Oshima Again
My squirrelly girlie and I will take advantage of a national holiday to make a 4 day weekend of it. We will leave on a Thursday to ride from our home to the Takeshiba Ferry Terminal on the Tokyo waterfront. Since the ferry doesn’t leave until 10 pm there is no hurry to get there. We only need to be their about a half hour before departure to beat the cut off for loading our bikes onto the ferry. I plan to check in about an hour in advance just to be on the safe side. We will lounge about on the ferry all night and arrive at Oshima earrrrrly in the morning. I reserved second class tickets. There are two types, the first is for a 10 person cabin style ticket which means just a big carpeted room. The other kind is reclining seats. I went for the seats. There is probably less cameraderie in the seats but I have to say that they are much more like flying business class on an airplane than economy class even though they are the cheap seats.

There are two campgrounds on the island, a free campground on the southern tip and a paid, luxury campground on the west coast. I tried to get a reservation at the nice campground but It was already booked full up. So it is the free place for us. Since we don’t need reservations for Toshiki campground. If we were so inspired I think we could find many places to stealth camp as well. The available activities on Oshima are limited. We plan to visit the zoo and climb Mt. Mihara to visit the volcano crater. Gojinka Onsen is definitely on the itinerary. I think I will bring a mini kite too.

Sagamiko or Bust
The second trip will be the last week in March. When I came back from my trip to Motosuko last October I promised I would take him fishing in the spring. As time went by, I convinced him to make it a biking and fishing trip. Lake Sagamiko is only about 2 hours, give or take, from home and since fishing is the main purpose of the trip and not biking Lake Sagamiko seemed like the perfect destination. It is only about 35 km from the house. A little more than my usual morning commute. I noted there was a campground right on the southeastern tip of the lake. Mino-Ishidake Campground is unique in that it is only accessible by boat from Sagamiko Park on the opposite side of the Lake. We will take off on a Friday. Settle can settle in and do a little fishing before night fall. There are rental boats so I think that on the next day we will rent a boat and do some deep water fishing. There will probably be time for some fishing on Sunday before we return home. There is no place to buy food near the campground so we will have to stock up before we get on the boat. My boy thinks we are going to catch enough fish eat and maybe we will but just to be on the safe side I think I will pack some instant meals to be on the safe side.

Our Gear
Besides having a common theme of needing a boat to get to our final destination (which, was not intentional, really) we will be traveling with two tents. My kids will use the lightweight one-person tent that I usually travel with. I will carry a bulky, old canvas Boy Scout tent that I scavenged from the gomi about a year ago. This will be the first trip that I take with it. I will check it out and try to weatherproof it a bit before we leave. It is bulky, heavy and difficult to set up. I have put it up in my back yard and I took it on a day trip to Tama River once but I have never spent the night in it. It will be a new experience for me. It’s all part of the adventure. I bought a couple of those emergency space blankets just in case.

I plan to do cooking on both trips. My cooking gear is sufficient for one person. I bought an additional camping cook set for 800 yen at a local second hand shop a few months ago. When I say it is used I mean barely used. It was still in its original box and I didn’t see any signs that the pan and been put over a flame. The kit even came with tin plates and cups which I will probably leave at home. It will be the first time I take the used gear out on a trip. I only have one small stove so we will have to take turns cooking our meals, whatever they may be.

Since the goal of the second trip is to go fishing we will be carrying fishing gear. I am leaving this entirely up to my son. From time to time he takes trips with his friends to the Tama River by bike so I am assuming he knows how to lash his fishing poles to his frame. I have some velcro straps that will suit the purpose. I am also leaving the provisioning of bait up to him as well.

I have an extra rack from a retired mama-chari to put on my daughter’s bike and my son’s bike already has a rack on it. I purchased a set of rear panniers from Amazon for this trip. To be honest, I just wanted new panniers. The Konnig panniers that I bought over a year ago are wearing a bit thin on the bottom. Mind you, it’s nothing a bit of canvas or vinyl and some heavy duty thread can’t patch up. They aren’t very waterproof and they tend rub against my wheel or spokes when they are empty. They are dingy gray panniers that are in all of my videos up to now. This time I tried to do a little more research before I purchased. I bought a set of Pellor panniers that will hold up to 70 liters. It is a three piece set. Two side bags and a top bag that can double as a backpack. I got the blue ones to match my bike. I am contemplating returning them as I noticed that the stitching coming out near the zipper on both side bags. If I file a claim now I may not  get replacement before the start of the first trip. I could fix it with some thread and needlework of my own but why should I. The bags will last through two short trips so maybe I will hold off until April before complaining.

First Timers
This is the first time for both of my kids to go on an extended bike trip. Both kids ride their bikes every day during their daily commutes to soccer practice or their studies. I feel very confident that both of them can handle the distance over flat ground. My daughter, Pearl, just turned 19, rides a Giant hybrid commuter with skinny tires. Not ideal for touring but we aren’t going thousands of kilometers. We will probably won’t even cover 150 km on this trip. There are a few steep (around 8-9%) but relatively short climbs lasting no more than a couple of kilometer. As I recall there is about a 1000 meters of elevation change all together. It all depends on how many times we go around. Though her bike isn’t exactly geared for climbs and she isn’t used to riding with a full load I think she will be okay. She is strong and generally fit though perhaps a bit out of shape from the past year of concentrating on studying. Her tires are of the skinny, Ricky Racer, type. I am a little worried about how her bike will handle the load. She gets flats a fairly regular basis during her plus/minus 8 km commute to her studies. I will stock up on spare tubes for her bike. Fortunately, the roads on Oshima are in top condition.

My son, Andy, is 14 soon to be 15. I know he can do the distance because when he was only 7 or 8 we went on a 40 km, unloaded bike ride around Lake Tamako when he was still riding  a cheap, too heavy kids mountain bike with only 6 gears. He did it just fine with lots of breaks for candy and snacks. He now has an off-brand 12-speed commuter hybrid. No granny gear on it but his tires have some width to them so I don’t have any worries about his bike handling the load. He is a big boy now and shouldn’t need as many snack breaks to keep him turning the cranks. There is much less climbing on the route to and from the Lake. There is one big climb of about 8% grade and 350 meters of elevation change.

I am really looking forward to these two tripsNeither kid has a granny gear so I am keen to see if their youth and glowing health will offset their equipment shortcomings and inexperience. And how it will compare to this fat, over 50 but experienced dude on a touring bike with more appropriate gearing.. Hopefully, they won’t make their old Da look too bad.

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