Konnichiwa, Steven!
SM>I promised to answer your question about biking here:
Thanks mate.
SM> BP> Hey Steve, please tell me more about your Origin line. Are you biking
SM> BP> in Japan?
SM>Let's see.  I teach English to company workers here so let's use some
SM>adjectives.  Biking in Japan is:
Adjectives...hmmmm
SM>1.  Expensive.  This is true for everything else here as well so it is to
SM>be expected.  Parts and supplies can cost up to twice as much as they
SM>would in North America.  The actual bikes aren't that much more expensive
SM>but still more than the North American list.
How about the size. I have heard, that most of the bikes, that are used
by the local people, which must be quite a large number, are not really
suitable for.....let me see....ahhhh...Ganjies, is that the expression
used by the locals for strangers from America?
SM>2.  Confusing.  Most of Japan is mountainous so the straight roads are
SM>mostly highways and not suitable for riding.  Most other roads do not have
SM>names, tend to quite winding and are not laid out on nice grid patterns.
SM>Navigating is done (in my case) by:
SM>- good map reading.  I find a 1:50,000 map shows enough detail and makes a
SM>nice easy-to-use 1 cm = 500 m scale.  I can't read Japanese all that well
SM>but I'm mostly okay with maps.
Must be good hiking country
SM>- dead reckoning.  As in, "Let's see...I cross the bridge on the Tenryu
SM>river and follow Route 150 for about...um...3 km and then look for where
SM>it splits and follow the left fork."  A good cycling computer comes in
SM>handy.
Hey Steven how about one of the navigating computers, that let you know
exactly where you are. Satellite Navigation. They should be not too
expensive over there?
SM>3.  Crowded. In addition to being winding, the roads are quite narrow.  A
SM>helmet is essential and I use a mirror clipped onto my glasses.
Yes I use a helmet. Is compulsory now. Besides, it tkes the task of having
to make a decision what to wear when riding......;)
SM>4.  Hilly.  Again, it's the mountains.  I would like to get a road bike
SM>with a double chainring that has a 53T large ring and really zoom but I
SM>need a triple chainring with its low gearing to get up some of the hills
SM>around here.
Might be advantageous to keep the revs up, and not bust something, including
your guts..
SM>5.  Hot.  Japan is in Asia and summers tend to hot and humid.  I usually
SM>stop riding in July and August because it is just too draining even early
SM>in the morning.  I've had the experience of going riding for 30-40
SM>minutes, work up a total body sweat without going very fast, come home and
SM>shower and *still* be sweating when I come out.  Yecch.
Know the feeling, is happening to me every day now, take my steed out for
a ride every morning, on a well sorted out circuit, of about 14 ks length.
Gets the old ticker really working.....sometimes the sweat dripping of my
forehead obscures my vision .....and loving it....hehehe
SM>As for me, I live in a town called Shimada on the Pacific coast, about 210
SM>km southeast of Tokyo.  If you can't find that on your map, look for a
SM>town called Shizuoka about 180 km from Tokyo and I'm 30 km past that on a
SM>river.
Shimada, yup found it, there must be mountains in the background.....
hmmmm you might even see Mt Fuji....can you?
SM>The area is hilly but not bad for riding.  Going up the river is quite
SM>beautiful with enough up-and-down to make it interesting and not too much
SM>traffic early in the morning.   There is a large park across the street
That sounds really good, refreshing for the mind as well as for the body.
SM>that has a paved road of about 2.8 km around the perimeter so I can also
SM>go there for some round-and-round.  There is a large hill just west of me
SM>that needs the middle chainring to get up one side and the small ring to
SM>get up the other but after that it's flat all the way to a town called
SM>Hamamatsu, about 70 km farther down the coast from Shizuoka.  It makes for
Hamamatsu...yup down the coast a bit...found it. Seems to be a larger town.
SM>an nice metric century (100 km) ride if the weather is nice.  I follow the
SM>train tracks to help navigation and can stop and use the stations'
SM>washrooms to refill my water bottles.
Noticed the railway line as well as the freeway along that route.
SM>Right now, it's too dark in the morning for me since most of the small
SM>roads do not have lights.  It's too cold as well so I've given up until
SM>spring.
Sensible thing to do.
SM>Well, that should tell you more than you really wanted to know about
SM>riding here.  If you have any more questions, please let me know.
Enjoyed following your ride. Do you meet many of the local people on your
ride. Another thing I wanted to ask you is about the quality of the
bikes you use.
I only have a sort of a Mountain Touring Bike. Not really what I wanted
but the only one that came close to my old fashioned tastes... One thing
I have noticed is the relative short live of the rear gears-sprocket, they
seem to never last longer then two years. Or about 6000km then some of the
teeth are worn away or even broken off. Is that normal for just using the
bike for touring and every day use?
Greetings from sunny Redland...Bill
Sajonara....(correct me please)
 * OLX 2.1 TD * e-mail: bill.piehler@ssbbs.brisnet.org.au
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