First days on the saddle

We have now cycled over 200km from Kyoto up to Fukui, a city along the northwestern coast of Japan. Most of our riding thus far has been along Lake Biwa and then along the coast of the Sea of Japan. The bikes are riding smoothly with only minor adjustments thus far, and our thighs are starting to feel the hours of riding.

The last couple of days of riding have been stunning. The tourist season has almost ended on Lake Biwa, so it was mostly quiet riding. A bicycle path surrounds the majority of the lake, which made for an extra peaceful ride with dedicated bike lanes. We crossed our first mountain pass (only 320 meters) into Tsuruga yesterday afternoon, passing by a few mountain monkeys on the way down.

Wildlife has been interesting. Sightings have included wild boars at Fushimi Inari (The Thousand Orange Tori Gates), a praying mantis at a campground kitchen off Lake Biwa, and the monkeys just before Tsuruga. We've seen lots of spiders, one snake, and a few large flying bugs (unknown varieties). We've been warned about bears going into the mountains, so we'll be sure to keep our food safe at night and keep our eyes out for wildlife on the road.

Today, there was less wildlife, but we did pass by plenty of fishing towns, some of which were known for crab. It started as a peaceful morning ride with stunning views, but unfortunately, it turned into quite an extreme ride with heavy headwinds, spitting rain, and a windy road along the ocean. Thankfully, the road wasn't too busy... We had an incredible lunch at a small cafe on the coast, letting us escape the elements for a bit as we chowed down on a Japanese Beef Curry over rice. It cost 1,000 yen and an additional 100 yen for the "large" portion, costing us around $10/each for a tasty warm meal during our headwind rain ride. Overall, we cycled our longest day thus far, covering 87km in just over 5 hours.

Tonight we are being hosted by a lovely Japanese family that we met through Warmshowers. Miho and Go are hosting us with their four kids, Natsumi (12) Yuka (9), Kayoko (7), and Taisuke (3) . Miho cooked us an incredible dinner with rice, korokke (fried potato), an assortment of grilled green peppers, vegetable soup, and su renkon (pickled lotus root). Go provided us with some tips and suggestions for the riding days ahead of us as we turn away from the coast and head into the Japanese Alps, where we may be riding up to elevations of about 2,000 meters. Both Jared and I are excited for the mountains and the quieter roads to come, but I know that our legs will feel otherwise as we are still only within our first week of riding, and this is Jared's first bike trip.

We've had lots of good laughs, good adventures, and good snacks while on the road for the past four days, and although it is just the beginning of the month-long trek from Kyoto - Sapporo, it feels like we're warming up quickly to life on the road and travelling together as foreigners. We're doing our best to learn a little Japanese each day. Today we learned about the many different ways that "Daijoubu" can be used: sometimes meaning "I'm okay", to "It's okay", to "No problem". We are both motivated to learn what we can.

I've uploaded lots of photos on the 'Everyday Japan' collection page under my portfolio from my camera, but have yet to upload the photos of my friends and tasty food from my phone - these should come within the week. Jared is keeping an Instagram account @worldtripclips where he's posting five-second clips every day for more consistent updates, and I've been posting stories on @sampson_mcferrin here and there.

Into the mountains we go!