hiking again. still miss mountain biking

What seemed like a last minute decision turned into a nice day for a hike.  It was cold and much longer and strenuous than we had planned for, but a hike in Japan always produces spectacular scenery.

















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

no fun when you're the only one

Image
I hadn't realized how busy I've been since September.  During the summer months it's as if time stands still.  There's not much to do at work and the hot hot heat essentially forces me to stay indoors.  But I guess at some point I must have decided that I was tired of staying indoors.  I look back at my calendar and realize that I had done quite a bit of things in the months of September, October, and early November. Perhaps it was my trip to Shimonoseki that made me realize I should go out more and do things that I want to do.  Although I do enjoy being at home, I thought, I can always be at home, but I can't always be in Japan. From when I was younger, I remembered seeing an informational pamphlet about Kyushu.  One of the places listed was Takachiho Gorge.  From the pictures, it looked absolutely gorgeous and I hoped one day I would be able to see it.  However many years later, I got to see it. The drive was long but with good company, a...
Read more

iki island: an original blog title

Image
Guidebooks will tell you that you can tour Iki Island in one day;  catch an early morning ferry to the island, then return back to Hakata later that evening.  Most of the guidebooks don't recommend that however.  In fact, they suggest spending at least one evening and one entire day. At first I thought two days seemed excessive.  The island is very small.  One entire loop of the island would result in only around 50km of riding depending on your route.  On a bike, that means only 2 hours of riding. I thought someday I'd plan a trip to Iki; arriving in the morning, circling the island, then returning home later that night. While I'm always up for quick, high-paced adventures, I wanted to enjoy the island. I suggested the idea of visiting the island to Seamus and Cash.  They agreed. We chose a 3-day weekend for our adventures and ended up staying for 2 nights. My recommended amount of days to visit Iki Island is as follows: Stay forever ...
Read more

MBC 2017 - Pre Departure, Pre-Race, and Stage 1

Image
It's difficult to find a place to begin. Words, pictures, and videos cannot even begin describe the experiences that I had gone through the past week.  I still don't understand or know the feelings that I have felt both before, during, and after the event, so here is my best attempt at capturing the raw emotions of it all. Pre The most difficult challenges in life always seem to be made more difficult by the other small unforeseen challenges that stand in the way.  I was stung by a wasp, my ankle was sprained, a typhoon came, and I had to prepare and present on an orientation committee.  These hardships, I will admit, set me back a bit.  A massive decrease in training and massive increase in stress.  None of that really mattered though in the end, I was still going to go and do my best. 2017.08.10 I had an orientation that was re-scheduled due to a typhoon the day before departure.  Of course it added stress.  I had to travel to the city, pr...
Read more