Bikes, Boats and Buses
2019/03/21 – 2019/03/24
This was my second trip to Oshima Island so I knew what to expect. Or, at least, I thought I knew what to expect. This was the first time for my 19 year old daughter, Pearl, and her first bicycle tour and first camp out. We were celebrating her completion of all her university exams. We didn’t have all of the results back yet but I was confident that she passed and would be excepted into the college of her choice. I was right. But that’s a story for another time.
I was really looking forward to this trip. My daughter is a real character and fun to be with. I bought an extra set of panniers and put a rack on her Giant Escape. A Giant Escape is not really a touring bike but I figured for a relatively light weight trip like Oshima Island that it would be okay. I was right again. She has been using this bike for several years to commute from home to her high school in Kunitachi and then later to her juku in Tachikawa. The distance is not more than 10 km one way. It is exactly on par with the amount of distance one puts in on a tour but my daughter is young and years of playing soccer made her fit so I was fairly certain she would be okay. Nonetheless, we took her bike on a shakedown ride to the Blue Lug Bicycle Shop in Yoyogi for a minor tune-up. A little over 20 km one way with some little hills near Yoyogi. She handled it like a champ. While we waited for the shop to finish working on her bike we killed some time at a place around the corner that allows customers to play with meerkats and river otters. They are just adorable. You can check out the video on the wayfarer.bike video channel.
With our confidence high the day for our departure came. Since the ferry to Oshima Island does not leave Takeshiba Ferry Terminal until 10 pm, we had lots of time to kill before our departure. Pearl decided that she would meet her friends in the afternoon for a little futsal. She paid the price for that later in sore and tired muscles. According to her, she was the only girl playing. One thing we had wanted to do but never got around to was for Pearl to do some riding near home fully loaded. So when she swung her leg over the panniers on day one it was her first time experiencing riding under a full load. Not ideal. Fortunately, she adjusted quickly.
The Weather
During the whole trip the weather was a major factor. I had been watching weather on Oshima for the week prior to departure. For the week leading up to the trip the forecast was all over the place. Sometimes predicting rain sometimes no rain. I was relieved when on the day before the trip forecast for Oshima Island was for no rain. What I didn’t consider was the wind. The day of departure was very windy. Fortunately, on the first day it was a tail wind and didn’t really impact the riding.
Day 1
When we finally pulled out of our driveway our spirits were high and we were ready for adventure. As we rode along Tamagawa Josui with sun setting behind us a gibbous, full moon rising directly in front of us. I was hoping to leave earlier but Pearl didn’t pull herself out of the futsal games early as we previously discussed. As it was, we had just enough time to eat a quick bowl of gyudon in Hamamatsucho, make a quick stop at Family Mart to pick up some food for breakfast the following day, and check in at the ferry terminal. We weren’t rushed but we didn’t have any time to spare either.
There are two ways to take your bike on the ferry. The first, and most common way in Japan, is to put your bike in a rinko bukuro. This is just a big nylon bag with a shoulder strap. As there is almost no public transportation that has roll-on service or racks for bikes most of the time, if allowed, you are required to bag your bike. In Japan, there is a special carrying case or bag for everything from baseball bats to soccer balls. The rinko bukuro is the favorite of the Ricky Racer spandex set. They hop a train with their ultra-light carbon bicycles and go to some far off rural station to ride. The downside of the rinko bukuro is that you usually have to partially dismantle your bicycle. This isn’t practical when you have racks and water bottle cages and other touring accessories attached to your bike. Fortunately, the Oshima ferry offers a second option. If you take the slower and larger passenger ferry you can check your bicycle in as cargo for 1,500 yen one way. This is easier than dismantling your bicycle for bagging. That is just what Pearl and I did. We took off our panniers rolled the bicycles up to the cargo check-in counter, paid our money and waiting for boarding. The downside of cargo check-in is that you have to find a way to carry all the bags that you had so efficiently attached to your bicycle frame. In my opinion, this is the lesser of two evils.
Day 2
We pulled into Okada Harbor very early in the morning. We were loaded up and pedaling up the steep road leading out of the harbor by 6:15. The weather was started out sunny but a little chilly but by the time we got to the top of the first real climb we were warm enough to take off our jackets. The road to our first stopping place, the Oshima Zoo, was the first time Pearl ever tackled a really really step and long climb. She was dismayed when I told her that after the zoo there was another 4 km of climbing with 300 meters give or take of elevation change. Thanks to years of soccer she was in good fitness but after a year off to study maybe she lost of little bit of her conditioning. Or maybe, the muscle strain of constantly pedaling is a different kind of muscle strain from an hour long soccer match. All in all, I have to say she did okay on the climbs. She climbed faster than her old da did but wanted to rest more often. Young people these days, they don’t know how to pace themselves! (said in my get-off-my-grass cranky old man voice :~)
We rolled into the zoo at about 7:30 in the morning, give or take. Since the zoo didn’t open until 9 we made ourselves some eggs for breakfast. The rest of the eggs I boiled so they would keep until the next day. After lollygagging at the zoo for a couple of hours we at ramen in at the little baiten in the park that surrounds the zoo. Fueled up with ramen we started up the long climb over the cliffs on the eastern shore of the island. The weather was warming up and the riding was pleasant. I really enjoy this part of the ride. I must admit I was having a bit of problem climbing because of mechanical issues. More about this later. Let’s just say for now that the problems were of my own making and could have been avoided. Anyway, we made it to the top after 4 km of “gradual” climbing. About a 6 or 7% grade. From there it was a fast cruise down to little town of Habu. Habu has one of the few traffic lights on Oshima and I am not really sure why. There were certainly not enough cars to justify one. Just before we got into Habu we pulled off at the vantage point for Fudeshima. Fudeshima is a long spikey rock poking out of the ocean in the middle of a little cover surrounded by very steep cliffs that we had just ridden over. It is called Fudeshima because it looks like tip of a traditional Japanese calligraphy brush. What it is, is the remains of an ancient volcano. All that is left of it is the core where there lava erupted from. Time has warn away the rest of the mountain while the center of the volcano moved west and north where it became Mt. Mihara, the volcano at the center of Oshima Island. We stopped at the overpriced mom and pop grocery shop to pick up some more food for our next two meals, dinner and breakfast the following day. Apparently, the locals usually do their grocery shopping at the big grocery store in Motomachi on the north (and opposite) end of the island about 15 km away.
A funny thing happened just before we got to Habu. I wanted ask a local for directions to the nearest grocery store. I saw ahead of us an old guy riding really slowly on an electric assist bicycle. We gradually caught up to him. When I was even with him I spoke to him. When he heard my voice he was so startled I thought he was going to fall off his bike. Now I know bicycles are quiet but I wasn’t trying to sneak up on him. I did wait until I was even with him before speaking thinking that he would be aware that I was there. Apparently, he was completely list in thought or maybe it was taking all his concentration to keep pedaling. I don’t know. After he regained his balance and his heart restarted he answered my question. He basically confirmed what I already knew. The only place to get groceries is the little shop that we went to.
We got to Toshiki Campground, the same no-frills, campground that I stayed at on my trip last year at around 4 pm. Plenty of daylight to set up camp and cook dinner. I helped Pearl set up her tent, the one person green, nylon tent I usually use. Another first for her. While I was setting up my tent she abandoned me to walk along the cliff at the edge of the campground. We cooked up some pasta and had spaghetti for dinner. Up until then the weather had been really nice but after dinner the wind had really begun to kick up and the temperature dropped. We watched a video on my iPad mini in my tent for a while then we decided to turn in for the night when we realized that the wind had pulled up some of the ropes on her tent. It wasn’t in any danger of blowing away because of the heavy packs she put inside but it was really flapping and snapping in the wind. So was my tent for that matter.
This is a good point to talk about my tent. My tent is ancient. I found an orange, canvas two-person tent in my neighbors garbage a year ago. I already had a tent but I thought it might come in handy someday. Being canvas it is heavier than a more modern nylon tent. As I said, it is old. I don’t really know how old. Unlike a more modern tent where the walls, doors and floor are stitched together like one piece of fabric, the floor of my tent was a separate piece from the walls and door. Normally, you stake down the floor then erect the tent above the floor and tie off the corners and center to grommets on the floor. The tent flap for the entrance didn’t have a zipper to close it. It used strings to since the door closed.
I had set up this tent before and didn’t detach the floor which made it easier to set up. I had only set up this tent twice before. Once, last summer, to see if it worked and once again on a day trip to the Tama River. This is the first time to use it camping. Let’s just say that the zipperless design meant that there many cracks and gaps for the cold wind to blow in.
I always pack a mylar emergency blanket just in case but never user it before. This seemed like a good time to try it out. Pearl and I each had one. I realized, too late, that I had forgotten to pack gloves. It was in my mind to bring a pair but in my excitement I forgot to pack them. I didn’t bring a warm coat either. I only had my high vis yellow cycling jacket. Clearly no match for the icy wind. I took it off long enough to put on a long sleeved shirt on under the jacket and jeans over my sweat pants. Three layers of shirts and a sleeping bag and a shiny mylar blanket were not enough. We were in for a wickedly cold night. It was was hard to sleep shivering in the tent with the wind howling all around. I worried about Pearl in the tent just a few meters from me but I comforted myself that she had the better tent without all the gaps for the wind. I also reminded myself that the half dozen or so other campers were in the same chilly circumstances as we were. Misery truly does love company. Somehow, we got through the night but dawn didn’t bring a cessation of the wind.
Day 3
The winds were gusting at about 30 kph during the night and had only dropped down to about 20 or 25 during the day. It was too windy outside to light the stove. Given how cold it was during the night there was no need to refrigerate the milk we bought the previous day in Habu. We had a cold breakfast of granola and milk and a hard-boiled egg each. We noticed that the people who had set up their tents in the prime spot under the trees had packed up and left. We moved our tents to under the trees. It was a little less windy in the shelter of the scrubby pines.
The plan was to ride to Motomachi on the opposite end of the island and catch a bus up to the start of the Mt. Mihara hiking trail. Neither of us felt like battling the wind. We scrapped that idea and decided to catch the bus to Motomachi. We had a tortilla sandwich at the ferry terminal and watched the waves. We spend a couple hours warming up at an onsen (hot spring) and took a much needed nap. Before catching the bus back to Toshiki campground we did some grocery shopping at the “big” grocery store in Motomachi. It was big enough for our purposes and cheaper that the cubby hole of a shop in Habu.
As the sun dropped below the horizon so did the wind speed. The was cold but only a little drafty. Thus ended the third day of our trip and the second day on Oshima Island.
Day 4
Though we spent another night shivering inside our sleeping bags and wrapped in our crinkly, shiny emergency space blankets. From about midnight on the wind was calm and quiet and I managed to get some sleep. Around about 5:30 in the morning the tent snapped abruptly and the wind was back but it was sunny and not gray, overcast of the day before. It was too windy to keep the camp stove lit so we did what was not recommended. We lit it up in my tent. As drafty my tent is, it is big enough for two people to sit cross-legged in the middle…just big enough. We two people, the door flap cinched tight and hot chocolate cooking on the stove the tent warmed up nicely. It was a shame that we had to open the door to do the dishes and pack up.
This was our last day on the island and wind or not we had to ride about 8 or 9 km up the western shoreline of the island to at least as far as Motomachi. There is some scenery along the way that I was looking forward to seeing from the saddle. About halfway to Motomachi there is a place where the mountain was cut away to make room for the road. You can see the layers of rock left by multiple volcanic eruptions and erosion over the millenia.
Disaster!
So we packed up our gear and loaded it back on our bikes and we saying goodbye to Toshiki Campground. That’s when disaster struck. I am being very dramatic aren’t I? I didn’t even make one revolution with my pedals when my crank broke. It snapped in two. It was totally unexpected and totally my own fault. The cause goes back a couple of months before the trip. I noticed back in December or January that there was an uncomfortable amount of play in my cranks. I was planning to get my bike overhauled so I moved up my plans and went to my favorite bike shop, Blue Lug. When I asked them about getting an overhaul and showed them my bike. They said that an overhaul would take about a month even with a reservation. Well, that was no good. I was going to need my bike in March. They expressed concern about my bottom bracket and suggested that my ball bearings were worn. I should replace the bottom bracket as soon as possible. Or if I did it when I got an overhaul the labor cost of replacing the bottom bracket would be included in the overhaul fee. That sounded good to me so I made a reservation to get the overhaul in April after I came back from Oshima with Pearl and Sagamiko with Andy (more about this trip in another post) and crossed my fingers hoping my bottom bracket would last until then so I could save a few thousand yen.
My cranks got wobblier and wobblier to point where if I wasn’t in the write gear putting pressure on the pedals would throw off the alignment and the chain would jump off the chain ring. This is no good for hill climbing but I persisted. It only had to last another 2 weeks. And it got progressively worst on day 2 of the trip. Day 4 was the last day of the trip. I just had to get it to the ferry terminal. When it broke it was in a totally unexpected way. I thought the cranks might seize up on the BB and that would make it impossible to pedal. That didn’t happen. What happened is the stress caused to the cranks each time the chain slipped off the chain rings in the back and resettle back on the ring would cause the cranks to stop abruptly momentarily. It seems this repeated action weakened the metal.
Bad timing for a mechanical that is impossible to fix on the road. All was not lost. I still had one pedal I could use! If I could just figure out how to ride a bike with just one leg. Pushing down on the pedal is no problem but without a pedal on the other side to press down own it was impossible to brink the pedal on the unbroken crank back up to the top. I thought, well it is still early. If worse comes to worst I will push it all the way to the ferry terminal and I don’t have to pedal on the downhill side I can still ride it sometimes and ride it quite fast in places so it might not take as long to cover the distance as it normally would just pushing the bike. I thought ruefully, for the first time in my life if only I had toe clips or SPD pedals that fixed your shoe to the pedal you could use your leg to get some more power on the upstroke. I got thinking about the Paraolympics and how there are one legged cyclists. I decided to not give up so easy. I rummaged in my bags and found a short bungee chord. I lashed my foot to the good pedal as best I could and we were off again. This world reasonable well for flats and slight inclines but I still had to push it up the steeper climbs. All things considered we made better time than one would expect.
It should be noted that Oshima Island has two ferry terminals. Departures and arrivals are determined by the weather so you never know until that day which ferry terminal you can leave from. They make the decision at 7 am. Motomachi is the closest terminal to Toshiki Campground. Given my handicap I was hoping the ferry would be leaving from Motomachi. We covered the 8 or so K to harbor but when we got there we learned that the ferry would be leaving from Okada Harbor, the same terminal we arrived at. When I toured Oshima last year my ferry left from Motomachi so I never got to ride the 7 km between the two ferry terminals. I was aware of the possibility that ferry might leave from Okada but since you have go through Motomachi on the west shore to get to Okada checking Motomachi first didn’t waste our time. It was just disappointing that I would have to ride another 7 km with a broken crank. But there was nothing for it. I just had suck it up and go the extra distance. We made it to Okada by noon. We had plenty of time to kill before the ferry was scheduled to leave. The wind turned out not be an issue after all and the warmed up nicely. We cooked up the last of pasta and ate lunch in the shadow of the new ferry terminal building. Which I had never been in before.
The first leg of our journey home was over. We checked in our bike as cargo and boarded the ferry when it was time. The passenger seats on the ferry are wide and comfortable. More like business class on a airplane and less like economy. I was able nap for a couple hours before we arrived that evening back at Takeshiba Ferry Terminal in Tokyo. We retrieved our bikes from cargo. Now the final challenge was left. It is about 35 km from Takeshiba to Home. How was I go the distance with only one pedal? Fortunately, the route home went right past my office. Pearl and I came up with a plan. We would ride together to Aoyama where I would park the broken down Blue Beast behind my office where I normally would during the week. There was an added benefit that the Blue Lug bike shop wasn’t far from office. Pearl took the train back from Shibuya station, while meanwhile I would ride Pearl’s bike because she was a little tired. Thus, we finished our tour separately not together.
Lesson Learned
1. Don’t put off doing necessary repairs and maintenance.
2. Don’t forget gloves. It gets cold at night.
I am glad Pearl was with me. She took it all in stride and didn’t worry. She really was a good riding partner through all of the Type II fun. And maybe the best part was she said she wanted to challenge Oshima Island again someday.
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