Today has been almost the opposite experience to what I had days ago. The day had started well with an early wake up and strolling ride through the farms and villages of the quiet Nagahama as I took the 5k ride to the nearest konbini. I stocked up on some more water and grabbed myself some breakfast before heading back.
I had finally got the camera working I had thought so I was excited to get back on the road and start filming the adventures. There was no one else at the guesthouse except for me so I just packed my bags and sent the host a message saying I had left. I headed off for the mountains and was having such a peaceful and joyous ride that I had forgotten to start my watch. If it wasn’t for the power save notification I don’t think I would have ever noticed.
I wasn’t too mad about the climbs today for some reason, I just felt good. By the time I made it to the top I was met with a beautiful tunnel to ride through, and after exiting to a gorgeous view over the lake and mountains as I left the mouth of the tunnel it was a straight descent back down, just letting the bike do the work, wind blowing through my hair and just taking in all the scenery.
After making it through some more tunnels, some more sights of the plains, and one more big climb, I met some monkeys on the road. I passed one and almost went to stop to take a photo but it started yelling at me so I quickly rode off. There was some more up ahead so I stopped with some distance between us so I could take some photos of them, not before another monkey started coming from behind and chasing me. I quickly got back on the bide and rode for dear life.
Today’s ride was rather short and I was in Takashima well before I needed to check in so I decided to go and see what else was in the area. I could see a nice avenue on maps and the photos looked really pretty so I headed off in that direction.
That’s where the day went sour. After riding off for about 10 minutes, I felt something off with me wheels and noticed my back tyre had gone flat. Again. I wasn’t too worried because I had just bought two spares yesterday so I could just replace this one and still have one spare, the only issue that I thought might happen was the spare that I had bought was a size too small because it was the only ones they had in stock but I thought it would be fine enough.
With plenty experience now under my belt I replace the tube with ease, not without the help of monkey, and was back on my way in no time. No longer than 2 minutes later I hear a POP and the back tyre was flat again. Knowing the other spare I had was the same size I figured this was just fate and the tyre wasn’t meant to be. It was nearing time for check-in so I just made the walk of shame to the accommodation and I would figure out what I would do later.
By chance because I had bailed on Tsuruga and the north shore where I was meant to be tonight it meant I would be in Takashima now for 2 nights, and I had also booked reasonably close to a train station, so I figured that I could just spend my day off training to a city where I could go to another bike shop and buy more tubes, this tome the right size though.
After dumping the bike, and going for a stroll along the beachfront to clear my thoughts, I checked into the accommodation and made a plan to go into Kyoto tomorrow and visit one of the large shops, and if that doesn’t work out then I just train back to Osaka and take the bike back, but either way I think I have a way out some I’m not completely stranded. Or so I hope.