Bike Trip to Asuka (Day 1)

I'm sitting in a hotel bathroom in the mountains of Asuka, in Nara, Japan. The bike trip I've taken this weekend is one of the most fulfilling, surprising things I've done while abroad. Knowing that much time has passed, that blog writing was more infrequent this trip, I've decided to retell the story of my day to you first, before my bike trip has even concluded.

I left early this morning with Emily and Veronica. These two ladies were the same phenomenal people who went with me to the homeland (aka Hogwarts) a couple weeks ago.
 

Veronica on the left, Emily in the middle, the homeland directly behind us

We took a train from Kyoto to Nara. I found myself successfully asleep right as we arrived at our destination. It was in the station that we met up with the three other people on the trip, Anne, Koji, and Tetsuya. They all are members of the International Outdoors Club (IOC) in Japan, a group that organizes hikes and camping among English speakers. We all became acquainted (having met for the first time this morning) on our way to the bike rental shop in downtown Nara. At this time I learned Tetsuya works in a pharmaceutical company. With this realization I began to ask him a number of prying questions about how sensitive information is handled and limitations on what can be shared with the public. Standard small talk u kno.

It was soon that we found the place and selected our candy colored bicycles. Mine is bright red, with a lot of style.

By the time we departed by bike it was a hot, humid, cloudless 85°. I was beginning to doubt my decision to skip sunscreen. I shrugged it off, plugged in my earbuds, and listened to Kendrick's "To Pimp a Butterfly."

On the outskirts of downtown Nara. Image courtesy of Koji.

Even moving out of downtown Nara was scenic. With wide fields, a number of lakes, and mountains surrounding us wherever we went. After about two hours of biking we stopped for lunch. I finished my nalgene, two sandwiches, and was sweating from every pore. The food tasted like anything I've ever eaten, in part because I was ravenous by the time we ate. I also discovered my bike gears, realizing I had pedaled up a few very intense hills on the most difficult gear. 

The next two hours put me on a spiritual journey. I found myself asking many questions, such as: what are the symptoms of heat stroke? What constitutes a "beginners bike trip"? And, can I avoid vomiting for the next couple hours? Thankfully I wasn't the only tired, tomato-faced biker. On a break Koji took one look at our faces and politely suggested we stop at a cafe for some "iced coffee and cake." We pedaled off-trail to a town, finding a cafe beside the local grocery store. This cafe was where I encountered the ultra deluxe, raspberry pacman ghost cake. It was three dollars.

We went the next hour rehydrating and eating. It was a fucking utopia, where I was able to recover from queasiness and replenish all the water I was still sweating out of my body. At this point in the day my water intake was at two nalgenes, one bottle of water, and one sports drink.

After our extended break in the cafe we reembarked on a slightly cooler, slightly cloudier afternoon trip. Although this chunk was more manageable, I still wondered if the next morning they'd find me dead, like the first man to ever run a marathon. Not unlike him, I had woefully under-trained for the trip. Even though I was holding my own and in love with my surroundings, I wondered about my prospects of seeing tomorrow.

On our way to Asuka

At this point in the afternoon, we were fairly comfortable with navigating roads in Japan, though I will say this: our leader, Koji, has a very loose interpretation of a walk signal. And Japanese roads often have little to no bike path. This was more relevant in the beginning and end of our day trips, where we biked through cities. I kept thinking back to that moment in One Day (spoiler if you haven't read/seen it) where the female lead gets randomly, and violently hit by a car at the end of the story. I wasn't really afraid, so much as bemusing the thought. Even in the heat, dehydration, and longer bike stints, the landscape was consistently beautiful. Every once in a while I would glide, my hair blowing back, listening to music, looking at mountains, and feel an undiluted bliss. 

Starting with me on the left, Koji, Anne, Tetsuya, Emily, and Veronica

After biking a couple more hours we arrived in Asuka, an area that is all trees, mountains, and farmland. It reminded me of a national park, minus all the giddy camera-clad tourists. We biked for a bit before I sheepishly asked Koji to stop so I could take a picture. He smiled and agreed. While I took some pictures he told me that "everywhere in Asuka is this beautiful."

We got to our hotel shortly after, walking our bikes up this one last, very steep hill. Eager to shower, we washed off, turned on the AC, drank water, and met up for dinner an hour later. Our dinner was a traditional Japanese meal, complete with a full fish! I attempted to pick it apart with my chopsticks, but did a poor job in comparison to Anne, Tetsuya, and well pretty much everyone.

By the end of the meal, most of us were exhausted, but Koji was determined to party. Remember, the three of us are college students. Anne was 30, Koji maybe 45, and Tetsuya around 60. We agreed to walk around looking for fireflies, then drink wine on the deck afterwards. We didn't stray too far from the hotel, but did spot a few fireflies nearby. I climbed up a stony hill and sat on a ledge looking at the hills and fields. Soon after we headed back to the patio, where we drank and talked for a little less than an hour. It was very relaxed, which was nice in the context of a more challenging bike trip.

Everyone went to bed at 10pm, but I'm up writing in the bathroom. It's going on 11, we're set to wake up at 7:30 for breakfast and a morning bike around Asuka. I will post pictures and write a bit more about day 2 after it's happened.