Searching for Spring

It has been a long winter this year, much more snow than I have seen here in the 20 years I have lived on Mount Yatsugatake. I just said goodbye to a family from Toronto , Canada. They came to me looking to ride some nice easy rides in a warm area. I decided to take them to the Seto Inland Sea and Shikoku for 4-5 days of riding. It ended up being a perfect match for them and also myself as I hadn't ridden for the last 4 months. We used ferries and my van to avoid any urban built up areas and managed to get in 4 very good and different rides. We started following the famous Shimanami Cycling route that follows the highway over to Shikoku from the main Island, 2 days following the coast and beautiful rivers then back towards Hiroshima over some forgotten islands. The weather stayed cool but nice for us and we even saw some early blossoms mixed with the citrus fruits as we rode along quiet backroads. We finished the trip in Hiroshima and spent a day being tourists at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museam. I have now visit the Park 4 times and it never gets easier for me emotionally to deal with it but, I truly feel that every human should visit here at least once in their lifetime , It would make the world a much more peaceful place.

Warming Up!

The weather has changed quickly here this year, we have gone from a full on winter season to nice warm spring days quite suddenly here on Yatsugatake Mtn. 2 weeks ago we were riding snowboards in 120 cms of fresh snow and now we are riding the bikes at the lower elevations! This year I was hoping a long break from the bikes would help my body get over all the aches and pains I had lingering on from a few good crashes I took in 2013, but as the new year rolled in I seem to have found ways to abuse myself even further and now am looking forward to some serious recovery on the bike! Looking forward to meeting and riding with you all in 2014, lets have a good one !