A year after committing to this trip I am coming down to the final few days wait, notice has been gladly handed into work and the last few days of the job are dragging slowly by.
Sailing by faster than anything is what would have in the past been my free time, my last few weekends are booked up visiting friends and family and at the very last helping out the 1000cc Historic F3 organisation at the Race Retro show on the stand.
With the final days wait comes final days preparation, the bike has undergone a few minor changes since my last update.
I was struggling for traction on the pedals in the wet so a pair or DMR V8 flat pedals combined with a pair of the cheapest FiveTen stiff soled trainers I could find were purchased. I have ridden a few miles with this setup and have been very impressed, it reminds me to a certain extent of riding in clipless pedals and it really helps keep my feet on the bike in even the worst conditions, fingers crossed it wont be so bad that I really need all this grip.
On a slightly more delicate note is the issue of the saddle, the original saddle seemed comfy enough but I found that on long distances I was getting pressure spots in delicate places I’d rather not have them. After reading way too much about saddles than I wanted to I went for the Fabric Cell Elite Radius, it’s an air cell type saddle that manages to spread my not insignificant mass evenly and so far has fixed the issue of pressure spots I was suffering from.
With regards to navigation and data logging I’ll be using a Garmin Edge Explore 1000 head unit with OpenStreetMap elevation maps of Japan. For some reason Garmin can’t provide English maps and even suggested using OpenStreetMap themselves! I cant fault their honesty but do feel they are missing a trick. There is a fantastic website (here) that lets you download an easy to install map pack for Japan that even includes things like convenience stores, something I’m certain will be very useful!
I have speed and cadence sensors on the bike and will be wearing a chest strap heart rate monitor, so I can see just how much I’ll have been suffering in the Japanese mountains. All of this data will be synced via Garmin connect to Strava and I will hopefully be posting videos of the route maps using the nifty little ReLive app.
The final update to the bike is currently being sorted by my local bike shop while it undergoes it’s last service before I leave. I have asked for a new pair of handlebar grips with bar ends to be fitted that will give me a couple of different riding positions and hopefully will help me stay comfortable on the long rides to come.
I have a rough idea of how I will pack the bike for the flight and have a couple of very large bags to put the bike in before it goes into it’s box. The bags should hopefully be useful in Japan should I ever need to hop on a train as bicycles are not allowed on public transport in one piece.
I am currently debating routes and depending on the weather may head inland on my trip south, skirting north of Nagoya and up to lake Biwa before seeing Kyoto and Osaka, then possibly popping over on the ferry from Wakayama to Tokushima.
Very kindly my family have got me a Japanese sim card with a 7gb a month data allowance. This will be a big help for the trip, letting me keep in touch with everyone and hopefully post a few more updates on here as I get about the country.
I’m certain there will be things I have forgotten about and I’m sure that when I get on the road there will be things I didn’t prepare for, but for the most part I am happy with my efforts and feel ready to deal with whatever I come across. Let’s hope I did my job right!
Three months in japan 