Monthly Archives: January 2015

Biking to Boxing

It is nice when you can combine hobbies in a way that they are mutually beneficial. I love that joining the boxing gym gives me an excuse to ride the bike, and I love that having an excuse to ride the bike motivates me to go to boxing.

This is a winter ride, so the ‘greens’ are all brown, but the roads are the same shape all year. The ride there was fairly straight, as if followed the coast. Some nice beach views that way. The ride home, however, was rather twisty. I took the Green Line from Gotsu to Kanagi, which is a fantastic ride. Half way through I took a detour down the windmill maintenance roads, which are always fun.

 

Winter Seaside Ride

One of the great things about living in West Nowhere, Japan (sometimes referred to as ‘Shimane’), is that you can ride year-round. While we do get snow on occasion, it quickly melts along the coast, so the coastal routes are generally clear. I actually toured down to Fukuoka a few years back on New Year’s Day, so as long as you have the right gear riding is a full-time gig out this way.

So, taking advantage of a rather dry and sunny day, I decided to take the bike out for a nice winter seaside tour in Hamada.

As you may notice, Hamada has a bit of a small fishing town feel to it. While we do have a large commercial port, the local fishing trade came first. The coast is peppered with small fishing villages, and the rocky cliffs  and beautiful beaches make for nice views along the way.

Really, you should try a winter ride in Hamada some day…