CYCLETHON MEGAJOURNEY | Day 1 & 2 - Yamaguchi - 160 Kilometres Travelled (Patreon)

Hi Guys,

And we're off! 2 days down. Waking up, bleary eyed in Shimonoseki, I won’t lie, I was very nervous at the prospect of cycling 85 kilometres. The only preparation I’d done was not sleeping for two days straight (due to a previous work commitment), and a 10 kilometre cycle the previous week. What an idiot.

However, after sitting down on the bike and turning the pedals over a few times, our route was underway and my legs remembered how to cycle. Anxiety quickly turned to delight as we cycled along the coastline with sweeping views across the Setoguchi Inland Sea of Japan.

From the sheer euphoria of the first day of the cycle, our audience donated money quicker than ever before. We had raised $40,000 before lunchtime came around! In celebration we went to a nearby strawberry farm and gorged on the sweet taste of delicious strawberries, our bodies thankful for any additional sugar intake we could provide!

Lunch came in the form of a Coco Ichibanya curry loaded with cheese, rice, chicken and potatoes. Maybe I went too far, however, I maintain, that had I not had a highly calorific lunch, I might have failed in the afternoon.

The numerous hills were causing my legs to buckle somewhat, and the relentless sun beaming down on us lead me to start feeling fatigued, the beginnings of heatstroke no doubt. Fortunately though, I escaped any sunburn, but Connor wasn’t so lucky. Despite drenching himself in sun lotion, his pale Welsh skin still showed the effects of a full day’s exposure.

For me, it was a nostalgic route, as it was a similar path to the one I’d taken with my friend Ellen on the original Journey Across Japan Series in the episode where she learns Japanese for a day (admittedly with questionable results!).

The area is stunning and the countryside offers jaw-dropping views with many decadent houses showing off their stylish Kawara roof tiles that shine in the sun. These remarkable scenes were paired with smiling locals who were happy to wave and cheer us along, and it really reminded me of what I love about Japan.

When we finally arrived in the city of Hōfu we did so to the jubilant news that we had raised over $76k in the first day alone, a record for our Cyclethons and hopefully a good marker of things to come. Thank you guys for your contributions, it’s incredibly motivating to know we have such a supportive audience backing us on this epic challenge.

Now it’s off to bed, where I hope I’ll get some sleep for the first time in 3 days. If not, tomorrow might be a disaster!

Day 2

Today got off to just about the worst possible start.

Overnight Connor’s bike tyre had gone completely flat. Somehow in the closing moments for the first day, the wheel had been punctured. Fortunately for us, we had a guest bike which Connor could ride, while Ian went off to make the necessary repairs.

With the spare bike ready, Connor and I headed off into the mountains and began what, in hindsight, was a brutal day. With mountain after mountain and tunnel after tunnel, it wasn’t long before my legs were absolutely ruined. To make matters worse, as soon as Ian returned with Connor’s now repaired bike, the screw on my seat broke, rendering it unusable, and thus, I had to ride the guest bike.

While the guest bike is actually the most expensive of the bunch, a proper racing bike at a whopping cost of $6,000, there are several problems:

Number one: the bike seat is a form of torture as sitting on it brings instant pain. Unlucky for us, we didn’t bring a spare seat cover so having ridden it for the majority of the day, I fear I’ll never be able to sit down ever again.

Number two: the wheels are very thin, great for speed but terrifying for stability or quick manoeuvres. A concrete crack or bit of road debris can suddenly pose potential danger.

Nevertheless, we made it to the other end of Yamaguchi beaten and battered but, just about intact, and were rewarded on two fronts. Firstly, we had raised an incredible total of $125,000 across the two days. Secondly, I was reunited with my favourite bridge - The Kintaikyo Bridge in Iwakuni.

The bridge was constructed in the 17th Century and lasted all the way through until 1950 when a storm tragically destroyed it. Fortunately, the residents faithfully reconstructed it in 1953 and today it has the striking design reminiscent of times lost. Even now, I can’t think of anywhere else in Japan with this style of bridge design.

Tomorrow Garnt joins us as our first guest of the trip which promises to mix things up a bit. However, an incredibly rainy day is forecast which could bring misery for us all. And we’re not talking about a little bit of drizzle, but what looks to be relentless rain, for the entirety of the day.

I do worry that the guest bike, with it’s two major flaws, could be a rather slippery, scary experience. We’ll find out tomorrow I guess…

See you guys there,

Chris