Hell and Back

I decided to go for a ride yesterday to actually challenge myself and get a better taste of what the Thailand trip is going to feel like. Erdem said he was going to go for four continuous hours, so I decided on three hours once I got to the river, which should come out to about four hours total. As soon as I left the house, I knew I was in for a painful ride. There were strong gusts of wind even by our apartment in the city. I knew the river was going to be grueling, but it was the only place I could go for some open ground.

I stopped at the bike shop beforehand to pick up some more tubes. I used my last tube this week and did not want to get stuck 30 miles away from home with no cash. After that, I headed to the river. As expected, it was windy, in the wrong direction. I started out biking into 20 mph head winds. That is the one thing that makes biking no fun to me. But I had to keep going.

Things only got worse from there. The wind was only getting stronger. Wind seems to make everything hurt more. My calves felt twinges of cramping, both feet took turns cramping, my back was aching, and I was only 30 minutes into the ride along the river. The only thought that kept me going was that the ride back was going to be a piece of cake. Even that thought started to fade as I saw the sun getting low. I knew the winds would calm down at some point. The thought of not going head-first into the wind was still enough to keep me going.

After about two and a half hours I decided I was too hungry to just turn around and go back. I had to find food if I was going to make it home. I turned off of the river and looked for anything. I made it to a 7-11, but alas, they do not take American credit cards. I was not feeling well, and was getting desperate. I headed for some big buildings I saw nearby, assuming I would have better luck there. And I did. I found a Lawson, which is now my go-to convenience store because they take Amex.

I couldn't resist getting faux-Pringles and ice cream sandwiches. I knew I needed salt and calories, although I probably could have picked something better. I sat out back and had my ~2500 calorie meal feeling pretty happy. The sun was getting low, and there was a lot more open space this far out.

This was the view from behind the store. There were a lot of farms, but not the kind you'd expect in the US. There were a lot of small farms, that seemed they might actually only be for personal use. This was one of the bigger farms.

While I was behind the store, a fellow cyclist, who had seen me in the store, came out back to talk. He didn't speak much English, but enough to have a chat. It was a pleasant break, but with my stomach full, it was time to head back.

This was the best view of the entire trip. It was where I got off of the river to find some food, and where I started my journey home. As you can see, the farther you get away from Tokyo, the more that baseball and soccer fields become golf courses. They equally shared the river banks with farm land out here. There are many nicely-paved bike paths out here. It is not something I would expect to find in the US. Below is a short video I took in one section that, I assume, had a golf course on one side and farm land on the other. I couldn't take a picture while I was riding because it would be blurry and I didn't want to stop.

The tail winds were great on the ride back, for a while. My average speed went from 23 kph to 40 kph. But that slowly dwindled. As the sun was setting, the winds were dying. My average speed worked it's way down to 35 kph. At that point, I was 20-30 km from my exit off of the river, and the winds started to change direction. I was hitting a wall at this point. Not only was I physically drained, but emotionally. My main motivation to keep pedaling was to prevent my legs from cramping, which would happen if I stopped. I didn't think I could make it home, without stopping. At this point, I reconsidered the entire trip to Thailand. This was only half of one day of my trip. There was no way I could do this twice in one day. And what was I going to do on day two?

Just as I was at my worst point, the winds finally stopped. Riding in neutral wind was much easier. My feet were numb and my legs were still cramping, but it was a much more peaceful cramping than before. I, at least, thought I could probably make it home without stopping, which I did. It ended up being about a 5 hour, 120 km ride. I think without the wind it would have been a four hour ride or 145km. It would have also been less painful and tiring.

When I got home it was time to eat. I can't remember the last time I ate like that. I made a full ~1750 calorie dinner and ate it easily. After a couple hours of rest, I was starving again. I made another ~1000 calorie meal. I would go broke if I worked out like this regularly. My appetite finally slowed down this morning. I've had ~1250 calories and am finally not getting hungry again.

All things considered, I think the trip is do-able. There's going to be more eating than even I thought, and it will be a little more physically draining, but I think we can still do it. That is, as long as there isn't a head wind. If there is, I'm just going to hop on a bus.