The ferry across the Ariake Sea to Shimbara took about an hour, by design I was the last man on and the last man off the vessel. Mt. Unzen leered dauntingly over the city upon my arrival, as I prepped my bike for the road. I headed through the busy town’s high street and out…
Tag: camping
Hokkaido Summer: Cosplay by the Lake
Lake Shikotsu – Oshamanbe 82 miles A multitude of mountains paved the way for the 60-mile stretch between Lake Shikotsu and Lake Toya. With the comfort of clear skies, I made exceptional progress, my only concerns being the weekend drivers who drove by as if they had just been given a day pass to behave…
Hokkaido Summer: I Get Wet
Wakkanai For three days I found myself holed up in another one of Hokkaidō’s classic 1980’s themed youth hostels. It was a desolate sort of building that gave off a haunted house vibe; located atop an isolated hill. Wakkanai was still being deluged by buckets of rain and after a while I began to feel…
Hokkaido Summer: Bum of the North
Hamatonbetsu – Rebun 73 miles I awoke cold and damp, I hadn’t jizzed myself, unfortunately things never got that far. But my tent was to prove that it wasn’t the watertight vessel that I’d hoped it would be. In fact, it was shit, just plain shit; a little like water torture. Yet, for now, the…
Hokkaido Summer
Sapporo – Takikawa 62 miles Despite the coming of the cherry blossom the weather the week prior to my departure from Sapporo had been a cold, wet and windy disgrace. A hostel guest that had just recently returned from the north would tell me that it was the coldest place he had ever been to…
The Chichibu Test – III
It was inevitably one of the coldest nights of my life. At around 11pm I found myself a little spot on a baseball pitch. I camped up and it seemed mild enough before snuggling into my sleeping bag. The fact of the matter is I usually work up such a profound sweat setting up camp…
East Anglia 2013 – Day 6
Wednesday 11th September Again, a hideous night’s sleep was to be had. As nightfall committed the extremities worsened, it felt as if a monsoon had hit, when in fact it was just the birth of the British autumn. Nestled amongst alder trees concern hit me as the trees began to creak and sway. Was the…
East Anglia 2013 – Day 5
Tuesday 10th September Rain and wind combine to become the prevailing enemy of the day. Together they negotiate how miserable they intend to make me feel. But through this entire cycling lark if I was to average one shit day in five, then I’ll take that, that’s doable. For today was certainly one of those…
Tokyo to Tokyo 