Served Up...Rides and Light Testing

Can you believe it's already the last day of January! My last rides of January and light testing are here: Sat. Sun. and Tues.

...and they said it couldn't be done???

Well, well...after a little handy work today I finally got my DIY bicycle light completed. Click on the following link to see the finished product: Serikaku Lighting Company . (Warning: have your sunglasses ready!)

...let there be LIGHT!!!

"...so when is this great invention that will put niterider out of business of your coming out??????? Impatiently waiting..."

That is what the Naysayers mocked! Well, I have been making PROGRESS far in advance of what the Naysayers thought possible...to SEE the latest on my DIY bicycle light, click here: let there be L I G H T !!!

No riding today...

The three day break from Sunday did a lot of good for my recovery and I really wanted to get out there and ride today. However, the weather just wouldn't cooperate this afternoon...so instead I took Lucy out for a walk...oh, I mean RUN!!! For some reason, she must be feeling GREAT cause she has a LOT of energy nowadays! Could it have something to do with the year???

2005 Japan Trip - Day 2 (Part 2)

Part 2 - Saturday (Doyoubi 土曜日) Oct. 29th 2005 - Back at the hotel room I fueled up with some complementary green tea and some energy drink (Dakara?...Aquarius?...Diet Coke?) which I bought from the all ubiquitous vending machines. I then grabbed my bike and pannier and set off for the station 駅.

I left Osaka Eki 大阪駅 at about 11:15 on JR's Yamatoji Line. If I caught the right train, I knew it would take about 34 minutes 分 to get to Horyuji 駅 in Nara 奈良. Somehow...I managed to guess correctly and arrived at just around 12 noon - apprehension to rest!

Along the way, with the rain 雨 and cloudy skies for company (the train wasn't that crowded at all), I realized that it was just one of those days where the 雨 might never stop. Passing through some of the grey-toned industrial portions of the city, the shrouded weather added to my feeling of how cold and gritty and mechanical and even lonely...the "not so pretty" side of a big city can be (大阪 being the second largest).

Upon arriving at Horyuji 駅 it was much smaller than I was expecting and I felt instantly comfortable being there. Compared to others, Horyuji 駅 was built with a lot of wood and it had a familar "human" feel to it that made me feel good inside - the same type of feeling you would get if you could visit your grandmother's old wooden house...

As I stepped out of the 駅, and even with no sunshine and the 雨 still falling down, I could not help but SMILE :-), when I saw Shizuka-san, my guide for the day, greeting me dressed in her bright orange cycling rain suit straddling her mountain bike!

Even today...when I think about it...it really brings back smiling memories...

つづく。。。

Btw...If you're wondering, I used this site (for JR lines only): JR timetable to check the train schedule and travel times. You will need to know, however, the name of and how to correctly spell the 駅 you're looking for - which is not always easy!

To see the Part 1 of this day, click here: Part - 1

Putting in Some Saddle Time

Finally over my cold and with this past Monday being a holiday, I got to put in over 250 kms and 10 hrs last week. But...I think I may have "over cooked it" cause today I'm feeling very flat and stale. I think I'll be taking a break till Wednesday...we'll see. For a short story of this weekend's long rides click here: my cycling page.

Exciting Sumo - はつ ばしょ

きのうのばんのすもうは,とってもすばらしかったですね！

Wow!!! Last night's sumo was super exciting! In fact, this tournament has got to be the best I've seen since Jan. 2005, when I first started watching the live sumo on NGN.

As you may know (or may not have know), Asashoryu, the only Yokozuna, has completely DOMINATED the sumo world since the Kyushu Basho in November 2004. He won that tournament and ALL 6 tournaments in 2005! But not this New Year's basho!

Going into the final and 15th day it was a two-man race as 13-1 Ozeki Tochiazuma (one of the only wrestlers able to match Asashoryu in technique and speed) held destiny in his own hands. If he beat the Yokozuna, he would win the tournament, no matter what second placed Hakuho did.

In the second to last match, Hakuho beat recently promoted Ozeki Kotooshu for a final record of 13-2. Hence the stage was set...if Tochiazuma lost to the Yokozuna, there would be a playoff between Hakuho and Tochiazuma. In the final match of the night, the Yokozuna never had a chance as Tochiazuma threw the Yokozuna with an uwatedashinage - pulling overarm throw. Tochiazuma finished with a 14-1 record and won the yusho.

Fwiw, it seemed to me that the Yokozuna was injured, especially since the 12th day when he fell on his arm losing to Hakuho. Since that day, he has looked tentative and favoring his right side. But Asashoryu dosen't make excuses for his bad performance, and neither should I.

Hopefully, Tochiazuma can become a Yokozuna this year! I'll be rooting for him since he is one of my favorite sumotori, along with Asashoryu and Kotooshu and Ama (smallest man in sumo)!

This is a pic of my friend Randal and I in front of the Fukuoka International Center on the 14th day of the 2004 Kyushu Basho. You can click on this link if you want to see all the pictures I took back then: Pictures: Sumo - Kyushu Basho 2004

2005 Japan Trip - Day 2 (Part 1)

Part 1 - Saturday (Doyoubi 土曜日) Oct. 29th 2005 - Several days before leaving Hawaii, Shizuka-san (my friend in Nara 奈良) let me know that the weather forcasters predicted rain (ame 雨) on 土曜日. I checked here: JWA - Japan Weather Association and sure enough, it called for cloudy skies on Friday and for 雨 on 土曜日. So, it was no great shock when I awoke to find this picture out of my window. It looked gloomy and misty and foggy outside, and I remember getting really close to the glass, straining to see if there were actual drops falling. I saw only a few small drops hitting the window and sill every now and then, "not too bad" I thought to myself. If it stayed like this all day, it would be OK.

Since we planned to meet in 奈良 at 12 noon, I had a little time in the morning to explore and decided to find an internet cafe since I still had no place to stay on Wednesday night. I walked to Osaka Station (Osaka Eki 大阪駅) via the underground walkway between the Daiichi Hotel and the station 駅. I found the internet cafe, but it opened at 10 a.m. or so, too late for me. By this time, it was raining much harder than when I first woke, so I made it back to the hotel and got ready to leave.

I wondered to myself how the weather forcast in Japan 日本 could be so accurate from 5 or 6 days out. Was it just chance or luck? Was the technology here that much better than in Hawaii? After thinking a while, I decided that since the landmass of 日本 is so much bigger than Hawaii, they probably have a better chance of predicting the weather. If you live in Hawaii, you know it is practically impossible to accuratley predict any weather, other than "sunny to partly couldy, with mauka and windward showers." Hopefully, the 40 kilometers between here and 奈良 would allow the 雨 to pass.

つづく。。。

To see the story of Day 1, click here: 2005 Japan Trip Day - 1

Happy New Year - Got the Mojo Back!

2006 has arrived and it's finally a Happy New Year!

It hadn't been all that happy for me until this weekend due to a cold (flu?) bug that I cought just before the New Year. But, this weekend I got the Mojo back and finally got to do some riding this weekend. In fact, I rode a lot!

Here's the link to the first rides of 2006! First Rides

SCCA Autocross - January

Since I started feeling a LOT better this weekend, I decided that I would "chance" running in this month's autocross race. For a short story on what NOT to do, click: Autocross Story.
(Photos thanks to http://www.tomo-dachi.net/sccapics/010806-jon.html)

2006 - Week No. 1

Hi there...

Well, well...2006 has not started out as "well" as I would have liked cause I've been aaaAARRRGGghhh ;-( SICK all this first week. That meant NO work, and NO RIDING either...now I can do with the no work, but no riding!!! I guess I'll just have to call this a non-self imposed "recovery" week.

So then...while convalescing at home this past week, I put together my riding stats for 2005. I really hope to take it up a notch this year - once I FULLY get over this cold that is!

One thing for certain, the only way to go from here is UP!!! Higher, faster, stronger...ttyl...

２００５はおわりました ー ２００６はあけました

皆さん。。。

２００５はよっかたですね。 しかし、この２００６はもっともよいことしをつくりましょう！！！

かぞくといしょに ともだちといしょに
みんなといしょに。。。

あけおめ、ことよろ :-) 　　かんぱい！！！