I am up. Late again. I am out the hotel by 7:30am. Today's plan in a few words is to rush west into the Atsumi peninsula and get a boat to the other side.
The surroundings are urban at first. A huge annoyance in terms of cycling since it is stop and go for the first 4 hours of the day. As soon as I reach the peninsula however, I am in the country. I have little time or will to take pictures today, although not much is memorable anyways.
The peninsula gets more and more rural as I travel further into it. The locals keep giving me bad looks. I have to use the bathroom but cannot seem to find a good spot. I finally find a local combini and enter. The lady owner makes a.....how can I put this.....a pukey face, as if my mere presence has upset her digestive track. I think nothing of it. Buy some snacks to justify my toilet use but then, she tells me that there is no bathroom. Except......I see the bathroom from where I am standing. The little man/woman symbols are universal. I leave, but not without thinking that the hillbilly wench pulled a fast one on me. Oh well. Can't win them all. I find one of her bushes to water. Seemed quite dry.
Kazē is Back
I thought I had seen the last of the wind, but I was mistaken. The rolling hills of this place slow me down but the wind makes it all that much harder. I push and push for hours. I fear that I may not get there in time. In that case, I would be stranded on the tip of the peninsula at night, without any place to sleep. Then what? Not to say,Yuki, my couchsurfing host, is waiting for me at the station at 5pm.
The Ferry
I push on and eventually I reach the end. A stunning view rewards my hard work, but I don't even stop to take a picture. I hope the ferry is still there!
It is! But not the one I wanted.....it already left. I buy the ticket for the next one, and after asking 3 different people to make sure it is the correct ferry, I board the ship.
On it I almost pass out. Night falls and I notify Yuki of my lateness.
The Other Side
Now, luckily I only have 15kms to do left, so I don't think much of it. It hasn't been the first time I got caught cycling at night. I get off the ferry and head toward the city of Ise. A bit of town, then......one of the scariest and most dangerous moments of my trip.
I find myself with 10km of pure, pitch black, freezing cold, car zipping, trecherous mountain roads. There is not even the moon out tonight. No one is looking out for cyclist here. You'd have to be mad to take your bike here at this hour. I have no choice. Exhausted, I make my way up. I get off the bike. To my left, the rain water ditches. To my right, cars going extremely fast. I turn my back light on and let it flash. It is my only hope. It is so dark at this point that the only way for me to make sure I am still on the road is to follow the white line on the ground as I flash my bike's weak front light.
The cars behind make a noise, the headlights shine their light, I move a bit left toward the ditches. When they leave, I move back right unto the barely visible white line. At one point, no cars pass for a good five minutes, and the sounds of the forest creatures begin to make themselves heard. A branch cracks. Then another. I am nervous as boars inhibit these lands, but it is my mind I am really scared of. It's all you've got, I think to myself. Loose your cool now, and you have no hope. I yell "boooooooar" in the lonely night, hoping to scare off whatever lurks near by.....but really, making one's presence known is more of a psychological defense. You are not hiding. If there is something, you just told it you are not afraid. I yell. I am part of the forest too, and I am loud and strange. Don't mess with me. Fortunately, nothing pops out. I continue.
Downhill is even worst. I am so cold and tired that I decide to get on my bike. I will never get out of this situation if not. The headlights of the cars going in the opposite direction blind me for a moment as they pass. In that instant, I am completely unaware of where I am. Furthermore, my eyes take a couple of seconds to get used to the darkness an so my temporary blindness gives me a good 3-4 seconds of total vulnerability. The ditches disappear and reappear to my left. Japanese roads are some of the most trecherous I have ever seen. It is so dark that I am never 100% as to when there is a ditch next to me. I avoid going left too much altogether.
More cars. I try to slow my descent. Each time a car passes, I analyze the landscape, memorizing what is ahead. Ditch, left turn, more space. Dirt on the side, no space, rail. And so on. It is beyond dangerous at this point. A nearby rail line gives me some light as trains pass every once in a while, lighting up the street fully with their pale hue.
Eventually, I see a street light. Never had I been more happy to see a red light before! I am out of the woods......literally.
Ise
In the city where Yuki lives, I am at this point so tired and stressed that I do something I rarely do. I get lost. And not by choice....by accident. I take the right when I should have taken the left. I go the wrong way, away from the station, I lose my GPS signal.....you name it, I do it tonight.
With two and a half hours of lateness, I finally arrive at the station. Yuki arrives and he tells me he got a hotel room for me! The kindness of strangers astounds me till this day. I am forever grateful to him, and a warm hotel room sounds like heaven on Earth at this point. I take a long steaming hot bath. Aaaahhhh! Bliss.
Dinner
Still not done today. I go out with Yuki to an all-you-can-eat restaurant where me and him share travel stories. Yuki has also made a similar bike touring trip three years back. He has also been on a 15 month tour of Asia! Sick!
We feast. Over and over we ask the lady to bring us more. I enjoy my time with Yuki and am sad that I only have a few hours to spare. Tomorrow I leave early, so that I can avoid a night ride from happening again.
Me and Yuki part ways. He even pays for dinner. Out of the darkness, and into the company of a friend. Such is life. I crash on the bed and go into such a deep sleep it can only be medically classified as a coma. What....a........day. I forgot how tought riding was.
117km
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