Isamu san woke early to see me off from the campsite. I heard him shaking the water off his tent. We had rain, again. I don't think it'll stop until I...I don't know. Needless to say, all was wet. With the humidity levels sky high my pores were gushing before I even turned a pedal that morning. I wasn't feeling to great having had a rubbish sleep and my day started on a big hill. Legs screaming murder and bike creaking, I looked down and thought to myself "gees, I need to service those pedals". Torture.
It was beautiful riding though. Dramatic mountains and little fishing villages with nothing more than a few houses, a couple of vending machines and loads of boats and crab shops. This bit of coastline is all about crabs and squid. The evening before Isamu and I had watched the boats going out to sea at dusk, their lights becoming brighter on the horizon as the colour leeched from the sky. The boats mimicking the sun to call potential seafood to the surface. I saw the massive sun simulating light bulbs now.
Less romantic were the climbs today. Steep. Very steep. 6, 7 and 8 percent inclinations in most places. Over and over again. I was so sweaty I could damn well have been in water. My hands took punishment today, not being able to grip the bars because they were so sweaty. Every sway of the bike on climbs meant the grip got tighter, hanging on for dear life and waiting for the pain to end. The handle bars slipping out of my hands. Lots of screaming and shouting again. The road followed the contours of the mountains all the way, winding in and out of the rocks and lush vegetation. The a sign of some downhill! I rounded another of countless bends in the road and was smacked by the view of a new prefecture, Tottori. A sharp contrast from Hyogo: sandy beaches, flat land, well, almost. What a view. What a place.
I made my way to Tottori sand dune. You can't see it from the road, you don't know where it is. The landscape tell nothing of it's existence. All you can do is follow the signs and the road that leads there. Tourist capital. Women sporting short skirts, frilly tops and high heeled shoes. Most inappropriate for walking in the sand and keeping the nail varnish gleaming on the toes. I looked down and saw my cycling shorts and thought "something for everyone". Was looking the right wreck following the mountains earlier. Oh, the sand dune. Quite a sight, but I was in no mood for crowds oooing and aaahing over this mound of sand at the sea. Camels to do the Lawrence of Arabia in Tottori. Horse and cart rides for whoever was interested. A splitting image of me towing my trailer up hills laden with stuff. Ha! I spent nothing but a few minutes there and was on my way to Kurayoshi to spend the night at the Morimoto's (friends of Joe in Mitsue).I don't know how I got through today. I couldn't even celebrate reaching the 2000th kilometer.
I was warmly received by the Morimoto's. Yummy food, a beautiful home, and lots of talking. We sat around the table hunching over the map, seeing where I had been. Tales from the road, and another night in a different place. Most rides for me go in a loop from home to home. This one keeps going south. I can't believe it's been almost a month. Two more weeks to the end, barring any problems. Ah yes, problems. Remember the pedals?
About the pedals. I left the Morimoto's after an interview with the Nihonkai Newspaper over a rather long breakfast. Making my way to Matsue City, where I'm currently typing this to send to Steve. Rain again. Break. I broke a pedal. Fortunately it wasn't so bad and I didn't come off. But it wasn't reparable from my assessment. But 10km to go to Matsue. I managed to ride it. Rain, broken pedal, is there a bike shop where I can get this replaced? And it's nearly 17h30. But what the mountains here have taught me is that there are uphills and downhills. The downhills are only sweet when you get to the top. So the light came on and was burning bright for me today. I searched and I found a bike shop tucked away someplace. "Do you have Crank Brothers Egg Beaters?" I inquired. "Hmm, Crank Brothers...Nooo" he replied (oh, egg beaters because they look like egg beaters, and Crank Brothers being the brand). "I've broken a pedal" I said " and would like to replace it with the same type". He looked at it thinking it could be fixed. Nope, it can't. Then he dissappeared for a bit in the gigantic toolbox where he was working on a bike, and emerged with a pair of Egg Beaters. Like I said, the light was on and burning brightly for me. "How much?" I asked, hoping I wasn't going have my pants pulled down over the price. "Y4000" he said. Done. Peeped in my wallet to find only Y3000. "I need to go and get some money. I've only got 3000" I said. "No worries, Y3000 it is. I didn't know I had them, so you can have them for 3000". And so my day was made. I'm sporting new pedals that look and feel a whole lot better than the previous pair for a fraction of the cost anywhere else on the island.
Speaking of which, I should go and make use of them now.
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