What I eat to cycle across Japan! (a TON)

What I eat to cycle across Japan! (a TON)

This is everything I eat in a day to cycle across Japan. On today’s agenda, we’re continuing our push through the Japanese Alps with a 53 mile ride from Kiso to Chino. But before I got on the road, I was awoken by this TV set that automatically turns on and starts playing the morning news at 6:30 a.m. Good morning, I guess. I’m currently staying in a little mountain cabin guest house, and the sweet couple that runs this place invited me to come kick off the day with some breakfast. On the menu, they cooked up a little western spread, including some fruit, bread, vegetable salad, potato salad, some soup, eggs, and sausage, and a cold glass of OJ. And as I started eating, they also offered me some of their fresh homemade orange preserves as well. Let me just say, everything together was pretty filling, yet it still felt quite light and fresh. Exactly what I needed to start the day. As I got ready to depart, the couple also gave me this giant bag of spicy cinnamon hard candy to help fuel today’s journey. Just like yesterday, pretty much all of today’s route is along quiet highways that cut through the mountains. And though the route was pretty remote, I did meet some other young cyclists out there before I eventually passed into a small town called Ena, where I was able to grab some lunch. This place introduced me to my new favorite Japanese food, sauce cutlet. It’s basically a thick, freshly fried pork cutlet that’s completely saturated in this sweet and tangy tonkatu sauce that is absolutely addicting. I personally don’t like overly sweet dishes, but for me, this struck the balance perfectly. I also decided to supplement the spread with some guoza and miso soup, which each had a slight saltiness that added to the meal nicely. Now, the remainder of today’s ride was essentially one long climb and one ultra steep descent into a town called Chino, where I was able to check into my hotel for a surprisingly high 75 bucks a night. I feel like hotels in these Japanese mountain towns are always a little bit more expensive than usual. Alas, I heard that there was this restaurant near my hotel specializing in all things horse. So, I pulled up and got this fried horse cutlet set and also a minced horse cutlet for a total of about 20 bucks. For those curious, horse is considered a delicacy here and has a lean texture, a slightly sweet and rich flavor, and a gaminess that’s comparable to deer meat. Though, it was pretty lean, I was honestly surprised how tender and juicy it was. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.

This is everything I eat in a day to cycle across Japan. Today’s route was from Kiso to to Chino!

#foodie #shorts #japanesefood #bikepacking #japan