I’d initially only planned on staying one night in the town of Healdsburg but I’d had such a rotten time on the ride there that I asked Taya, my Warmshowers host, if I could stay another night. She’d been so kind that I didn’t feel uncomfortable doing so and I was glad when she accepted.…
I decided to take a rest day in Newport as I had been riding for about seven days and I try not to keep going for too long without a break. The motel I was staying in, the Money Saver Motel, felt like luxury to me after a lot of the hotels I had been…
The day I was to leave Vancouver for America dawned grim and rainy and I took rather longer dragging myself out of the front door of my friend’s than I perhaps should have. My plan was to ride as close to the Canada/US border as I could and camp on the Canadian side allowing me…
After descending from Mount Fuji I headed off on the road that would take me towards my flight from Haneda Airport and onwards to Canada. First I had a little climb and then the start of another big descent out of Fuji’s foothills. The day had already started shading into the afternoon when I had…
The Norikura skyline is Japan’s highest road peaking at 2702m, it’s also a beautiful cycle. Unfortunately due to it’s altitude the road is not open all year round. As far as I can make out, according to the above sign, it’s open for bicycles from July to September from 6:00 to 18:00 and in October…
As I arrived into Takayama the rain thankfully stopped, so while I was still very wet I wasn’t, at least, getting wetter. Given the afternoon was already old I headed straight for the couch surfing host I was staying with’s place. Passing the headquarters of some strange new religion on the way. Simona, the host,…
I left Kyoto, riding down the beautiful Kama river to start with. I was riding from one former Japanese capital to another: Nara, though it was 1200 years since the city had held this position. The ride between the two cities was pretty uninspiring as it was mainly on narrow busy urban roads. Nara itself…
I was sad to leave Imabari and the Tokunaga family; it’s always difficult to say goodbye to people who have been so kind. Off I went though, once more I would be crossing the Shimanami Kaido, the series of bridges linking Shikoku and Honshu. I wanted to get across as fast as possible as another…
Day 15 – 7 October The next morning I woke and decided to give my bike a much needed clean. I wasn’t in a massive hurry again as I’d arranged another Warmshowers.org host for that evening. After cleaning my bike I set off up the western part of Shikoku’s coast towards Temple 39 about 50kms…
Day 12 – 4 October I woke on the 12th day of my pilgrimage with the sound of the waves susurrating against the shore. Surfers were already in the water even though it wasn’t yet 7am. Today I’d be trying to get round the temples of Kochi city. I hadn’t thought this would be too…
Riding ROUND 