phone and am restricted to 500 letters. :) Off to my hotel and sleep!