Final Map of Fundraising Trip

Afterthought

Well....I am home. I've been home. I was going to write how I managed to get myself back to Miyazaki and its airport....but instead, I will tell you what happened after.

I left Japan. A different man came home. One used to zero stability, no familiar places and faces. The sky was my only roof, and the sides of the road my only walls.

It is strange to be back. Before leaving, I told myself...warned myself..."You know.....this is going to be even harder than reaching Sata." Prepared myself for the next challenge. A life without adventure, defined by small spaces and redundant monotony. The enemy of all determination. What keeps you going.

I warned myself. And now I am here. Jet-lagged...tired...and a bit depressed. The endorphins are leaving, the rush from the trip starts to fade...all begins to be just... memories. The videos, the pictures...all I got left. How many times have I looked at them already. That moment on Cape Sata. I know almost all the words already.

But I have become different since. I don't care anymore about a lot of things. What people think for example....I was always different in Japan. Stuck out like a sore thumb...and it did me some good. I also don't fear failure anymore. I failed at a lot of things there. I failed at reaching my finish line in time...one whole month late. Failed at raising enough money for disaster victims....only raised a meager $1755. Failed to ever pay back most of the people who helped me out along the way. But......I finished with a broken shoulder, a broken bike, and a hell of a lot of satisfaction and pride. So, it is better to have the finger pointed at you...to end up being the crazy old man who tried and failed...than to be just another wave in a sea of cowards who think they know better than you.

I am putting all my cards in line now...slowly. Lost so much sleep because of it....listened to the same song for two straight days on constant repeat, to feel the same emotion over and over till I felt sick. Cutting loose ends...opening all the doors I have always been too scared to open.  It is tough to sleep in my house. The roof is low, and the windows are always shut. The feeling of being trapped comes back from time to time. I woke up twice already, suddenly sitting up scared....looking around, not knowing where I was. I could not recognize my room anymore...it never happened before while in the many random places I slept in Japan.... I wonder why of all places...I can't recognize my own space.

But, in my beautiful prison, I have begun to notice just how much I have changed. I have become brave. So brave. All those cold nights, wondering in the dark alone in the middle of nowhere, helped me in the end after all.

I finally said goodbye to a very important person. An old love. The oldest one actually. The first. The most special one, probably in my life. I will keep most of this story to myself...as not everything needs to be told publicly. I have never had the courage to talk to her, or reveal my true feelings for that matter. The ocean between us never helped either. But... once back, I realized I had to accept that she was never going to be mine. And let go. Live for today...and tomorrow....not yesterday. So...I told her everything. Down to the last detail. What she will write back....I don't know. But anything is fine. Even silence in an answer.

The last weight on my shoulders is now gone. I am finally ready to live to the max possible. One more hardship turned into one more medal to put around my tired neck. Will I make it to the end? I don't know. Hard as it may be to climb...as high as this mountain may be...I already know, that the farther up I go, the more beautiful the view will be...and the faster I will fly down.

Sometimes in life, you have to get your hands dirty. Sometimes you have to take a few punches and break a couple of bones. Sometimes, you have to fail to know how good the victory at the end feels ...and understand just how beautifully imperfect you really are. But you always....always always always, have to believe in yourself to make it anywhere in life.

Destiny is both written in the rules of the universe...and written by ourselves. The part we control...that's what we need to worry about.

Shoot for the stars.

Have your head in the clouds, and your feet on the ground...and in the end, you'll be the tallest one around.

And, live like you are dying...because you are.

I am completely broke now. $104.30 to my name. But I have not one regret from my journey and challenge. A hundred bucks in the bank, a broken economy, and thousands of dollars of student loans at the gate. But I will show the world what it means to go from nothing...to the highest dream, in one lifetime.

Goodbye.

NIGHT 58: My Night

Challenge: complete. Test of manhood: passed. Profound life-changing satisfaction: achieved. I look at my bike....scream Sata's name....frame freezes right on the best moment, and the credits roll................right? Well, yeah....if this were a movie. But it's not...it's real life. And in real life, after you biked the length of Japan and reached your objective, you have to turn your bike around, and in reverse, redo all that you just did, so that you can get your ass to the airport. And when the airport is 200km north....it's a problem.

After spending enough time on the southernmost point, I finally go back to my usual self. I look up. Hmmm...one hour until sundown. I look down at my legs, feeling my thighs with my hands......I am tired. I got nothing left since I used all my energy trying to get here. I look forward....sigh, all of Sata is ahead of me, plus all the kilometers left to Miyazaki's airport. Highly unlikely, well...impossible I will make it today. I have less than 3 days until departure, but have to find a box, get some gifts and runs some other errands before leaving. I am exhausted, but there is not an inch in me that feels like I won't make it back in time.

I turn my faithful bike around 180 degrees, and leave the place I have been dreaming of for months. I look at the tip of Japan one last time...and continue on. I have little time left today....and Cape Sata is a wild place....beautifully wild during the day, but it must be terrifyingly wild and dark at night. There should be only one hotel nearby, but from what Nose-San told me the previous day, it should be at least a good 20km to 30km away. Plus...I have no clue where it is exactly, and nothing shows up on the maps. 

My legs are so tired that I walk like a penguin through Cape Sata's park trails. I almost forget!! My bottle!! I stop, and collect a sample of Sata's earth, and let it sit on top of Cape Soya's. Ah! What satisfaction. This is my trophy. It symbolizes everything I have experienced in Japan. My most prized possession probably won't make it through customs, as shipping soil is illegal. But....it is worth the shot.

I know, I know. I am not keeping up with my blog's format. I usually post daily about each day. But tonight's night is as profound as today's day, and deserves it's own post. You'll see why.

I head back down the stairs. It's way easier now...I'm going down instead of up. I pass the shrine, still wondering why I didn't get my great spiritual moment. I eventually make it our of the Cape's park. In the tunnel, I stop and pay the lady at the entrance. I rushed in without paying, so I thought I should stop and pay for the upkeep of what I consider to be the most special corner of Japan. I find myself having to stop talking and say goodbye to her as I explain how important this place is for me. A tear almost comes out finally half way through the conversation. She says goodbye to me quite intently....perhaps she's seen enough emotional travelers pass by to understand....I don't know. Maybe she was just nice....

I see the spot where I saw the lighthouse for the first time. I look back one last time, and say my goodbyes, knowing full well that the tip will be hidden from here on end. I have been trying to get to that place for months now. It was the only thing I had on my mind. Now what will I think about? I ride down fast, down the slopes yelling a loud "Arigato Gozaimasu!!!" as I pass by the little white tollbooth. I look back and see the lady waving at me with a great big smile through her little window.

I pass by the beautiful beach and start climbing. I can barely push the bike walking at this point. I look up, and ask, for the first real time in my whole adventure for help..."Please....please just send someone to come pick me up." Then as I climb, I start thinking of what I want to do. Sata was the only thing on my mind until now. It takes me a second....and then I finally know..............."Let's go home." My mind is at peace and my heart is full of pride and accomplishment. I want to go back finally....see my friends, hug my mom and dad, play with my dog, and just do some of the plain and usual stuff.

The Hotel of Hotels
I reach the pink tollbooth...the entrance of Cape Sata. Before I can say my goodbyes, I see a group of old workers who are packing up their trucks after a day of cleaning up the Cape's streets. I said hello earlier on my way in, told them I biked all the way from Hokkaido. As I pass them again, I tell them I made it....and all ten of them clap and cheer for me. I bow all the way down in respect. They may be just a bunch of old farmers and laborers....but these are the inhabitants of Cape Sata....they are all kings and queens to me.

I am about to continue but then I try asking them where the closest hotel is. Surprisingly, they point right next to the tollbooth. What? I double-check with them. They reassure me that there is one right here...and lo and behold...after a one minute ride down an adjacent road, back inside Cape Sata....is a beautiful beach-front hotel. This is the one Nose-San was telling me about! It's right here! Awesome! I don't have to walk through this wild place in the darkness of night in utter exhaustion after all.

I enter the hotel. A calm tune fills the air. Nobody is around. Finally, a man comes out. I tell him my story....but he just sort of brushes it off as if it was no big deal. I laugh inside. This is the man who owns the only hotel here. He has seen may people like me. They must all end up here after their moment of victory. How anti-climactic though, I think as I hold back a smile! He tells me that the ofuro (man-made bath) will be ready in a few hours, as well as my dinner. There is no one else around. I have the hotel to myself.

I enter my room. Beautiful. Huge. This is the biggest and best room I have had in the whole of Japan. I look outside on my very own beachfront balcony, and see the beautiful beach and the bay. I decide to take a walk before the sun sets. I stroll on the beach, walk on a pier, think a bit about my day, and eventually head back to the hotel to bathe and eat.

Into the Calm Night
The ofuro feels wonderful. In there I realize I am not the only one at the hotel after all. A group of 4 old Japanese men enter. I chit chat with them telling them my story and how this is the best day of my life. They invite me to dinner for a drink and I accept as usual. After cooking in the hot water for a while, I dry myself and head toward the hotel's restaurant. The food is fantastic....sashimi, pork, salad, and a big glass of water. I scarf it down really fast. My body needs it. I see the 4 men from the ofuro come in, but decide to forgo the usual making of new friends. I tell them I am tired, and head back to my room. Tonight is special. Tonight....is just for me.

I go out on my balcony. It's dark out but I decide to take a walk. Let's see how Cape Sata looks like at night. I go back to the pier I was on earlier. I see a light at the end of it, moving like as if it was mounted on someone's head. I eventually realize that it is a lonely fisherman. I chat a couple of words with him before looking up into the sky and enjoying the peaceful view. The night is pure magic. The clouds cover half of the sky, while the other half is dotted by a thousand little stars, as well as a beautiful crescent moon. The waves slowly crash onto the rocks, while the sea breeze gently caresses my clean hair. I feel so good. After what might have been an hour, I leave the pier and decide to head to the other side of the bay. There is a small group of houses there. I want to see what Sata's villages look like at night. Maybe, I will even see a shooting star.



The Peaceful Walk in the Little Village with No Name
I head out, walking slowly. I am wearing only my shirt and jeans. The temperature is perfect. I even roll up my sleeves. I am clean and I am comfortable. I don't even have my chest strap on. The lonely light posts shed some light on what otherwise would be a completely dark road. I see the pink tollbooth. It is hidden in the darkness as the light-posts stop for a while. I pass it. The air smells like the sea....the moon provides light and shows me the silhouettes of the tall palms that hug the road of the tollbooth. The mountains of this place surround me in the distance, all black in the cool gentle night. I get to the village, passing by a house. I look inside...see a TV, and watch the show for a minute, wondering what the life of that person must be like. I continue on. The village's only street is empty. No one is out, but I see people moving inside their homes from time to time. I look in as I pass, slowing my step, in the hope of seeing more than a glimpse of the lives of the villagers.

I then see a cemetery. As usual, I give a little head-bow as I always have, saluting the dead who rest here. I have done so with everything....people, animals, great mountains, shrines and tombs. .....I enter the cemetery. I am not afraid of anything anymore. This is a place of peace and resting...not some creepy corner of the Earth that should be avoided. The air smells wonderful here. The inhabitants must pay their respects to their ancestors often....the wind is filled with the perfumes of a thousand different flowers. Each grave has a bouquet. I walk slowly, past the tombs, until I reach the other side of the graveyard. I turn around and look at it. The rows of tombs flank each side of the cemetery. I ponder deeply, as I always have. Life......it's so short, and you only get one after all, I think to myself nodding with a smile. To think that anyone would dare waste it on doing anything but the maximum ...is strange to me. Follow what everyone tells you life should be about, do what everyone expects you to do, be who everyone wants you to be.....and you will find yourself one day on your deathbed, realizing you gave up the only thing that was truly yours.... your life. You....yourself. ......I know I am going to die....no pleasant perfect world comes after that in my book.....I am already in heaven...I am already in hell. That's why it is so important to live. But then again....like a holy man once told me....I don't know. Regardless...I will go back to where I started. I will go back to where I was before I was born. And everything.......everything feels alright. Not an insecure thought in my mind. No need for fear, anxiety and worry. This is what it means to be human....to see all this.....to know you are the master of the Earth, above all other animals and plants, the strongest, the smartest, the best of the best.....and yet........to be so fragile, to feel so temporary....just like all the other things that make up the great universe. I look up to the sky....the clouds are now all gone, and all the stars show themselves to me. So many other worlds, so far away. I won't see any of them. And then I think.............this place.......the Earth......the Earth has to be the most beautiful place in all of existence after all. It has to be.....it's home.

Sitting Under the Jinja of Purpose
I keep going, leaving the cemetery behind. The old houses of the village are so beautiful. Who knows how many lives they have seen pass. I want to explore every dark corner of this place. The rush from today is over....all I have left is peace. I take my time to make my way through the village. I end up at the port and see my hotel in the distance, on the opposite side of the bay. It takes so long to move around when you are enjoying yourself.

Finally, I reach the end of town and turn back. But then...I see it. A Torii...the gate of a jinja (shrine). I look up at the stairs but can't see the shrine. It is dark and the jinja is hidden in the dark. Toriis symbolize the gate that separates the profane, and the sacred. I can't tell how far up the stairs go....but after a moment of hesitation, I scale the stairs.  The end is not far up at all, and then I am face to face with the smallest, most simple jinja. The size of a shed I would say. Not a bit of fanciness on it. I sit in front of it, and just relax. And I wait. I hear one of the locals nearby making noise but never end up seeing who it is. Once in a while, I even hear something small, moving about in the bushes next to the shrine...but I never see anything in the dark. The trees surround the jinja and its stairs, but the middle of the stairs is unhidden, and there is just enough space on top to see the stars. I relax and begin to grow fond of this jinja. So simple....much more beautiful than any palatial holy structure. No golden ornaments. No great statues. No pompous feeling. Just a simple shrine, in the smallest of villages. True beauty. Pure poetry.

I keep relaxing in front of the jinja, hidden away from any people that might be walking through the village, but at the same time, not so deep into the darkness to feel an uneasy feeling. Fortunately, I don't ever see anyone passing by. I think and think, about my day....about my journey here in Japan. Thinking, smiling, and feeling amazingly good about my arrival here. This is the most special place on Earth for me right now. The endorphins are as making their usual journey through my bloodstream, the highways inside of me.......but today I overdid it.....I have an unbelievable amount in me. I feel an amazing happiness and high tonight even just sitting here.

After what must have been at least an hour, I finally decide to leave. But then...right as I turn around, I wonder...... I wonder....what in the world is inside these jinjas?? I always wanted to open one, but never had the time or really the courage to do so. Perhaps it is something that I shouldn't do. But I got all the way here. I have always been respectful to everything and everyone. Followed every rule, official and cultural. I always said thanks and paid respect...even to things that could not say it back. So...I decide to open it. I take the chance, even though one of the villagers keeps making sounds from the adjacent house. Maybe I shouldn't....but I do so in immense respect for this jinja. It is almost calling to me. To open it. See what is inside.

I slowly push the wooden plank that holds the doors closed. Twist the little block of wood at the bottom of the doors, being careful not to make much noise with the old sacred wooden structure while being as delicate as possible with it simultaneously. I pull the doors toward me....and they swing open by themselves revealing the dark interior of the jinja. I take off my shoes and enter it...leaving the doors somewhat open. I look back...I see my shoes on the ground, see the stairs and some of the leaves from the trees. Inside...I sit in the middle and look around. There is a small table in front of me...but I don't go anywhere close to it to touch it in respect. I do not know all the customs of the Shinto philosophy...so I try to leave no impact on the shrine. I put my hands on the floor and feel the dust. It has not been opened in a while, I think to myself. I relax and think. And think. And think. And think. It feels so good to ponder in here.......I stay for several hours in complete peace. I meditate....like someone showed me once in a place of destruction and death, where many lost their lives, and many more will find peace in their pain.

Then I get it. I know what I have to do. What I want to do. I find purpose. I find reason inside the jinja. All I needed was some time. These three months were not only physically healthy for me...but also good for my mind and heart. And the culmination of my time here in Japan.... I find in this simple little jinja. The first time I actually stop and think instead of pondering while cycling. The thought process had been going on since I came here to Japan. I finally get my monumentally profound moment, and a conclusion to all those thoughts. Sitting down, I give my most deep bow yet, until my forehead slightly touches the dusty old floor. What was it exactly, you ask? Well.....that's for me and myself to know and enjoy. It is mine....and mine alone. It took a long time to get to this point...but all I needed was some time to think....and a little help from a lonely and forgotten jinja.

This is the beginning of the next phase in my life. I am done being a child, I am done being a student. I need to start making my own destiny...the way I want to see it play out. The best time of my life starts now...and it all began with Cape Sata, and its tiny little shrine.......my jinja. I remember...before this day, I used to go back to Ostia, my home town in Rome, Italy, the place where I grew up. The place where I left a piece of my heart. In my mind I would go back there, to my childhood apartment, look out the window, remember the rain, and how it used to calm the busy city, slowing everything and everyone down, and wash away the day's soot. The bus, the lady covering her head with a newspaper, the thunder, the few cars left on the road would all move about as the rain came straight down. The city would be quiet for the first time...and all you would hear... was rain. The feeling of peace. This was my place of peace until now. It symbolized where I came from and what meant a lot to me. But now.....now I have entered a new phase of life. There is no more space for that place anymore. Childhood is long gone....I have to begin looking forward. So....the jinja of Cape Sata, it's calm interiors, its simple beauty, its smells, its walls, and its feeling....this will be my new place of peace. This is what I will remember now, when I want to feel at peace. I will go back to this small village...in my mind. Back to this village who's name I don't even know....back to this jinja hidden in the dark. Mysterious inside, as it is outside. I don't know its color. I don't even know what is inside on its back wall. But here, I will go back many times.

I look around the inside of the shrine to remember it as best as possible. I get up and decide to leave. But before doing so, I grab a small broom in the corner, and pay my respects by brushing out some of the dust that has collected over the time the jinja has been forgotten. I won't forget you. I found you. You are the most important jinja in all of Japan....to me.

I get out, put my shoes back on, and close the shrine's doors carefully, putting them exactly back to the way I found them. I finally got to go inside one. I probably shouldn't have...but I did not leave an impact. I kiss my hand and touch the step of the shrine, as I always have. My own tradition... in this crazy world.

I am happy. So happy. Today....is the height of happiness in my life. I feel like I get it a little bit more. My lifelong determination, and the dreams of a mad man...have been finally reassured by some proof. Something tells me that I can live the life I really want. My one and only life. It feels good. The stars, millions of little worlds up above, twinkle gently in the night....and I head back to the hotel on the other side of the bay. A blanket of clouds covers the entire sky by the time I get to the hotel....telling me that my time outside is over.

This night was pure poetry. I chose subconsciously to have it end this way. Decided to leave the hotel, forgo socializing, walk around in the dark....and ended up finding what I needed after all. And the setting....it definitely helped. I can't think of a better place on all of mother Earth to have such a realization.

Fade to Black
Almighty father Sun has been long gone from his sky, and today's passionate attempt to reach my Cape is already in the world of memories, slowly fading, changing, being forgotten....too many little details to hold on to all of them forever. I enter my room. Crash on the bed. Then....just as I start to enter the world of dreams....I see it...look at my window.......and a shooting star falls straight down into the bay outside. ...............I smile. Thank you universe. And rest my tired body, my satisfied mind, and my happy heart.
Goodnight.

PS: Listen to yourself....and follow your dreams....it's all you got in this life. Take the chance.

DAY 58: My Day

There are few times in the span of your lifetime that you wake up knowing that this is going to be the best day of your life. Today is that day for me. And it's not even because of an unforeseen stroke of luck either. No....if anything, it is through a series of unexpected and unfortunate events, as well as many special moments I chose to have...that this day came about. 


I wake up 10 minutes before my alarm rings. I feel like my mind has been going on and on all night, as if I slept with one eye open the entire time. I sit up. Wow...........this is it, I think to myself.


Before hitting the road, I have to do laundry and charge my phone. Two things I managed to forget to do in yesterday's exhaustion. I go outside to the adjacent laundromat. I smell something foul in the air. For being the best day of my life, it sure does smell like sh.... I say to myself as I walk. 

By 10am...I am on the road. Combini breakfast. Then on the road again. I feel like a million bucks! Awesome....just plain awesome. After only 10mins of riding.....I finally see it. A road sign that says "this way to Sata" on it. It hits me so hard it takes everything in me to hold back the tears. I have about 60km to do today.

I keep going. Out of Kanoya. As I ride, I look up and say "don't send me any trouble...........not today....please!". I am not my usual defiant self. I say it with determination, but I am also at peace. I am not afraid... but feel like trouble has no place for what today is. I feel one with it, not against it. Then.....just like that, I hit 2000 miles.

Hold Them Back
As I pedal, I reminisce about all of the things I had to do to get here. It's tough....the tears just want to fall out, but I keep holding them in. I was originally going to rush all the way to the end, but I find myself going at a fast but comfortable speed, enjoying my surroundings as I pedal. 

I am looking around at everything. So this is how the last day looks.....this is how victory feels like. I go from laughing to holding back tears of joy several times. I pass a farmer in his car. He sees me, with my watery eyes, and the biggest smile on my face. He lights up and genuinely smiles at me from inside his vehicle. Does he know? How could he? But then....I know I am not the first....and everyone takes this road.... I think to myself as I pass him.

Mirages
As I keep pushing, passing each and every single small town on the way, I keep looking for Cape Sata. There it is! I stop....look......but it doesn't look like it. I keep going. An hour down, another cape......that has to be it! But it's not. Strange.........I should be able to see it by now. I get my trusty phone out, use the GPS and point in the direction of what could be Sata. The peninsula curves west the whole way......but Cape Sata, right at the tip, turns east and hides behind the last mountain in the distance. 



Alright....no more looking at the coast.....concentrate. Hidden till the end...I say to myself, as I smile. I keep pushing on.

Enter Sata

Then...I see it. Sata.....reads the road sign. I am here. But this isn't it! Jeremy warned me about this. You see, Sata is not a monument, like Cape Soya for instance (my starting line). No.....Sata is a place. And its not big.......it's massive. So once you are in Sata, you have to get to the Cape of Sata where a pink booth is, inside there is a natural reserve dotted by the smallest villages, and past that....passing the last tollbooth is Cape Sata's park, and at the tip of THAT...where the last road ends....is a tunnel, (it's not over) inside... is a pedestrian-only park with mountain trails.......and if you manage to get all the way here, if you do not give up on the way, you will see stairs. And right here....on top of the last step.................is the southernmost point of mainland Japan. It's not over till it's over huh? But then...............I wouldn't want it any other way. 

Vox Populi

I see a sign. It reads 10km to Cape Sata. The time has come. I stop in a small town, holding my bike with my legs as I have been so accustomed of doing.  

(Vox Populi by 30 Seconds to Mars if it doesnt work)

(Sorry, no pictures for this part). I open my front bag....take out my earphones. I don't put one on as I always have. I am not listening for traffic, looking out for cars and being careful. On these empty roads, whomever passes by better get the hell out of my way, drive around or go back to where they came from. This is my road. I have waited so long for this moment....to listen to this song. As I pick my tune and stick it on repeat, I feel insecure about how good this moment will really feel. But......instantly...........as the drums of the song blast at full volume in both of my ears, I feel it..........................and a fire begins to burn wildly, never this large and violent before in my entire life, consuming all the fears and insecurities left in my heart. Something I have kept chained up is finally set free.

I push as hard as I can now. HARD....like never before. Using all my strength. After only the first climb, I am exhausted. I have done 40km by now, yesterday 130km, and so on and so forth all the way back to Hokkaido. I am tired....but I am even more determined. Nothing in this world, will slow me down. I keep pushing as hard as humanly possible. Sata grants me one last true challenge. The mountain that hides the Cape itself. 

I scale it fiercely! I don't hear anything but my song. I am panting hard, my lungs hurt by the amount of air that they take in and out. My heart feels like is going to explode, beating strong, like a war drum, keeping the rhythm for the millions of organic cogs and parts that must work in symphony for me to make it to the top. 

This is the end. My phone is on, internet is on, GPS is on, I ate all my food, drank all my water. It all comes down to this. My teeth are out and a look of pure determination is on my face. The body knows it. The mind knows it too. This is the end. "USE EVERYTHING!!!" in a rage commands the second to the first. The body obeys without a moment of hesitation. Sweat runs down my face like a river, and I stay in the highest gears the entire time, uphill, enduring the final punishment. The climb is pure torture. I am overheating. My teeth are out. I groan and moan.....I push........I push! You will not stop me! I have come for you....Sata. Show me.......show me your Cape Japan!.......Give me what I came here for! 

More and more.....up and up, the mountain never ends, my body feels like it is going to break down at any second. The focused mind keeps the body from falling apart and giving into the pain. The mountain never ends. I look at the road. Damn you pavement. Damn you mountain. Damn you world. Damn you universe. Damn it all. I will make it. I will win today. AAAAAAHHHHHH I yell as loud as I can! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Again!....scaring the few onlookers that are near by. My knees hurt. My calfs feel like cramping up. My thighs are done. One... last... damn...... push...... Up and up...and then...................................

CAPE SATA
I reach the peak and ride down, full speed, in the middle of the road. Down and down until I see a sign. Turn right to Cape Sata. I turn and see it instantly. The pink tollbooth. This......this is the Cape. My Cape. I don't stop. I still don't see the tip and it's lighthouse. But I don't rush anymore. I begin to slow down. I never look at the clock today...I am at the end, this is all for my enjoyment.

I slowly ride up and down the hills of Cape Sata, looking around me in awe at the fact that I am finally seeing it with my own two eyes. It is beautiful. Oh....you should see how beautiful it is. So peaceful. My breathing returns to normal, and my sweat evaporates. Large butterflies fill the warm sub-tropical air. Palms and all sorts of trees cover the sides of the last road, all the way up to the tip of every gorgeous peak. I even get off....walk my bike, cool down some more. The earphones are off.....and the sound of the wind, the birds, and the sea... is the only music in my ears now. True beauty.

I try to remember and relive my entire adventure from tip to tip as I make my way into this place.....one I have only imagined in my dreams till now. 

I still don't see the tip of the Cape. I keep going, passing by a beautiful beach and the last human outpost. Never rushing. The air is warm but not hot, the sun is out but I am shaded by clouds, and I......I feel amazing! At last, I see the last tollbooth. I pay the lady, and she hands me a ticket to the Cape's Park. I look at it, smile, and continue. 

Where All Roads Stop

If all roads lead to Rome, then at the opposite end are places like this one. I go up the last mountain and then, I feel it. I know I am going to see it now. My mind has been following the landscape subconciously, analyzing it, studying it. I know it in my heart, completely....and sure enough, as I stop, get off, and look up.......I see the lighthouse. 

How long have I looked at pictures of this. I am here. But I am not done. No.....Cape Sata keeps going. I need to get to the southernmost point, what this place is known for. 

I pass by the Latitude 31 sign and finally, I see the parking lot I have looked at so many times on Google's Street View. I can't believe it. I rush into the tunnel and enter the absolute final step of my journey. 

I look at the steep narrow mountain trails and decide this is it for my bike. I take pictures of the total kilometers done, say goodbye and take a few steps. But then....I feel wrong. I went all the way back to Fujinomiya to end it properly. Why would I leave my bike behind now? So close to the end? ....I turn around, damn it all I say, you are coming with me jitensha, we are going to the finish line together.

The End

I traverse the tight winding trails. It is a thick forest that surrounds me. Finally....I see the Cape`s shrine. At last! I stop....pay my respects, and wait for the monumentally profound moment I expect to have. But......I do not get it. Strange.....I think. Oh well. I continue. Up and up, through tunnels of trees and bushes. Out, up, left, right and so on and so forth. There are many paths, but I manage to pick the only one that leads to the place I want to go. It is obvious for some reason which path is the right one. 

FINALLY!!! I see the stairs!!! I am so tired at this point. The stairs look infinite. I climb them. Boom...boom....booom...boom....boom goes my bike on each step, heavy, carrying all that I own.

Then.......... I see light. 

The steps end. 

I push my bike up, one last time.....

and finally......

finally, I make it to the tip of Cape Sata. 

The southernmost point........................................................... I have cycled the length of Japan.

65km to the end

3280km total from Cape Soya to Cape Sata
And the satisfaction to say:I HAVE CYCLED THE LENGTH OF JAPAN, WAS THE PROTAGONIST OF MY OWN UNFORGETTABLE ADVENTURE, AND ESPECIALLY......I CAN DO ANYTHING I PUT MY MIND TO.