Day 1 - 2017 Golden Week Riding Trip

April 29, 2017, Saturday. Clear sky. Strong crosswind.

Today is the beginning of my first long trip of the year. As mentioned earlier, I have specific goals to achieve this time, other than the usual riding pleasures. I will go for my own Long Way Round, and I expect myself to tough it out when I will be on the road. However I am not anywhere near tough, so this is my training, so to speak.

I took a ferry crossing to Shikoku island. It is a rider friendly island with places of interest to riders in general. Most importantly, although the island is big, it is sparsely habituated-which is why i chose Shikoku as training ground. 

The ferry was nothing new to me. Made a few friends on the way and we parted to our own ways once landed onto the island. I dont have any particular place to go except to make sure I make it to the place to camp. 

On my way to the camp site, I tried looking for a stretch of winding road deep in the mountains but I couldn't find it. Instead, I bumped into the place (looked like a ghost town) which is supposed to be famous as a ski resort. Indeed, i saw parked cars and buildings, but there was no human to be found. Very eerie ambient.

I pressed on to my destination and stopped for food. One of my goals this time is to suppress expenses. It means no eating out as much as possible and no beverage for pleasure - strictly water. So this is what I bought. The meat is only for dinner but the eggs and bread will be for breakfast and lunch for the coming one or two days. 

I dont like doing dishes. And I was thinking that during LWR there wouldn't be so convenient a water source every time i stop by. I would need to wash the dishes or remove the need of washing by all means. So this is my solution - line the pot with aluminum foil, cook on the foil, remove the food and discard the foil. Brilliant, no? :-) This way I wouldn't have to wash. However, I still dont think this is good enough. Oh well, this is only first time doing such "stoic" riding, I will just make myself happy with this setting for now. Room for improvement, check.

I didnt know why but I ate rather fast - not that I didnt enjoy it or anything - although there was still plenty of sun light remaining for a slow dinner. Maybe it was the hunger for something, I felt pretty good actually, being able to cook myself something while on the road. Me in the past would just snot at the idea of cooking, because then I thought riding is supposed to be just ride, nothing else. I have changed, i guess.

Wiithout power supply or any sort of portable battery ( again I wanted to be minimalist ) I dont have a choice to watch TV or YouTube on my phone. I could only type this post on my phone with an apple keyboard, then set up the camp and hit the sack, hoping to get up early enough tomorrow morning for a slow and decent breakfast. Wouldn't want to sleep in.

No shower available, although there is a toilet in the park.

Good night!

Cheers.