BEE Japan

Hard to believe our luck, but during the 5 weeks up until Kyoto we’d gotten away with only about 3 days of rain. The first was fittingly Day 1 out of Wakkanai; second was just as we passed the border from Aomori to Akita up in the hills; and third was fortunately a day off at Fuji Eco-Park & Village. Maybe it’s because this year’s rainy season was a month later than usual (it usually stops in early July, but this year it rained up until and on the day I left for Hokkaido to meet the team). Climate Change? Who knows?…but, we’d been riding high and dry for over 2,300 kilometers, and it was feeling great.

Day 1 in Kyoto was great–we rode from Shiga, where we spent the past two days with all of my old friends, students at Kusatsu High, and Japanese family (thank you again for taking care of us Mama Nakai!), handmade pizza, vegetarian curry–I’m getting a tummyache thinking of all the delicious stuff we ate! To work off a few of those calories we took off on Friday the 11th for Kyoto, up and over the mountains that separate Shiga from Kyoto (one which was much steeper than I remembered–sorry ladies!).
Our first stop in Kyoto was the Kyoto International School where we taught a class on sustainability from the perspective of water. After 3 years of struggling to teach “How’s it going?”, this was a real breath of fresh air. Not just because the kids were all fluent in English, but their concern for the environment and creative thinking ability was far and above what I remember my own being at their age. I hope they go on to use their knowledge & take on new challenges (like BEE) in the future!

That night we had a relaxing Falafel Garden dinner with old friends and a few new ones (Kyoto International School teacher, Shauna, and husband James who offered to put us up during our time in Kyoto also joined us). Always a treat!

Day 2 in Kyoto–Saturday the 12th: Down came the rains and washed away our plans to ride with the Ritsumeikan Cycling Club. This morning we were even more thankful to be staying with our wonderful hosts Shauna and James, who made us a scrumptious breakfast of egg & broccoli, sweet potato & carrot pancakes, and bread! After doing a bit of rainy day lounging, we all split up and wandered around the city in the rain–bookstores, cafes, Kurama mountain, wherever. Despite the rain, or thanks to it for that matter, it was nice to have a day with no particular place to go.
Dinner that night was with 3 of the Ritsumeikan Cycling Club members, along with Ashley’s sister Kelsey (who joined us for the second straight night).

Day 3 of Kyoto–Sunday the 13th: Events at the Miyako Ecology Center and Osaka YWCA both went smoothly, thanks to the YWCA being kind enough to change our event time the day before. (On Sat the day before I got a phone call from the YWCA about Sunday’s event at 5. “Sunday at 5?” I said, shocked because on our schedule I had it written as Monday at 5… “Yes, Sunday at 5″ was the answer. Long story short, luckily they were able to reschedule us at 7 so we had time to take the train to Osaka after our event at the Ecology Center.)

Day 4–Monday 14th: Leaving Kyoto wasn’t so bad either. Nothing like Tokyo to say the least. We were out of the city, through Uji, and having a picnic lunch with the Nara deer by lunch. Lindsey actually separated to go visit a friend in Osaka on the way to Wakayama, but Rocio, Ashley and I took naps in the Nara parks after lunch and continued on through the Yamato plains, the origins of ancient Japanese civilization. Just above Asuka, the home of Japan’s original Emperor Jimmu, we camped at a Michi no Eki (Road Station) with two other cyclists on similar journey like us: a 2nd year college student who rode from Ishikawa up to Hokkaido and back, and a guy who went to sleep around 8pm, didn’t speak at all, and was gone by the time we awoke.

And at last, today! Day 47 of the ride, Day 8 of Kansai, September 15th: Just two days after the last day of rain, we got hit again! Thankfully we were sleeping under cover at the Michi no Eki, but we couldn’t take the roof with us on the road. Our Patagonia rain gear however came in handy yet again and kept us as dry as one can expect after 4 hours of riding in steady, light-to-medium rain. Bags and the map book got a little wet as well, but nothing a dry night at our current homestay in Wakayama can resolve. We met Lindsey again, all members are safe and accounted for. Tomorrow our Kansai journey ends–I really enjoyed being places that were familiar. It was great to see so many old friends in Shiga and Kyoto, and to ride through and show everyone some of my old stomping ground. It was a little strange being back–I almost forgot that I was going to have to leave again for the second half to Okinawa. Thanks again everyone and I’m looking forward to coming back after the ride in October!