Oct on the bike part 3

Tuesday 26th Oct decided to cycle home from Lake Kawaguichiko instead of doing the train thing.
At 8am loaded up and ventured off to Lake Yamanakako then on, on.
It was a great day of cycling, downhill, glorious rivers with clear water, layers of mountains, more downhill, not so much traffic along route 413, then onto route 16, and reached Yokohama around 3.30pm.
A great cycling trip with a few adventures along the way. Every time I venture out in Japan I love it.
Oh, the onsens were great - such a wonderful clean feeling, then a long soak in the hot tub.
Thank you Japan for volcanoes and onsens.

Oct on the bike part 2

On Monday 25th the sun was shining and the autumn leaves looked spectacular. Again cycled Lakes Kawaguichiko, Saiko and Shojiko also ventured further to Lake Motosuko then back to the start, about 85km. Great roads, meeting chatty people on the way, one man about to go scuba diving in Lake Motosuko to see the red salmon spawning.







The elusive Mt Fuji.

Oct on the bike

On the Sunday I cycled to and around Lake Kawaguichiko, Lake Saiko and Lake Shojiko before turning back due to the rain.
Stayed at a great place called K's House where the staff spoke great english.









Sunday 24th Oct cycled to Yokohama station, put the bike into the bike bag, which I am getting efficient at doing and jumped on a train or trains and navigated my way to Kawaguichiko Station by 11.35am. A great trip with views of Mt Fuji.

Still running

I can actually move forward now 16km, still hoping to get an entry for the Tokyo Marathon.
Have been apartment viewing, thinking I'd like to more. Really would love to live in Kamakura but I have let that idea go and will look for something down by Yamashita Park.
Sat 23rd went to a Thai festival at the Red Brick Warehouse with Clair, Barb and Roger. Good company and good food.

16th & 17th Oct Oshima Island

With the Tokyo Half Fast Cycling mob went on the overnight ferry to Oshima island with our bikes all bagged up.
Thanks Eddy for getting my tickets and me organised in time to catch the ferry. After a smooth night at sea and a few hours sleep we arrived around 5.30am at Oshima, assembled our bikes and rode off to our accommodation and breakfast - fit for a cyclist!





The cycling was great, the weather awesome and the people incredible. Thanks for one of my best weekends in Japan.
On Saturday Eddy and I rode around the island, great downhills. On Sunday morning I rode around again with the mob and Don.
Lots of laughs as the sunset and the ferry escorted us back to Yokohama.

September wrap up

Well the school year started and it was very busy. Teaching Grade 1 - 14 students.
4th & 5th Sept diving on Oshima island - awesome
10th Sept - attended Jane Goodall presentation - very inspirational
12th Sept - Sumo - lots of fun
19th Sept - Attended my first (and maybe my only) baseball game at the Yokohama Stadium
26th -great 65km bike ride down the peninsula in perfect cycling weather

In between all this have been training for the Tokyo Marathon Feb 27th 2011.
Lots of early morning running sessions - well moving forward sessions more than running to be honest. At the end of Oct there will be a lottery and I hope to get an entry for the marathon. 230,000 people have applied for 30,000 entries but often foreigners get in.

School is also keeping me busy. First Steps Writing training and EARCOS IT training weekend.
Saw a great flick at the United Nations Refuge film festival - thanks Roger.

SUMO baby!!!

Well don't ask me how but I have accidently deleted all my amazing sumo pictures. I borrowed these pics from Gillian. We all had a great day and it was very, very entertaining. Loving Japan culture.