Day Three of Two on Billy's BIke Camp.
Well, it would turn out to feel like a third day. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Wake up in the morning, realize that I am actually more comfortable than I want to admit, and take a while to get up and going. Must be old age. Once up, I wander around aimlessly in rough circle admiring the view and snapping photos. Nice view in the morning too.
I hadn't been up for long when I have a visitor - a nice old dude who greets me with a smile and a big "Good Morning." We chat a bit, he's a bit surprised that I've slept up here (worried about the cold), but soon forgets all that and drags me over to the viewing platform and shows me all the sights - pointing out the famous mountains we can see, including Mt Fuji! We can also see a mountain away to the west, faint and hazy on the horizon, but definitely there, he tells me it's Haku-san which shocks me as it's all the way on the other side of Honshu. Makes me realize Japan isn't that big after all.
He also shows me through a photo album stored in a tin in the viewing platorm - lots of great photos of the area in all seasons taken over a good few years, someone's put a bit of work into it. There is a visitor's book too. He soon has somewhere else he needs to be, however, so bids me farewell, and disappears down the trail at a sprightly pace. Nice guy.
I devour breakfast - a raisin roll, an apple, some cookies and a cup of coffee. Glad I brought my little stove, I realize that disqualifies me from being 'hard' but the warm drink is as nice this morning as it was last night. Just as I finish and tidy up a bit, I get another visitor - another old boy, this one had been forewarned about the crazy gaijin on top of the mountain, but he was also very friendly and gave me the same tour of the views. He also told me that the first guy I met was the one who made the album - Old Guy #1 hadn't mentioned it - now there's some modesty for you.
After chatting for a few minutes my new second new friend for the morning leaves me with a warning to not catch a cold, and now it's time to pack up and get rolling. Packing up is my least favourite part of hiking/camping, but fortunately with such a light load it goes pretty quickly and soon I'm ready to roll.
My bike all packed up on morning 2.
Off we go, down the trail - new trail, previously only dreamt of - 'round a corner, and...UP. Darnit. It's only a little bit, though, and soon levels out, for a 100m run to a toilet block. Small, old, wooden and smelly, it nevertheless would have been good to know about it if I had needed it last night. Luckily I didn't, nor do I need it now, so I keep moving. Turning right around the 'loo the track suddenly heads downhill in earnest, and it's only rideable about half the time.
It does soon level out and oh my jeebus it becometh fun. More fun than a month full of Sunday-Schools, it's just me, the trees and perfect singletrack. There are no people, no recent signs of people, just me and my ear-to-ear grin as I ride along a track that must be one of the best-kept secrets in this area. I didn't stop and take any photos in the really fun bits, for obvious reasons, but I did get a few to give one an idea of what it was like. They are deserving of big picures, methinks.
These pictures only give a hint of how much fun it was, I didn't get any shots of the fun, swoopy, curvy bits, or the bits where I got to jump (little, little jumps) off tree roots and things. Strangely enough, although this was the highlight of the trip for me, it is the part that leaves me with the least to talk about (at least that would make sense to non-bike nerds) so I'll just say that this great riding kept up for almost an hour, and then I got deposited out at a beautiful pond full of trout and trout fishermen, but more on that next post.
Wake up in the morning, realize that I am actually more comfortable than I want to admit, and take a while to get up and going. Must be old age. Once up, I wander around aimlessly in rough circle admiring the view and snapping photos. Nice view in the morning too.
I hadn't been up for long when I have a visitor - a nice old dude who greets me with a smile and a big "Good Morning." We chat a bit, he's a bit surprised that I've slept up here (worried about the cold), but soon forgets all that and drags me over to the viewing platform and shows me all the sights - pointing out the famous mountains we can see, including Mt Fuji! We can also see a mountain away to the west, faint and hazy on the horizon, but definitely there, he tells me it's Haku-san which shocks me as it's all the way on the other side of Honshu. Makes me realize Japan isn't that big after all.
He also shows me through a photo album stored in a tin in the viewing platorm - lots of great photos of the area in all seasons taken over a good few years, someone's put a bit of work into it. There is a visitor's book too. He soon has somewhere else he needs to be, however, so bids me farewell, and disappears down the trail at a sprightly pace. Nice guy.
I devour breakfast - a raisin roll, an apple, some cookies and a cup of coffee. Glad I brought my little stove, I realize that disqualifies me from being 'hard' but the warm drink is as nice this morning as it was last night. Just as I finish and tidy up a bit, I get another visitor - another old boy, this one had been forewarned about the crazy gaijin on top of the mountain, but he was also very friendly and gave me the same tour of the views. He also told me that the first guy I met was the one who made the album - Old Guy #1 hadn't mentioned it - now there's some modesty for you.
After chatting for a few minutes my new second new friend for the morning leaves me with a warning to not catch a cold, and now it's time to pack up and get rolling. Packing up is my least favourite part of hiking/camping, but fortunately with such a light load it goes pretty quickly and soon I'm ready to roll.
My bike all packed up on morning 2.
Off we go, down the trail - new trail, previously only dreamt of - 'round a corner, and...UP. Darnit. It's only a little bit, though, and soon levels out, for a 100m run to a toilet block. Small, old, wooden and smelly, it nevertheless would have been good to know about it if I had needed it last night. Luckily I didn't, nor do I need it now, so I keep moving. Turning right around the 'loo the track suddenly heads downhill in earnest, and it's only rideable about half the time.
It does soon level out and oh my jeebus it becometh fun. More fun than a month full of Sunday-Schools, it's just me, the trees and perfect singletrack. There are no people, no recent signs of people, just me and my ear-to-ear grin as I ride along a track that must be one of the best-kept secrets in this area. I didn't stop and take any photos in the really fun bits, for obvious reasons, but I did get a few to give one an idea of what it was like. They are deserving of big picures, methinks.
These pictures only give a hint of how much fun it was, I didn't get any shots of the fun, swoopy, curvy bits, or the bits where I got to jump (little, little jumps) off tree roots and things. Strangely enough, although this was the highlight of the trip for me, it is the part that leaves me with the least to talk about (at least that would make sense to non-bike nerds) so I'll just say that this great riding kept up for almost an hour, and then I got deposited out at a beautiful pond full of trout and trout fishermen, but more on that next post.
posted by kurisu at 9:19 AM
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