I originally handwrote this while sitting under an outdoor bathroom’s roof overhang while rain poured outside.

Day 1

Distance: 85.65 km
Average: 22 km/h
Max: 70.3 km/h (FAST)
Total Distance: 85.65 km

I left home at about 7:30 am. I headed east on highway 115 to get out of Naka-dori, the valley that Fukushima City is in. The very first 100+ km trip I took on this bike took me over these same mountains, so I knew what to expect. It would only be 30 or 40 km of climbing later when I would once again see a downhill. The grade isn’t too terribly intense, it’s just that it seems to continue forever, but once you hit the peak it’s a glorious ride back to sea level.

Arriving at sea level, I was greeted by Soma City, on the Pacific Ocean, and headed south from there. At the 85 km mark for the day, I noticed signs for a seaside park and figured it would be a nice place to rest. I brought my bike to the shore and changed into my swimwear, then went swimming in the ocean for a bit to cool down. After being sufficiently refreshed, I went back to my bike and cooked some lunch.

While eating, a couple nearby stopped over and chatted for a bit. Finishing up lunch, it came to mind that the beach would actually make a good stopping point for the day. I left to go scouting for a suitable campsite where I could hang a hammock.

There were no trees on the beach to hang a hammock, but there were lots of concretes blocks, which are used to stop waves so they don’t go too far up shore. My searching soon paid off, as I quickly was able to find a suitable spot. Satisfied, I went back to the ocean and swam for a bit more.

Eventually the day started coming to an end, and my friends from before took a few photos of us together before heading off back to their home in Saitama. With the beach emptying out, I moved my stuff to the predeteremined site and preceded to set up camp. While I was hanging my hammock, I noticed two guys watching me, so I waved at them. Without giving them much thought, I went back to prepping camp, then started on dinner.

As I was just about to open up the packet that would become the night’s dinner, the two guys from before showed up, sat down, and handed me a beer. Well, I figured, that means that they’re friendly.

After a bit of intros and the such, one of the guys asked if I wanted to eat dinner at his place. I said that would be great, but I was surprised when when I started picking up my cooking stuff they started picking everything else up.

Huh?

Apparently when they said eat dinner together they actually meant that I could stay the night at his parents’ place. Hey, even better.

His parents’ house was only a two or three minute walk away. When we arrived I met his mom, who asked if I’d like to take a shower and get dibs on the bath. Why of course I would, so I did.

While showering, I heard a knock on the door, and one of the guys asked if it was OK from him to join. Now, bathing in Japan is often a communal activity, what with public baths and hot springs and families often bathing together. Despite knowing this, I was still surprised at first because I didn’t ever come to think of doing it with your friends or someone you had just met, as being a part of that.

It’s ok though, because less than a minute later the other guy came in too. Also remember that Japanese bath/shower rooms are laid out much differently than American ones, so it was actually configured quite well to have multiple people in the shower at once.

It took but a few seconeds for the first guy to blurt out the equivalent of, “Holy crap, it’s huge!”

The realization of what he meant quickly dawned on me, and I looked down at myself then looked over at him, immediately taken aback at the huge difference in size. The new guy that had just entered also confirmed the disparity.

Now I’ve been to plenty of onsens and have thuscome to this conclusion some time ago (simply put, Japanese are small), but this was the first time it’s been so blatantly confirmed. Then it became a theme.

At dinner the guy told it to his dad, and the next day when they saw me in my cycling shorts for the first time, he pointed it out to his mom, who immediately got embarassed.

And for the record, these guys are both 28 and married. Actually, they were visiting the guy’s parents’ house for Obon (a holiday). When one of the guys showed me a photo of his wife, I said she looked cute. He responded that while she’s cute on the outside, her heart is evil. The other guy overheard and said that his wife is the same. Apparently they both hate their wives and like to visit the guy’s their parents often so they can get away from their nagging wives and go surfing.

Anyway, they served me a delicious dinner, in the morning served me a delicious breakfast, and the mom even packed me a delicious bento for lunch. Good times all around.

It was a good start to the trip.

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