A quick end to an exciting beginning...
"Please don't be what I think it is..."
I looked back- "DAMN!" It's a flat tire. And only on mile 5! What luck! I wasn't meant to go on this trip- at least not this weekend. But wait!!! I still have a patches and even a spare! I'm saved! Now I have never changed a wheel before, not that I thought it was necessary to have prior experience, but it's not very comforting knowing you have a bag full of tools, when you don't know what to use them for. But I was determined, and after at least a good hour and a half of fidgeting around, and two failed attempts at patching the hole, and another failed attempt at using the wrong size tire (given to me by the guy in the bike shop), I finally had finished adding the extra tire that my boss gave me. Good thing I had two spares. The problem was that it was soooo old, that I couldn't get the cap off of the air valve! It was corroded shut! But with the help of a flathead screwdriver and my teeth, I finally got it off :) Thank god for the pump I picked up the day before. So I was off again, with a brand new, err, old-new tire! NOW, nothing could stop me! Mile 12: What is wrong with my stomach? I feel like I had plenty of carbs for energy; nothing to upset my stomach. BUT then why do I feel like I'm going to puke!I went to Micky D's to rest, and then it hit me. After leaving my home, I stopped by a different McDonald's to grab an egg breakfast burrito. In America, I don't anything from that place, but I figured all food is healthier in Japan...I guess I was wrong. So after an hour with my head down on a table, the queasiness finally went away, and I was back on the road again! I should have taken a hint though- too much bad luck already at the beginning of my trip could only mean there would be more to come... In the area I was traveling, I was surrounded by large hills and vast fields of rice. I guess in some areas at the bottoms of the hills, there was a buildup of mud. Or so I soon found out. Even though it's very difficult to climb tall hills, going down is so much fun that I don't even care. Also note that I was traveling on a sidewalk that ran parallel to a pretty empty highway, so it could easily be mistaken for just a main road. Mile 26: Accelerating down one of the larger hills, I probably reached about 30mph, and decided to slow down. I was just beginning to slowly brake when I noticed the mud at the bottom. It looked dry, but still appeared as if it could be posing a bit of an obstacle, so I tried to brake a little faster without overheating the breaks- too late. With little time to react, I reached the mud, and immediately realized 3 things: the mud was in fact very wet, the mud was deep, and I was definitely going to crash. I instantly lost control of the bike, and drifted sideways. At the end of the mud I curved off to to the left, towards the road. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), there were some bushes bordering the road and sidewalk, which were surrounded by a concrete curb, about 8 inches high. I hit the curb dead on. The front tire exploded, the front wheel frame bent back into the main frame and pedals, the back brakes locked up, the outer gear disc (?) bent in half, and I flew over the top of the bike, hitting the bushes first and then the road. I guess the bicycle wasn't completely totaled, but it sure was rendered useless. As for me, I am very lucky to be safe and uninjured. Well, mostly. If not for the bushes breaking my impact, I would have flown much further and probably into oncoming traffic. Most likely, I would have also landed with my head slamming on the ground. Instead, I only suffered some cuts and scrapes on my arms and legs, and even though I still fell into the road, I was able to get out of the road just before the cars came (a good thing since the road curves, and they wouldn't have seen me).
All in all, it was one hell of a day, and I'm still trying to figure out if it all really happened during the same day. Another adventure in Japan. Another happy memory. And still more to come...






















