BEE Japan

On April 12th and 13th, the Fukui branch of the 2008 BEE Ride went on our first training ride of the season around Lake Biwa—the largest lake in Japan which is located just south of Fukui in Shiga Prefecture. We joined about thirty cyclists from Shiga, Gifu, and Nagano Prefectures to support the PEPY Ride, a nonprofit that operates two schools as well as a supporting cycling / volunteer-touring venture in Cambodia (a 2004 BEE rider founded the group). Although we had to wake up way earlier than we wanted to—I think the Colins woke up at 5 am or so—we were blessed both Saturday and Sunday with perfect cycling weather.

The Fukui group met up near Nagahama Castle with other members who had rented bikes at the ever-popular ECO-Style bike shop in Hikone. Colin Hood borrowed a bright pink bike that made him readily visible for at least 5 km. (Perhaps we should have bright pink jerseys this year? Safety first, right?!) The rest of us—Colin J, Justin H, and me (Amiena)—were able to enjoy the comfort of our own beloved bikes. As we made our way to Omi-Maiko where we would rest for the night, we hit large groups of hanami (cherry blossom) festival goers along the northern stretches of the lake. The lovely narrow roads lined with cherry trees were crowded with tour busses and cars stuck in a gridlock for at least 10 km. We carefully wove our way through the throngs, building group solidarity as we practiced hand signals and messages to one another (My favorite was “Papparazzi on the left!!” shouted as we passed elderly gentlemen who had set up tripods on the road to photograph the blossoms). By about 4:00 pm we found BB Dylan, a small chilled-out guesthouse with Bob Dylan pictures and album covers lovingly pasted on the walls, and “Blowin' in the Wind” playing gently in the background, where we stayed for the night. We scarfed down our dinner and quickly hit the tatami, exhausted after our perfect riding day, but a bit concerned about the showers expected for Sunday. When we woke up Sunday morning, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Saturday's clouds had cleared and left us with perfect blue skies. The Colins, Justin, Chris, and I got into a tight and speedy pace line along some of the longer flat stretches on the eastern shores of Biwa, building our confidence for the BEE Ride. We ended up back at Nagahama Castle at about 1:00 pm, pleased with ourselves and excited about more spring training!!