All this luck is makin' me nervous

So I will start this off by saying that the past few days have just been absolutely...rainy. I actually don't mind the rain that much, because really it is just like taking a shower all day. However, in this shower the water has dirt in it. Also, there are a lot of cars driving through the shower, quickly, and very close to your body. Other than that, basically the same experience.

Seriously, though, my only real concern with the rain is that it is hard to dry my shoes out quickly enough to ride again the next day, and I would like to avoid becoming a human stink-bomb at least for another few weeks. If anyone has any suggestions/tricks to prevent shoe problems, lay 'em on me in the comments section!

Onto the real meat of the story. I think that the overall tone of this trip so far has been one of unbelievable luck. I would like to think that I am just really good at being optimistic and finding the silver lining...but I just don't think that is the case. Here are two of the most recent examples:

From where we left off last, I was on my way to Nagoya. Before I get into that, though, I must tell everyone about my "coach" for this trip. Since I had no idea what I was doing when I started, through the power of the internet I sought out those who could enlighten me. Among those I found was a complete badass of a Canadian, Corey, who did a monster bike ride through Japan in 2009. Since contacting him, we have emailed frequently and he has given me countless bits of advice and routing help that have saved me time, energy and have helped make my travels even more wonderful!

At his recommendation, I stopped at a bike shop in Gifu that he had touted as one of the best in Japan. As it turns out, the bike shop IS the best in Japan, as far as I am concerned. I have been riding on crappy tires since starting the trip, and I was looking for some good replacements. Not only did I get replacements, but I also got half-dozen small adjustments on the bike, some tea and an awesome T-shirt...all for free. Maybe, as a reader, you can understand why all this luck is making me nervous.

Me and Ken from Kurosawa Bikes in Gifu!

Following in the footsteps of giants. The same Ken, but picture taken from Corey's blog .

The next two days went by pretty quickly. I stayed in Nagoya with David Fox, another native of Colorado, which obviously means he was a cool guy to hang out with. I also decided to take an impromptu rest day, so I could do absolutley nothing in the hopes that my knee, which has been bothering me, would feel better. Best decision ever, I felt like a rock star the next day as I set off for Hamamatsu, the longest ride of the trip at 126 km.

The morning after arriving in Hamamatsu began wonderfully, with a delicious, authentic Hong Kong breakfast. I was couch surfing with a girl from Hong Kong in Hamamatsu, which was already pretty rare because single girls living in apartments hardly ever accept requests from single travelling guys. However, it turns out that Nikita (my host) was a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and probably could have broken my arms and legs without much trouble, if a problem should arise. The day was cloudy, and rain was sure to come, but I certainly wont be able to get to the north of Japan by not riding my bike, so I set off with 60 miles to cover.

Hong Kong toast! Hmmm...toast, peanut butter and I'll let you decide the rest

Me and Nikita. Sorry for the angling, picture was taken from the seat of a vespa.

The rest of the day was nothing but rain and headwinds, which would be pretty depressing for some. However, I tried my best to cope by improvising songs to capture my mood, plan my future and think about what to write about in the blog. Unfortunately, I must have been terribly good at the first part, because I had my own damn songs stuck in my head for most of the day and couldn't think about very much else.

Chugging through the day, the hours passing, legs pedaling, it was a gloomy, rainy day but at least I had a rhythm going. I began seeing 2 things that are good to note for cycle tourists. The first thing was a series of enormous mountains between me and my goal. The second thing was a series of signs indicating an upcoming tunnel. I thought to myself "Man, I hate tunnels...but at this point in the day, I probably hate climbing mountains even more, so I'll take the tunnel." Unfortunately, sometimes these choices aren't left to us, and as I approached the monster, 3.2 km tunnel I saw a big sign saying bikes were not allowed. Dejected, soaking wet, I pulled off to the side of the road at 5:15 p.m. and surveyed my options.

Not yesterdays tunnel...but maybe you can get a feel for it

Basically, back tracking 5 kilometers and then taking a mountain road over the previously mentioned peaks was my only entrance into Shizuoka, my goal for the day. However, since it was too late for such an endeavor, I decided to find a different place to sleep and call my host for the day and tell him that I couldn't make it. I made my call to Mr. Eva Yamaguchi and told him that I foolishly came to a tunnel that I couldn't use and that I wouldn't make it into Shizuoka that day. To my surprise, he insisted on driving all the way from Shizuoka to pick up myself and my bike and take the sodden pair into the city. Entirely too tired and surprised to refuse, I agreed and he came to pick the bike and I up!

The story doesn't stop there, though. Mr. Yamaguchi had planned for my coming by talking to a few of his friends, a Sri Lankan guy named Namal and his Chinese girlfriend Yanan. Namal thought it would be great to cook some Sri Lankan food for everyone and eat it over at his apartment, so that was what we did. What followed was one of the most delicious meals with some of the nicest people I have met on my trip. Sadly, in my tired haze, I forgot to bring a camera to Namal's, so we must stay friends only on Facebook and in memory (until I visit Sri Lanka, of course!).

My expectation for Sunday, August 21st: sleeping somewhere random, in the rain, waiting anxiously to climb a mountain in the morning. Reality: warm shower, dinner with friends and an unforgettable night.

Me and the man himself, Eva Yamaguchi!