Back after a break

If you've read this newsletter for a while you likely wondered why I hadn't sent one in a while: work and life got stressful and I got focused on long bike rides instead. Well I'm back from Japan this weekend, and decided to send out a belated edition, along with a trip report.

If you don't care about my Japan trip, you can skip right to the links section below it.

Trip report

This was my 15th or so trip to Japan in the past 16 years, and my third trip there with a bicycle. After my inaugural bike trip from Tokyo to Osaka in 2023 was so fun, I aimed on making an annual vacation there to ride and explore. Last year I rode with my friend June around the Kanto region, and this time Rory and I rode a lap of Shikoku. Unlike the past two years, this route is an official one with markings on the road and KM markers to the next (suggested) stop. Much of the trip was rural, flat, and gorgeous. Unlike past years, I stopped a lot at Michi no Ekis (roadside stations) for snacks and drinks, and despite a decent pace, took most of the day to travel between hotels. We began in Onomichi, on the main island of Honshu, then spent the first day riding across the Shinminani Kaido bridges to Saijō. We continued to ride ~100km a day to Tokushima, Takamatsu, Shikishui, Kochi (rest day), Azhishuri Misaki, Uwajima, and Matsuyama before returning across the bridge again on our final day to Onomichi. My Strava has more details, and some photos if you want to see route and daily breakdown.

Rory setup a few route detours from the main path to get a little more climbing for me, and stop by some particularly cool locales, and in return I stopped every time he wanted to get some soft cream. It's hard to explain unless you've done a lot of hiking or cycling in the fall or winter how fantastic it is to know there's a warm, clean toilet seat and ample resupply every 20-30km each day, but it really makes a difference. Japan also beats the USA for smaller car-size, slower speed limits, and mostly considerate drivers. We spent our days with me in the lead, and Rory taking shelter in my draft as I rode at my all-day pace. I took a lot of photos when the coast was clear, and even met some cool cats along the way. We both got sore and tired by our rest day, but nightly baths and keeping alcohol low and sleep plentiful helped. I worried before the trip that Rory and my opposite schedules would be a problem, but I woke up around 8am every day and he waited to leave after waking up at 5 or 6. By the end, he was sleeping in a little more and enjoying the late mornings, and I was easily conking-out at 11. By the final day we agreed we were ideal traveling companions for each other—we'd never really fought, and spent most of the day laughing at new in-jokes. It also helped that Rory loves being ordered-for and I like deciding what food to eat. Thanks for being so accommodating and easy to travel with, Rory!

Next time I go to Japan, I think I'll do a tour of Kyushu (the southern island).

Shikoku tour: 10/10

Links

• A great new metal band if you're into that sort of thing, whose latest album explores Buddhism—Agriculture.

• I don't own a house that I can make weird modifications to, but if I did you know I would put in a secret library.

• The end of a trip is always a little sad, but one thing I looked-forward to was being able to modify my cheap Casio watch with this cool kit from Ollee. I wore an Apple Watch for years until a combination of not being able to load work meetings and working from home meant its use was too limited for my interest, so I got one of these instead, which lets me see the time and sunrise/sunset and even tap for NFC stuff. It's silly, but I love this weird custom watch.

• This article by Frank Chimero explores why and how online spaces are so full of low-quality crap, or lemons, in his parlance.

  No one has to be evil or stupid: the platform does what’s profitable, sellers do what works, buyers try to make smart decisions, and yet the whole system degrades into something nobody actually wants.

  The solution, he suggests, is to focus on the output you're creating instead of the outcome (profit, fame, etc) because the output is what people will see—the very thing you're putting into the world. I don't think capitalism rewards this kind of thinking because its only focused on the outcome, so chalk this up to another reason we need to end it and engage in a socialist degrowth economy.

• On the topic of failed capitalism is this piece on how Elon Musk completely misses the point of all sci-fi that he reads; particularly Ian Banks's Culture series. My friend and former boss Mark recommended the series to me, and after reading four or five I think it's one of the most interesting sci-fi worlds out there. Unfortunately, a lot of very stupid, very rich men also think it's cool without understanding a single bit of it. These dumb dumbs side with the obviously evil and misanthropic characters, or claim they're aiming towards a post-scarcity Culture when they hate the socialism and gender-fluidity that society comprises. If you've been turned-off of Banks because terrible people claim to read him, I can assure you he's actually interesting and the turd men likely only heard a 4x summary from one of their sycophantic LLMs.

Closing

This went on for a lot longer than usual, but it's nice to be back on the writing horse. I hope your fall is lovely, and filled with treats and reddening leaves. I plan to ride my bike in the crisp air of our false winter, and spend time with friends, laughing and fostering our community. However you spend yours, I hope it's warmed with something. Fall is my favorite season of all.

2025 is almost over, and I'll likely send another one of these in December with a year-end-wrap-up. For now, take care, and tell someone you love them, space cowgirls~