Udong noodles and gyoza

Lunch stop in Fujuoka shi

Chichibu, Saitama preficture

35 miles

Gone baby gone!

Bike is ready to go. Bags packed. I'll write more later.

Today turned out to be a bit of a headache. My rear wheel that I had to rebuild back in May turned out to be trued incorrectly so I had to take a drive down to the bike shop (Nalsima Friend Probably one of the best bike shops in Tokyo). They had my wheel serviced in no time and I was on my way. I got back to Yokota at about 1600.Stopped by Outdoor Rec to say hi to my friend Matt, picked up a few things at the BX/Commissary and finally back to Kyles where his wife Theresa had made a great dinner. Leland stopped by to finalize some details of the ride. Now....to bed. Hopfully I have a few seconds to take some pic's tomorrow.

I am here at Yokota.Not a very interesting post today I'm afraid. I am at my pal Kyle's house. They have very graciously let me stay in one of their children's rooms. Very comfortable. later this morning I will be getting my bike put together and then taking a test run to make sure everything is in working order. I walked over to the Shoppette (a base convenience store) to grab some coffee and something for breakfast and saw one of my former coworkers. Great to see her, I will be stopping back at my old work center later this morning to say hi to everyone who I worked with when I was stationed here. Anyway, I need to get cracking on the bike. I will post some photos of the bike and of Yokota this afternoon. Later.

Yokota!

Finally to the end of the trip. Tomorrow I put the bike and gear together and get in a test ride before we leave on Wednesday morning.

Finally

I'm on the bus for Yokota lunch (din ner?)  in hand. Bike is here as is all other luggage. 2 hours on the bus and I can get some sleep.

Almost there.

I hate this flight. 14 hours is entirely too long to spend on a plane. Once I get on the ground and through customs it's off to McDonalds!  If you have never had McDonalds in Japan, you have never had McDonalds. The food looks like it does in the pictures and the people who work there actually take pride in their work. Sounds crazy I know but it's true.

On my way! Just 14 hours between me and Japan!

Interesting day of travel. Fire alarm in DFW. No problem though, ended with out incident. Next stop Narita.

Last training ride before the Epic!

Anticipation

Prologue:
As of today it's 14 days till I fly to Japan and 17 days till we begin the Northern Epic Ride.  My training has gone well and I think I am where I need to be fitness wise to complete the ride.

We are 4 riders now.  Kyle and myself completing what we started last year with two additions; Tony Miller and Leland Webb. Anticipated distance is right around 1100 miles (averaging 88 miles per day) with over 80000 feet of total ascent and a maximum elevation of 7800 feet above sea level.  I have had minimum input on the route this year so if it breaks us physically I am innocent as a lamb.
I will post the route we took at the end of the day each day with a synopsis of the days events. In addition, as interesting events occur I will update the blog accordingly.