Japan - Yoshi; Bridges and GoodByes

I woke up and thanked the lord(s), god(desses), and civil engineers for not having the gazillion ton metal bridge fall all around me last night. I am alive.

Even folded into the confounds behind a west facing island hill, the morning sun came to brighten up my day. 5:47 am and I am fully awake.

This picture is from the previous night before bed using Yoshi's Cannon and tripod. Seriously, this guy brought everything with him.

As yesterday, chef Yoshi prepared a new meal to share. Here is a little beef we picked up yesterday night (kept cold by his on board cooler) sautéed next to greens and garlic served with coconut rice. 

I tell you, Yoshi even keeps coffee with him! Sure it's the instant kind but it works for him. Me? I politely declined. I'm turned off by instant coffee the same way a militant vegetarian gets turned off when taken to a surprise steak dinner. 

Off to conquer the remaining four bridges today. 

The first time I faced these "steel behemoths" I was so in awe by the magnitude of their structures and range of distance. I still am.

Yoshi making up the incline to begin the bridge in the background that Sis and I spent the night at our first time across. It's been fun pointing out and reliving the places big sister and I stopped off at for breaks or camps along the way, I feel a little wiser this time around.

Yoshi has more utilities than Batman. Two watches, a cycling computer, two video cameras (one with a special zoom), two cameras (one digital), a MacBook Air laptop, iPhone, bluetooth speakers, and I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. 

There's a special gelato parlor along the Kaidō where tour buses, neighbors, and cyclists all stop for a treat. There, we meet two nice girls tackling the whole series of bridges in one day.

Here I am staring down at a lemon and mango cone. I moved outside and we locked glances, niether wanting to show the other a weakness. Locked into a death stare, it was starting to melt under the hot sun and I thought I'd soon have him. It didn't flinch. Then my eyes began to water and I felt an itch under my nose, I had to brake eye contact first! Damn. What can I say, he was definitely the alpha in that particular situation. 

I'll say it again, these bridges are stunning up close.

We stopped underneath one of the massive upright beems not to snap this photo but to talk with another cyclist who was traveling the opposite direction. 

That is why meeting another cyclist moving in the same direction as you is so precious. I've seen many cyclists zoom past me the other way. Some stop for a chat. Moving in opposite directions, eventually we would meet somewhere down the line. Even if one of us stayed still the other party would move closer and pass by eventually.

But think about what it takes to meet someone going the same way as you. Two parties that travel at pretty much the same average speed, sometimes along the same route. So for the same reason that one subway train wouldn't catch up with another in front of it, we rarely find another traveler (who might just be a day ahead of us but constantly advances the same speed and distance as us) to join up with. 

In shorter words, it's always a joy when it happens.

This time along the water I noticed some natural whirlpools starting to form. At first I thought they were wakes made by some invisible boat. No, they are indeed whirlpools. Cool! I wish I could have watched these a little longer but the sun was falling and we didn't wanted to make it to Imabari on Shikoku island for a nights rest. So on we went.

Arriving right when we were supposed to, the sun began to set as we approached the last, very long, suspension bridge. The green islands, the darkening waters below, the silver beams of iron and steel melted into the romantic atmosphere effortlessly. 

The parting sun. At this point we were just about done with the final bridge. Sun would give a soft glow for another half hour, so we moved on.

On the ascent up to the final bridge, I saw a man walking his bike. Having been in that situation many times (embarrassed to walk my broken bike as everyone else cycled passed) I stoped off and asked if everything was alright with his bike. Seven times out of ten the tube has a puncture and the person didn't bring a spare or the tools to replace it. I did. Happy to help as I've patched, changed, and fixed more than my needed share of bike tubes along the way here.

But no. The reason turned out to be nothing mechanical at all. Sort of anyways. It's a bio-mechanical kind of  trouble. Jason's tendon was hurting him and knew all too wisely that it's better to rest the debilitating injury.  

And wouldn't you know it, we met Jason again that night and invited him to join our campsight. Power in numbers.

We've set up camp in a nice park, plenty of room for all. Even another Japanese random cyclist decided to join the fun. Yoshi and I were welcoming Jason and I was saying goodbye. Tomorrow I travel westward and these two head east. However, the topic we are all concerning ourselves with tonight is tomorrows weather forecast. Rain.

Stay dry my friends. Love,

-A