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Sunday, 21 December 2014

12/10/2014 - Cycle Touring Japan - Day 21 - Gotta love direct tailwind.

 

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Distance cycled: 117.6km from onomichi to Hiroshima, West Honshu, Japan.
Average speed: 22.2Km/h
Moving Time: 5h18m
Elevation Ascended: 1360m
Total Distance on Current trip: 1,852km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 10,439km
Money spent: $50

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Having finished cycling over the two remaining bridges and a river crossing to Onomichi this morning I was back on the road with little to no shoulder.
I had a couple of options for cycling to Hiroshima from where I was, one route being the mountains where it would be a significantly shorter distance but more difficult or take the longer coastal route, both of the options had their pros and cons but knowing that Typhoon Vongwong was on its way from the South east I anticipated the gusts of wind would be working in my favor.. And indeed it was, by far the best tailwind I have ever had, just zooming past traffic with little effort, for about 60km I kept up a great pace but soon got mentally tired of the flatness of this coastal road, offering no good vantage points for a decent view of anything really.
To mix it up a little I then went into the mountains finding a more direct route to Hiroshima.
What was strange about this mountain road were the dozens of praying mantises  sitting stagnant on the asphalt of the road, it is very uncommon for me to see and find them for my macro photography but here there were many.
Eventually I made it over the mountain range and down into the mess of the city of Hiroshima; the down hill would have been far more enjoyable if there were not crappy drivers on the road; I'll save you the bitching of what I think of Japanese drivers as I have mentioned it many times before on this blog.
So, before 2pm I made it to the hostel where I checked in for 2 nights, the approaching typhoon is suppose to be the most powerful of the year but my last two encounters with typhoons here in Japan have been somewhat exaggerated.
We will see tomorrow as it is due to hit in the morning.
This evening I cooked for a bunch of guys I met at the hostel, all of them traveling alone it was good to be able to communicate once again.. It had been a few days.
After a few beers I was ready for bed from many kilometers of cycling over the past few days.

 

 

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Ne afraid, very afraid… the albino dinosaur

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one of the bridge crossings.

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laundry day is the same day for everyone I suppose

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