Living the Dream!

A quick diversion from the mess that is the "Holiday Account".









Remember when I said I wanted to ride down that cool mountain next to us on a mountain bike here. On Sunday, I did just that:








So my good friend Noritaka turns up at lunch time on a working Sunday suggesting we go to the top of MT Akagi and for some reason Otosan conveniently allows us the afternoon off. We (being Noritaka, Kim and Myself) load three bikes in the truck and drive up the winding mountain lane. Nearing the top visibility is reduced to maybe 20 feet as thick cloud is setting in. I am momentarily reminded of MT. Fuji.








For 3 people who speak 3 different languages we get along very well and more importantly seem to understand each other (and each others jokes) very well. We ride round the lake at the top. I stupidly lead us down a path that really is too small for bikes to go on. Especially our road bikes. Lucky for Kim his bike has thick tyres so he powers off whooping as he goes, whilst myself and Noritaka carry our bikes or stumble over rocks trying to ride them (or in my cases smash my foot in between the bike pedal and a slightly too tall rock). Still things like that , I find, make the experience into more of an adventure.











Next was some messing around in the car park on Noritakas silky smooth bike. It is fun to laugh at Kim as he tries to pull off some of the tricks shown us by Noritaka. However my laughter is short lived as soon after this cool looking picture, I also push it too hard and crush my leg under the bike... That's what you get for showing off!!!












Walking through the small amount of souvenir shops we are beckoned over by an old women to try some samples. It is pretty good until she brings out 3 trouts on sticks. Noritaka without hesitation bites the head off straight away. I try and tell him that English people don't really eat the head of a fish, but he just replied with "It's a new challenge". The gauntlet was laid down so I had to accept. Eating a fish whole (skin, bones, eyes and teeth) was certainly an interesting experience and once I got past the head it actually didn't taste too bad. Note to self: I should really start taking pictures of these weird and wonderful things that I consume!











So then we come to the big moment... Going down!





Noritaka was kind enough to let me borrow his (super smooth) bike to go down whilst he drove the truck. So we set off and the whole experience was truly exhilerating. I am glad Kim went first, to start with I struggled. The corners were very tight, the ground was wet and Noritakas super smooth bike had brakes that were slightly too sharp. When I say slighty too sharp, I mean far too sharp, I would take a corner with a bad line, end up going wide and have to break, however this made the back wheel stop completely and caused the bike to fishtail dangerously close to the crash barriers. However paying more attention to Kims "race line" I was able to get into the rythym of the turns and then it was just magical...











The road got wider and drier near the bottom and somehow I had managed to get ahead of Kim and Noritaka. I was free as a bird, and looking down at the speedometer I saw I was going at 57 KMs per hour (about 35 Miles per hour)!!!! Then I looked up at the speed limit for the road which was 40 KMs.... Adrenaline pulsed through me for a very long time after this experience.





The best part though was just how long it lasted for. About an hour and 20 mins was spent just gliding down the mount with very little peddling whatsoever. Waiting near the end, Noritaka pulled up and then 5 minutes later Kim turned up. He showed us his shoe which had a burnt rubber smell and looked somewhat smoother than it had been previously. On examination of his bike it was highly obvious that he had lost his front brakes, the cable was just hanging over the wheel! He had been using his shoe as a brake and that is why he "couldn't keep up" a likely story!!!

So I went to bed a very happy boy, there was a minor problem when the truck wouldn't start near the end but that was just part of the fun. It really felt like we were a ragtag gang of happy go lucky, fumbling, but lovable, idiots just enjoying the simplicity of rolling down a big hill on wheels.



The only problem now is that I want to do it again... except maybe a bigger mountain!!