I'll post another version of this to my blog, but for the newsletter crew here's a brief look at my trip to Japan, followed by the normal links.

The trip started a few weeks ago in Tokyo as I landed at 4am, dropped my bike bag off at the hotel, and then rode up the Doushi pass to get some riding in my legs and shake off the plane cobwebs. The riding was lovely despite a few showers on the way back down, and a relatively hot temperature (30C/85F). After another day of bumping around Tokyo, we headed to Takayama for the Escape Collective member's summit. Our first day I did a short shakeout ride, and then the next we had our official first ride around the hills nearby. My legs felt solid, and I managed to get on the top 10 or even Queen of the Mountain on most of the climbs we rode that week.

The two particularly standout rides from the trip were the day we summited Norikura pass at 2716m/8,911ft elevation twice, and the day we rode for over four hours in heavy rain. The former was hard, but delightful and rewarding as we got to the thin-aired, treeless landscape on the top of the mountain only to descend the other side to our lunch stop. Like any long climb, the key to success I've found is to just find a rhythm and a power that feels sustainable and hold on. The heat wasn't as bad as I worried about, likely due to my acclimatization, but I needed a lot of water, and immediately regretted having carbs in both bottles initially. Everyone in the group survived, with almost all of us summiting once, and a dozen or so weirdos like me doing it twice.

The second ride was much, much harder. Due to a failure to wash my helmet, I ended-up with a load of salt and sweat in my eyes from the rain for the first two hours of riding, to the point I repeatedly needed to pull over and rub my eyes out. This meant I lost the wheel of my group pretty fast and became very frustrated by my inability to consistently ride. At the lunch stop new buddy Sean suggested I put my helmet in a running flow of water and let it clean off, and this was the key to my final two hours of riding that day being joyful. I can ride a lot faster when my eyes aren't burning, it turns out.

After the rest of the summit, I rode on to Toyama, Nagano, and Karuizawa, with various food and drink adventures solo. The relaxing rides and evenings alone helped me recover from the extreme social Takayama bits of my trip.

Finally, I got back to Tokyo and did some shopping and more eating before heading back to the bay with my bike and a slightly more recovered collarbone. Strangely, the pain of my shoulder was much more pronounced when walking around than when riding my bike, likely due to the jostling and inability to brace my arm against a handlebar. Despite making it work, I don't recommend doing a three week bike trip with a half-healed broken collarbone.

As I said before, if you wanna get into more of the nitty gritty of my trip, look for an upcoming post on my site. I'll post about the gear that I used and more ride details as well, with route links. For now, let's get to the...

Links

• As someone who finds the semi-religious fervor of the internet-eschewing opinion writer off putting, this post by Kate Wagner was refreshing. She's quick to point out that identifying the actual thing you want from not being on social media or whatever is much more important than the overblown instant erudition benefits:

  In the real world, phone in hand or not, I, like most of us have to work or have other obligations that fill my time and make me very exhausted. Without my phone in hand, I am not writing a novel or reading four. Instead, I scramble to walk my dogs, take a shower, and groom myself before going to therapy. Then I am in therapy.

• I love the size of books in Japan and wish more novels came in a small, convenient size. Imagine Infinite Jest or The Collected Works of Ursula K. Leguin in a slim travel set of multiple books. This nomad edition of Tatami Galaxy is exactly what I want all softcover books to be like. The ability to just slip a novel into a back pocket and walk to a cafe is something we need more of, I think.
• Here's one of many guides I've used over the years to find weird, fun stuff in Tokyo. Broadly, when I travel without any particular plan I like to find a neighborhood or two to wander, but it helps to get a picture of one or two good cafes or places to start from. Tokyo, much like New York, has so many little spots and hidden gems you can spend years just walking around to see some of the ever-shifting landscape and fashionable food and drink trends. Currently people seem stoked about crepes, burgers, and cassette tapes. There's a burgeoning açaí bowl scene too. There's less proliferation of non-alcoholic craft beer here than in the states, but most convenience stores have at least a few NA beers and sours.

Closing

Maybe it sounds silly, but I'm looking forward to returning to my own living room and couch to sit with my cat and not need to buy anything or eat out for a while. Tokyo and any large city feel fun to me but the pace and time-limited seating of any visit means I'm always a little harried. When I'm at home o spend almost all my time at home or on a bike ride, but here I'm just flitting around all day before returning to my hotel. I don't think you can really become someone different on a vacation, so the most comfort I feel here tends to be at my favorite movie theater where they have a lounge with similar Danish furniture and warm lighting to my house. My next trip is to London, and I fully expect to be exhausted after that week too.

For now, I leave you with hopes that you enjoy the rest of the summer and get excited about fall. Keep it cozy, space cowgirls~