parting shots

In the forest at Dewa Sanzen.

Temple lodgings atop Mount Haguro.

Sunrise from our room atop Mount Haguro.

The climb up to Lake Mashu.

Lake Mashu in Akan National Park.

home and scary-tired (and pics of scary things)

Scary bears all over Japan and this is the only one I saw.

OK, not scary.

Scary beetle. Notice size of screw for reference.

OK, not scary UNLESS it wakes you and you think it's a bear.

SCARY Godzilla headlamp for 5 yr olds that is now mine.

it's good to be home. diana and i managed one last long day today (actually we got to do today, july 5, 2007, twice. my do-over day was great. how was yours diana?) and boy was it a long one. 24 hrs long, to be exact. but, we are home now and it's so nice to be back. we hit the pacific coast at about 9am this morning and, coming in a bit south of sf on the airplane, i could see that the coast was hidden in that ca fog that i know and adore. and, we got a rare treat this morning: coming in for a landing our plane, a huge double-decker 747 (?), landed parallel to another huge plane. they looked so close that our pilot had to announce in multiple languages that the plane beside us was not, in fact, going to crash into us but just going to land along side us, 75 feet away or so! it was quite a site and got my heart rate up a bit.

diana and i are already cooking up a party (a slide show party, yea!), so we'll keep you all in the loop. we've got lots to tell (blogging is not as fun when you're in the middle of a trip, i've found), so there is still a story to tell and with a slide show of say, 2000 photos or so, it'll be a long one (fact: combined we have close to that number of photos, but we promise, promise, promise that we won't subject you to every single one of them and certainly not every picture of bark that we took ;-)). so, until then, sayonara.

jen

oh tokyo!

To the dump!

What, you might ask, are these sweet children doing?

Very seriously taking notes for school about this!

we'll the bike leg has been over for some time now, and we've been busy here in tokyo. the city itself is a huge mass of concrete, neon, and wall to wall buildings. it is very, very easy to lose oneself in any given neighborhood, not only because of the seemingly circular route of the streets, but also because there is just so much to see. every neighborhood presents itself as a maze of alleyways, side streets, and commercial strips. there are people, people everywhere and more often than not, they are on bikes. bikes on the sidewalk, in the street, and parked in rows at every shop in the city. we've seen moms with two kids in bike seats (one on the front one on the back) and one on her back, fast asleep. we've seen old men, young school girls and boys, and grandmothers doing the daily shopping all on bikes and all while navigating tokyo. and, it all works. it is truly a revelation to see how useful the bike can be in such a big city.

diana and i are just back in tokyo from spending two days in the mountains at dewa sanzen. the three mountains of dewa sanzan are among the most sacred in japan. we had the opportunity to take our first shinkansan train (bullet train) and traveled about 400 miles northwest of tokyo to the town of tsurouoka. the train line that we traveled on is one of the most expensive in the world. from tokyo to the port city of nigata (1/2 the trip distance) a train line was built in the 1980s that cost over 1.5 trillion yen and put the japan rail line into a huge amount of debt. the cost per kilometer: 6 million yen! the main reason for the expense: almost the entire line to nigata runs through the mountains. long, long tunnels through volcanic rock!

the mountains were beautiful and we stayed at the tippy top of one of the three sacred mountains. out lodging atop mount haguro sat among a lovely cedar forest and abutted the temple and lodging of the monks who still practice an obscure from of shinto-buddhism that was once practiced in japan. we had the most amazing view of the valley below and the mountains in the distance. one morning we awoke to a breathtaking pink and deep red sunrise, and this morning to a valley enveloped in a foggy mist. it was amazing.

more later. someone else wants a turn on the computer. forgive any errors. xx jen and diana

last leg

Hey, gimme back our tent!

Still laughing about our tent relocation.

Japanese cranes, Hokkaido Japan.

This couple is helping to save the Japanese crane from extinction.

Ino's Place, Sapporo Japan.

Our last day of biking across Hokkaido was a long one. We woke at 3 am (remember that,s when it gets light, plus faithfully the Ha Ha crows, are there every morning to crow their HA HA alarm... think very large obnoxious crow creature) then rode for 12 hours to the marshlands about 30 km north of Kushiro, where we planned to catch the train to Sapporo the next day. We navigated with our faithful guide, the Touring Mapple (a road atlas for motorcyclists that we love to death!) to some smaller back roads, and ended up on a serene and lovely cedar forested, rolling hilly, narrow road, east of Tsuri, the town we would sleep in. There were one or two farms, but otherwise, no houses or anyone out there. It was the one road all trip that wasn,t marked with signs and at one point, we happened upon a woman walking down the road with her fishing gear. I stopped to ask if we were on the right track and she was very excited that we spoke english and called happily up the road to her husband, English, english! Well, we were lucky becasue he spoke the best English of anyone we,ve met all trip. They were both sweethearts. He had moved out to this part of Hokkaido from Osaka to `take care of the cranes`. We were near the protected Japanese Crane marshlands and he had taken it upon himself to feed two sets of cranes and their babies. He asked if we would like to rest before continuing onto Tsuri (we were on the right road), and invited us up to his house where he showed us the cranes, their babies, and told us all about the cranes and their life. Sorry, we haven,t figured out how to post pictures! We have great photos of our friends and the cranes. He fed the cranes fish he is raising in his pond, and fed us the most delicious apple juice and biscuits we,ve tasted. Well rested, we were ready to finish the journey, back down (and up)some more sweet roads into Tsuri, where we ended at another onsen.

It,s early mroning, and we are waiting for a taxi to take us to Tokyo. It,s been wonderful to recup. at Ino,s Place, Jen,s favorite place to stay in Japan.

yes, we are still alive!

and we:re having a great time. we have sucessfully crossed hokkaiko by bike and are now in the most northeastern part of the island. today, saturday june 23rd, finds us on the western side of shiretoko national park and it is foggy and cold. we have spent the last 10 days riding at least 8 hrs a day and, for the most part, the riding and the weather and the people have been fine! we:ve camped in the middle of nowhere in the rain and awoke to foxes eating our food, stayed in ryokans with incredible outdoor onsens (hot springs) with spectacular views, and have eaten more food than we need but with great relish. the food here is amazing and we have yet to have our fill of fish, miso, and pickled vegetables for breakfast and dinner. the pocky on the other hand (think sweet pretzles with chocolate coating), we:ve had our fill.

Yesterday, we climbed the shiretoko pass, on the shiretoko peninsula. It is incredibly wild and diverse with many great sounding birds, owls, deer, bears, and lush with so many plants and trees. We were right on the coast, then climbed up to the snow covered pass (where you could see the ocean!) It was 14 km up to the top and 14 km down. Up was hot in the sun, the summit was shrouded in cloud, and it was foggy and cold the whole way down. We came face-to-face with a spotted buck munching on grass on the descent. It was quite a surprise! He appear out of fog just like that! So beautiful. Anyway, we were shivering on the way down, but our keen noses smelled the sulphur, and as we neared town, along the rushing river with steam billowing up, we spotted people with their little soap buckets crossing the bridge to the local public onsen. We got warm again quick. This was the only place so far where the japanese ladies weren,t afraid to stare. In fact, they got quite a laugh out of my bike shorts, but Jen is certain it was my little butt they were laughing at. They were having quite a good time making fun of me! They continued to crudely gesticulate about how to clean ourselves. It was really funny and we all laughed a lot. The water was this gorgeous milky blue. It was the best way to end the day. We weren,t allowed to camp in the park last night beacause of all the bears, so, it was another japanese inn with outdoor onsen for us. Who says bike touring in japan is hard? Plus we have tour-busses full of cheering old folks. They love us!

we are off to put in another 8 hrs day on the bike, and by monday we:ll be back in sapporo. we:re headed towards kushiro where we:ll catch a train back to sapporo and then we:ll be on to our tokyo adventure. until then, sayonara!

A rainy send off

It,s pouring down rain, but it hasn,t made us any less happy to be starting the bike tour. We,ve been up since 3.30 am, since that,s when it gets light up here, and are about to load up our bikes for the first time with what certainly seems like way too much stuff. I,ve had to sacrifice one (very cute) dress so far, but Jen refuses to leave her Japanese text book behind. Oh well, at least when she,s cursing it while we climb Hokkaido mountain passes, it will be in Japanese.

By the way, so far in a city of 1.5 million people, we have only see 2 caucasians (men) outside of our hotel (and only 3 others there). Of course they were riding bicycles. I,m pretty sure we,re going to be getting a lot of smiles of disbelief from the locals, who seem impressed and bewildered by our attempt.

the bikes are together

and diana and i spent the day riding around sapporo on them. what a day its been. we`ve now got the hang of riding on the opposite side of the road. everyone in japan rides bikes and they all ride on the sidewalk. and it works. we saw women in dresses, men in suits, moms with kids and lots and lots of young people on bikes. and the bike parking! i have never, ever seen so may bikes parked everywhere in my life. and its all free. however, if you park your bike the wrong way, say parallel to the street, a bike police man (volunteer?) comes and moves your bike into the proper position, into the proper place. diana and i made this mistake today only to come back to find our bikes in a different place, right in line with all the hundreds of other bikes. keep in mind, whoever moved our bikes had to move them together as they were locked to one another. obviously it was not a problem.

along with the overwhelming number of bicycles, the food selection in japan is simply unbelievable. we went to visit what we thought would be a basement vending machine center in a fancy shopping mall (many, many people shop at vending machines and often they are located in the basement of shopping centers)but what we found was the most over the top selection of every type of food you can imagine. pickled vegetables of every kind, sushi, fancy cakes and ice cream, and the most beautifully packaged food ever. we took many pictures of the eager groups of people lining up for samples, which were abundant and eagerly given out. we gladly participated in the chance to eat in public with the rest of the folks, because, if you don:t know, japanese people do not eat or drink in public, while walking in the street, shopping, or doing whatever people do when they are snacking. we didnt see even one person on the street with even so much as an open bottle of water. except for us. we broke all the rules today and ate as much great food and drink as we could and we did it in public. it was the first time since arriving that people looked at us, and it was with a bit of a dont you know any better look.

at any rate, we are set to leave for the mountains tomorrow and we will post as soon as we can. were taking an early morning train and should be on our bikes by the afternoon heading towards the very middle of hokkaido for our first night of camping in japan. i think theres still snow in the mountains where were going so it will be much colder than the 90 degree weather that weve had here in sapporo. japan is wonderful!

Ohayo gozaimasu

We made it!

Diana, don't you dare push that waitress-calling button again!

Breakfast Japanese style!

Squid for breakfast, anyone?

Bicycles galore!

We made it and made it in style! Japan is everyhting we,ve heard and more. It,s ultra clean, very calm, green, and the people are nicer then you could ever imagine. Really. The journey went extremely well and we are settled into our hotel, which is also better than we could imagine. And it,s true about the toilets! They are heated, have sinks built into the top and make fake flushing noises while you pee. So, we are off to find some japanese breakfast and later catch up on some sleep. Sapporo is full of bicycles, a welcome greeting. And no one locks them up. We are very excited. More later. Love, d&j

No sleep . . .

but I am smiling. It's 2 am and I just finished packing. I'm tired, but there are still dishes to wash, a fridge to clear out, and trash to dispose of. Diana and I are meeting up at 8 am at SFO which means I'm leaving the East Bay in 4 hrs and 45 min. But, I have no complaints. Everything is in order and we're both super excited to be getting on that plane tomorrow (I mean today). So, I'm leaving you all with a smile and a promise to send word from Japan as soon as I can.

48 hrs to go

and the packing is almost done.

Today was a busy, busy day for both of us, but now, almost all of the hard work that has gone into preparing for this trip is done. The bikes are safely in their boxes along with most of what we'll be taking with us. All that's left to do is run a few more errands tomorrow, make a few phone calls, and put a few bills in the mailbox. Whew!

A HUGE thank you goes out to Dave and Lisa Devlin for getting my slow butt into gear this weekend by helping me get my bike fine-tuned and in a bike box. Not only did Dave spend the better part of today fine-tuning my bike, but he also taught me how to change a spoke, true a wheel, and pack up my bike in an almost-too-small bike box. And, as if that wasn't enough, Lisa was kind enough to take my slow ass out on a nice little spin where she showed me exactly how out of shape I can get when I don't ride for a month. She kicked my butt! Thanks Lisa. Thanks Dave.

I'm posting a few photos for you too. In one of them you'll notice a nice digital camera on the table (no, not the yellow plastic disposable camera wise guy), but I don't know how to use the thing yet. So, pictures from my crummy camera will have to suffice for the time being.

Diana and I will be leaving bright and early Monday morning, but you can expect at least one more post before we take off. Then, we'll be live from Japan.

Getting ready at command central

Scenery, Hokkaido Japan (click for photos!)

Just a test to see if this works. I'm not very skilled at blogging and I'm having a hard time linking photos and web sites properly. Patience is a virtue, so I hear.

Oh the places we'll go!

And the things we'll see! Just a few more days before we depart and things are actually coming together. Sort of. I'm lagging behind in my duties, but that's just my way. I recently confessed a deep, dark secret to a friend and now I'm going to reveal it to the rest of the world: I am a procrastinator. Big time. So big that I even made up my own saying: "It's never too late to stop procrastinating." ™ It works for me. But, I still need to pick up the pace a bit and get stuff done. But first, an update:

Despite my procrastinating, Diana and I leave on June 11th. After flying in to Narita airport in Tokyo (11hrs flight) we'll transfer to a domestic flight to Sapporo, the capital city of Hokkaido. Hokkaido is the northernmost of Japan's 4 main islands (of which there are, apparently, 1000) and, for the most part, is a wild, beautiful, lush, wilderness. The have BEARS there! And lots and lots of onsens (natural hot springs)! Sapporo will be our jumping-off point for 2 1/2 weeks of bike touring and Diana found us a great little spot for those first few days. You can check out our ryokan, Ino's Place, by clicking on the link on the sidebar (I haven't figured out all the linky-blogging techniques yet). This place has it all, including internet access, so expect reports from the get go. I've decided not to invest in a phone that will work in Japan (think hundreds of dollars, new phone #, and no guarantee that it'll really work), so we'll post as often as possible, which should be quite often. In all my phone research I've discovered that Japan is pretty wired (who'd have thought?) even in the wilderness, so I don't think we'll leave you hangin' too much.

After 2 1/2 weeks in Hokkaido, we'll pack up the bikes and head off to the big city: Tokyo. In Tokyo the Andon Ryokan will be home base for the last week or so of the trip (again, see sidebar). From here, we're planning trips by Shinkansen (that would be a Bullet Train, a train that goes 300 km/h or 186 mp/h, thank you) to Kyoto, Nara, Hakone (think Mt. Fuji) and wherever else we want to go (and go Quickly). So, taking my cue from the wise and clever Dr. Seuss I'll leave you with this thought about our (and your own) upcoming adventures: You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

And go we will!

Now, back to business 'cause I've got lots to do before my plane leaves the ground. And you, yes YOU, go ride your bike and be merry.

Me, Goofy?

You bet!

WOW! Can You Dig It? Fred Milton, Beat Poodle

This shit is blowin' my mind! Now, if I can just find the right gadget for the job! Did I mention that Japan has its own cellular network that is not (or has not been) compatible with the type of network that the rest of the mobile world uses? Apparently Japan said "to hell with the rest of you, we're doin' things our own way." So, yes, there are still kinks to work out, but I am on the job people. I promised you a show and, one way or another (SO Blondie of me, I know), you're gonna' get it.

Now, go ride your bike. Yes, YOU!

P.S. Please tell me you all know Lynda Barry. If you don't, well, then, today's your lucky day! Look her up :-).

Email to Blog? Take 3!

Got word from a great guy that I can post reports via email instead of logging on to Blogger every time I've got something to say. Just seeing if he's on the level ; -).

Here we go!

Damn, there's a lot to do

Well, there's still lots to do before this trip takes off and the days are really just flying by now. There are final trips to the bike shop to be made, packing and repacking of panniers to be done, and loose ends to tie up before this trip begins (bills to pay, phone calls to friends and family to make, fabulous Bon Voyage parties to attend). Luckily, a lot of the hard work has already been done: Diana and I have been studying Japanese at Soko Gakuen in Japantown for months (see sidebar), Diana's been busy finding some great places to stay in Sapporo and in Tokyo and sketching out our adventure, and we've both been working hard trying to figure out as much as we can about packing up the bikes and being our own mechanics for this trip. I had no idea that it would take so much planning. However, I think that it's all about to pay off: we're set to take off on June 11th, and by June 13th we'll have the bikes together and be heading off into the hills of Hokkaido, Japan.

We both have a lot of people to thank before we go, especially in the area of bike preparation: First and foremost, a huge Thank You goes out to Jon and to Cameron for their mechanical assistance and technical guidance. Without these two, we would be touring Japan by train and not by bike. Last weekend's trip to Salt Point State Park (I know, you never did get your full report. Did I mention I'm a procrastinator?) was the first true test of our touring bikes and both passed with flying colors. Thanks guys. We've also received a lot of help on the touring-detail end of things. We've gotten tons of advice about camping equipment, clothing, panniers, racks, e-mailing gadgets, places to visit, and food to eat. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help us make the most out of planning this trip. We won't forget you when we're famous.

So, now that the Thank Yous are out of the way, I'll be movin' on with my evil plan (insert evil laugh here) to make you all as envious as possible. Tomorrow, I'm buying the gadget that'll transport our adventure, glorious moment by moment, to all of you via the wonder that is the Internet. Really, this is just my way of trying to get all of you to join in on an adventure with us in the future!

Preview: It was FANTASTIC!

For those of you in the know, let me just start off by setting the scene: Cool, sunny, northern CA weather (with just a hint of early morning fog) greeted us at our point of departure in Occidental; miles and hours of scenic rolling hills to ourselves on Kings Ridge and Tin Barn Roads; evening campfire and tasty eats with an ocean view at sunset; early am coffee, fireside, at a coastal lodge on Highway 1; and, an amazing tailwind that pushed us south along the coast and up and over Coleman Valley Road to a birthday celebration for Kathleen back in Occidental. It was a FANTASTIC first bike tour!

A full report to follow, but for now, these tired legs are off to bed. Stay tuned!

Lugging stuff around

Well, we're off this weekend and it's gonna' be a blast. I have, however, learned some valuable lessons in preparing for this pre-Japan touring adventure: hauling fully loaded panniers and a tent on BART (sans touring bike) during the am commute isn't very fun and, now, my arms feel like Jell-o from the effort. Much better to haul those things around ON a bike. And, 2 years' worth of old New Yorkers do come in handy: use them to test out how much stuff you can fit into your new panniers! Just don't lug 25lbs. of them up a 4 mile hill for your test ride!

Back with a full report and photos (hopefully) after the weekend's adventure.

Anticipation

Diana and I are embarking on our maiden touring ride this weekend (with the assistance of HardAsNailsHannon, touring expert extraordinaire). The bikes are ready to go, the panniers are in, and the weather's gonna' be fine. We're headed up to Salt Point on the CA coast by way of Kings Ridge with fully loaded bikes and crossed fingers. Wish us luck!

Diana asked me to create a blog . . .

so here it is!

A note of caution: those of you who read this blog may come under the spell of evil, super-jealous feelings of envy. You've been warned.