Day 6 Japan Biketour – Taketa to Yawatahama

Day 6 Japan Biketour – Taketa to Yawatahama

[Music] street. This is downstairs into the main room, the main floor. [Music] [Music] It’s official now. We We’ve made our mark. Thank you. [Music] Colin said when he moves to this town, [Music] he’s going to buy this business and put balls right here. If you’re coming to Japan, you got to you if you have the ability, come to come to Tea. I I can’t stress that enough. This is the best town I’ve been to in Japan. And there’s three towns that sound like it, too. Oh, yeah. Not Teada. Teta or Takata. Look at that. The sign there, it shows the temperature. It’s already 29°. Yeah. 10 uh 10:00 in the morning. 29°. All right. Ready? Yeah. All right. Let’s go. Yeah. So, we went for supper. It was It was And Brad and I both agree. It was the first bad meal we’ve had in Japan. It wasn’t just bad. Parts of it were actually inedible. It was a chunk chunko nab like hot pot, but it had this this meat. We don’t know what it was. Um, it actually could not actually chew it. I don’t just mean like it was kind of gristly or whatever. I mean, I physically couldn’t break it up with my teeth. I had to spit it out and I tried. Tim got mad at me cuz I was felt I was being rude. I like to start the morning off with a big climb. Bring back the memories from yesterday. Yeah, my legs, they’re not feeling any better. Nope. Could have used a day of recovery, but we got to push on. We’re time is a factor today. Yeah, we got to do that by 3:30. We only really have what? 3 days of riding. Echo. Echo. Okay. This is uphill, right? Yeah. Okay. Good. Japanese Home Depot. Shout out to the guy yesterday at Home Plaza and wherever we were who helped me try and fix Tim’s bike to no avail. But he couldn’t have been more helpful trying to fix Tim’s bike with Home Depot parts. It might have worked in a pinch, but it certainly wasn’t going to work for what would have been an incredible, incredibly difficult ride yesterday for Tim. Today’s uh this is today’s loss in breakfast. I got a 30 30 yen off on Giri. That’s got the drink. Mild mild strawberry. I don’t know what that means. And an egg salad sando. We’re ready to roll. It’s jet fuel. It’s day. I don’t even know what day it is. Just lose track after a while. We’re headed to the ferry today. going to cross over to Shikoku. It’s quite mountainy here. We’re about 10 kilometers east of uh Teta. Teeta with a T, not with a D. Quite, a lot of ups and downs. This is kind of this is kind of what I pictured most of the landscape in Japan to be like. Uh and it up to this point it really hasn’t been. It’s been more either ups or general downs like larger kind of mountains. This seems to be more rolling or the word of the day might be undulating. Tim likes to use big biking words but sometimes I use big biking words too. Undulating. Tim. Oh nice. Is that is that fitting today? Yeah. No, too a breast. Too a breast. We can go two breast. Two a breast. When it’s when it’s undulating, we don’t usually go to a breast. What is going on there? Trying to get that nut. Going to get that nut. Keep running away from a 500. Oh, five. I think a 500. Yeah. Oh, that was the sparkling. Yes, that right now. That’s the best thing I’ve had in a while. Yep. It’s like a sport drink but carbonated. Ooh, a can, too. Oh, cheers, buddy. Something bubbly is nice right now. Exactly. And sugary since we since we got out of that Teta area. Since we got out of the area, the road has been incredibly quiet. I don’t even know the last time I don’t even remember the last time a vehicle passed us. And it’s not because we’re holding up traffic. It’s just like I mean passed us on our side. It’s just been so quiet. We were just talking about like where is everybody? Where’s all the where’s all the tourists? Why are people not here taking advantage of this? This really is cycling paradise. You know, you’re you’re not you’re remote, but you’re not remote. You got Holy [ __ ] What did I just say? This is crazy. This is crazy. This is like the first cyclist we pass. No way. That just happened. That just happened. That was the first like non Japanese cyclist we’ve passed this whole trip. Can you guys believe that just happened? Right where? Man, I just was talking about it to the chat. I was on the group. I was just recording. They’re listen. They were listening right now. Not live, but I was just talking about how where is everybody? I I I wrote over to the side on like They’re the first ones we’ve seen. He’s like, really? They had super light loads. Yeah, they did. Screw them. That was wild. They were American and poor Canadian. Well, hope they’re having a good time. They know how to pick roads. Don’t know how. This is incredibly quiet. car every four minutes. This is the We’re on the We’re on the old way of getting around Japan. Most people up there are on the new way. That’s why there’s nobody on this road. At least I think it’s uh it’s interesting in Japan because we were speaking with our hostess last night about the economy and she said it’s broken here. Uh and I’m not an economist. I’m not going to pretend to be. But I do know it has quite a bit to do with two major Hold on. and get this gear fixed. Nope. Trials from the road. Anyway, there’s two kind of major factors I think that are impeding Japan’s growth right now. The first is China. China. China. China. China. China. I have to have my China. China. China. Because China, China, China, China, China, China, China. Uh where Japan used to be kind of a manufacturing mecca, it’s not necessarily the case anymore. They still still have a lot in the tech industry and a few other areas, but they’re not the superpower they once were. China’s taken away and as has South Korea in terms of the tech industry. The other big factor in the stagnation in Japan’s economy, as far as I’m concerned, is the birth rate and the lack of immigration. Their their population is declining. I mean, so would Canada’s if we didn’t have immigration. I’m not going to get into politics, but it hasn’t helped their country, at least economically. How many have we done? So, we were at the loss and it was almost 11, right? It’s like 10:50. Mhm. Now, it’s 11:50. We were at 50, now we’re at 27. So, we did 20k in an hour. 20 km an hour that last trip. Yeah. So, I think we’re doing great. All right. In fact, we see a convenient. We may want to stop. Is it like too high time? Getting close. Like look. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sun has reached its too high. Epic apex. I mean, well, we haven’t seen a lot. Brad and I were talking about how we went how many kilometers like 70 70 the longest kilometers of my life up uh and that’s something for you guys out there if you’re planning you’re going to be climbing around Mount Tasso remember there’s no convenience store along the way couple vending machines not enough you guys run out uh at the I we ran out just at the right time. We drank all of our fluids just before we were able to replenish. Oh, good job. But I had to pack had to pack a [ __ ] ton of water up. That seat post looks good, Tim. Thanks. Got it in Japan. Is it faster? Yeah, probably. Bike’s more comfortable, too. Hey, better handling. Yeah, that’s Japanese engineering, man. Yeah. Got about eight more kilometers to go to the ferry. Then it is a two-hour ferry ride across to uh our next island. From what we understand about Shikoku, it uh I mean it’s the least populated island. It’s also obviously more remote, but there’s supposed to be more cycle tourists. There’s a lot more camping. Not that that matters to us. And uh I don’t know, wildlife, I guess. Apparently, there’s bears. I’m not really too concerned about them. They’re black bears. Grizzly bears on the other hand. I don’t [ __ ] with the grizz. Yeah, that’s just as a policy. As a policy, I don’t mess with bats. I don’t mess I don’t mess with grizzly bears. don’t really like spiders much and I don’t mess with snakes, scorpions. Haven’t seen much here other than the spiders. We’ve seen a few dead snakes. Nothing really gross. Saw the preying mantis, right? You guys saw that. Nothing. Nothing crazy. It’s pretty safe here. Oh, you’re wearing socks. Oh, yeah. Nice. Show the chat. Put socks on today. He’s trying it out. There’s a lot of different theories going around about footwear on this group. Tim swears by the wool socks. I’m wearing cotton socks if you care to know just to try it out. I think it looks pretty dorky, but let’s be honest, we’re not here for looks. I mean, we wouldn’t be wearing KE in the first place if we were here for looks, but peak fashion, right? Uh I have come around on the wool. Just can’t come around on the price of it. Paying $50 for a t-shirt. Isn’t that a McLemore song? $50 for a t-shirt. Tim got a new t-shirt. Oh. Tim’s gone full Japanese. Got himself a Lawson t-shirt. I think that makes me a tourist, but I’m not sure. Yeah. I I thought that before you got the shirt like we were doing a good job of blending in. Like we didn’t really stick out much. No. But now you did that. Now it’s just Look, you’re like, “Oh, he’s for you’re outing us.” Yeah, it’s true. Fresh pave. A nice little public washroom. Oh, thank God. It’s on the side of the road. I forgot. I had to pee so bad I forgot. I had to pee. So, it’s not going to work. I had to pee so bad I forgot. Here’s the OG Japanese toilet. So, hold that. Basically, you aim in this way and you just squat and do your business like that and then you get up. That’s There’s nothing much more to it. But don’t you face the other way? I don’t I I I maybe you do. Nobody ever taught me. I never got a lesson. I don’t know. You would if you went the other way, you would put it down in the hole. Well, let’s see what it looks like. Cuz I’ll go wash my shoes off in there. Put my water bottle. Every time we see them, they’re trying to fix their bailers jammed up with rice. Not hay, rice. But we This is our first headwind day. But I’m trying to stay at the front to help the fellas who had a tough leg day yesterday. I skipped leg day as Daryl commented, but now I’m at the front being a good worker, making sure these guys have a good pace and lots of water. Almost at the ferry. 46 in, six to go. 109. Still hot. Okay, listen to this you guys. I just cracked the code. I figured out why there’s so many vending machines. So, says people can make money by allowing vending machines to be placed on their property in Japan. So, how it works? A vending machine company installs and maintains the machine. The property owner provides the small space and the electricity. In return, the owner gets either fixed monthly rent, commissionbased pay, or a hybrid of both. So, it’s basically you own a house and you want to put a vending machine on the side of it. Like that shop we were just at. You want to sell it, you like he put a little bench there and stuff for people. It’s like a little way to make money. It’s kind of a the vending machine game is a side hustle. Well, we are in Oita, something like that. Hey, Uzuki. Uzuki. Okay, we’re in Uzigi. Look at this pretty little temple. Isn’t that nice? Here’s some fresh pave. Thank you. Getting close. Just few more K to the ferry. Plan is we’re going to get our ticket and then go stock up on beers for the ferry ride. They sell them on board, but they do sell them on board. Tim believes we don’t want to be left at We don’t want to take that chance. Get awfully thirsty on a 2hour ferry ride. That’s probably a four. It’s punishable. It’s punishable in uh drink strong ethos as as T- Sharky would say. That’s a that is a punishable offense. A two-hour ferryy ride with no chews or beer. That’s That’s a penalty. Not having that. Well, we probably should have took the road here. Oh, Lori. It’s just my pedal. Sanded it down a little bit. Let’s have a a call and pedal strike count on the on YouTube. That’s number three. Yeah, my pedals have taken a [ __ ] kicking on this trip. Nice, too. Yeah. Shout out uh Velo or do you say Vevel Orange? I don’t know. I’d say Vel. Shout out Vel. I’ve had uh I got a I’m running their stem right now and uh their bars. We got to do a gear video where we talk about gear and be gear. Gear and beer. Beer gear tour. We have enough gear and gear. You’re not going to find a guy who thinks more about gear and be gear and equipment and beer than uh this guy here. He takes takes it ser he just spent like 20 minutes talking to me about disc brakes. Hey, welcome to Gear and Beer with Tim. That’s actually a good idea. Yeah, I’m on a side side channel. It’s gear and beer. All right, that’s going to be the title of our gear and beer episode. Okay, crack a beer, settle in, learn about gear. Yeah. And I’ll be like I’ll be like, uh, who was the guy in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? Oh, uh, Robin Robin Leech. I’ll be like Robin Leech and you’ll just be giving me a tour. Oh, next up is the front pany. A palatial pany. Oh, look inside. So roomy and full of wool. All right, so we’re trying to find the fairy. We’re not having luck, but perhaps this sign provides a a hint. So, you got to use your Google Translate. Usuki Ferry Terminal will be relocated to the new ferry terminal on Saturday, May 17th. So, we’re here. It’s over there. That is the ferry. Oh, you’re right. Over there. I I thought it looked like a ferry. It’s all blocked off here, though. Do we go down? We got to go back according to that. We got to go on the 217. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Down that way. Okay. I got I think I got it here. My So, for those of you following at home, don’t go to the old fairy terminal. Go to the new ferry terminal. Thank us later with the super chat. You’re welcome. Yeah. Yeah. You’re welcome. Finding out the hard way. We just saved you guys a lot of heartache. Yeah. But go to Lawson first because there’s no convenience stores anywhere around here. So, we’re going to have to ride back. Mark that down. Yeah. Well, let’s go get the tickets. Beer run. Heading to the fairy. Heading to the fairy. Heading to the fairy. Uhoh. Oh, I have I have no Oh my goodness. Okay. Um I guess is it full? Is it full? Like it’s just not running. No. Well, it looks like our full. Is that why it is cancelled? Looks like fair is not happening until 5:30. 5:35 and it’s 2:42 now. We busted our humps to get here. Do we Oh, I have I have no Oh my goodness. Okay. Um, it’s I guess is it full? Like it’s just not running. No. Well, it looks like our full. Is that why it is cancelled? Looks like fairy is not happening until 5:30. 5:35 and it’s 2:42 now. We busted our humps to get here. Do we? So, we got to do another bonus bonus bike breakdown that we weren’t expected in order to take our bikes on the fairies. We think maybe it was full, but not for bikes. Just [ __ ] [ __ ] full. I don’t know. It’s Sometimes things here don’t always make sense. There was no room for any more cars. So, we can go on by ourselves, but we can’t go on with our bikes. They’re considered cars, but they’re I guess. So, Tim decided he was going to he he started like strongarmming this woman and it worked. No. Well, no, you were nice. I’m kidding about the strong. No, he was actually very nice. He just said, “Please, like,” and he’s and Yeah, he ended up negotiating our way onto the ferry. Yeah. And we just have to break him down and put him in a rinko bag. So, here we No, not at all, man. Not at all. But I wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, let’s do it again. [Music] Okay, we’re carrying the bike onto the [ __ ] boat now. Oh, this is [ __ ] gosh. Brad, Brad, Brad, slow down. Slow down. You’re going to grab No. Stop. Stop. Stop. Look behind you. Yeah. [Music] Holy [ __ ] Right. This was the wrong way to do this. Yeah. Yeah. [Music] You should put it in there sideway. The slippers walk the slippers around. The rules. The rules are getting to us. We’re about to buck the system. The sandals on. When do you wear sandals? When do you not wear sandals? When do your feet stink? Your feet always stink. When do people think we’re stinky? Why people? All the time. All the time. But we’re bike tripping. We think that we’re working cuz we’re athletes. So yeah, this is a 2-hour ferry. So we got three beers and salami. One very warm. It gets warm so fast. These are good. The slightest of cold. These are like How do you describe these? Bugles. Oh, those are them. I said I haven’t known any bugles. really beautiful. Here we go again. [Music] So, here’s the situation. We didn’t book a hotel for tonight. We’re in Yawatahama and uh we got nowhere to stay and it’s dark. So, we’re gonna see what we can do. Wish us luck. Yo, I’ll pull up a bench tonight. It’s not that cold. I can use my wet towel to keep me warm. Sleep in my wrinkle bag. That’s brilliant. We’re having too many of these dark nights getting to where we’re trying to go. lately, but the days aren’t as long as we need. They’re just too damn short. Or maybe we’re just too damn ambitious. All right, we got a rim. It was tense there for a minute, but we found this beauty. Century Hotel. The road provided yet again tomorrow. Uh, so we stumbled upon Shamato River. OGI sushi place. Shimanto River. Shimanto. These guys are damn busting our walls. All these old guys here. We’re just hanging on. There’s there’s basically no menu and they’re just like you’re going to [ __ ] get what you get and you’re not going to this could be interesting. So, but we got beer. So, Nagasaki Nagasaki area Yeah. And then um uh This could be a time guys continue to bust our balls. They’re uh they gave us their food. Yeah, we’ve been eating that. Oh, yeah. So, you’re supposed to water. You put your hand in the water with your hand. You’re supposed to use your hands. No, we went to put in the soy sauce and they all lost their [ __ ] And as a joke, as a joke, I asked for a fork and the roof just about blew off the place. What do you think, Bradley? It’s very good. This guy’s This guy’s OG. We don’t have a clue what’s going on. These guys are hammered. They’re loving it. There it is. Okay, Bradley, get in there. I don’t know. I don’t know what that is. It looks like a squid. Squid here. Some kind of a squid going in. He just stumbled on his go. It’s good. Please. Hi. Thank you.

Southern Japan Bikepacking. Shikoku and Kyushu. Beers, sushi and bikes…what more do you need?