Before 2022 I hadn’t been on a bike more than a few times a year since I was a child, but after having bought an electric bike and using it as my daily form of transportation; I sold my car back in 2010, I had become more than a little used to being on two wheels, but that didn’t mean I was prepared to ride 65-70 miles in one day... and on one of earths most magnificent islands no less. Yakushima, inspiration for the Studio Gibli film, Princess Mononoke, a global phenomenon and one of the only Japanese anime’s I had ever seen in Theater while in America.
I got up at 6am, bundled myself in all my clothes as it was quite cold, and got together a rag tag collection of chips, water, canned coffees and sugar drinks and headed out in near perfect dark using the headlight built into the bike to guide me. It was at this point that I began to wonder, will not having any fenders for my wheels going to screw me over since the road was still very wet and I was getting a pretty heavy dose of water spinning off onto me? But once the sun really began cooking it was a none-issue.
Now, when I say this island is beautiful, I’m talking Jungle Book meets Highlander 1 on the cliffs of Scottland. This place has wild animals everywhere you look including white tailed deer and hordes of monkeys so thick there’s no way to get through them on the street until they allow you to pass, and allow me they did, for not too long after leaving at 6 am, I’d say around 9 after passing one of the biggest water falls I’ve ever seen, I began to encounter them, at first only at the edges of the forest/jungle, then when the sun came out they began taking all the heavy rays of light they could spreading out on the asphalt to warm themselves from the cold night.
The monkeys were fearless mostly, but the deer were skittish. I even saw a small little monkey run from me, mount a much larger female, fuck her and then dismount screeching at me as it ran alongside my bike. It was the fastest fuck and run I’d ever seen, the female didn’t skip a beat, barely moved. This was the biggest climb of the entire ride, a real challenge even with the bikes electric motor helping me along, as I had set the power to the lowest level, and even turned it off in many places where it was toughest to climb, both for the work out, and to prevent battery drain at unacceptable levels. The Yamaha had a stated range of 200 KM, but I wasn’t going to risk having to ride the last many miles on a dead weight bike which can easily happen if you go max power for too long.
It was on this climb, when civilization had been left behind and the road was washed out with fallen tree’s and heavy foliage that I saw a backpacker walking alone. And boy was his pack huge, you know the type. He could have fit a whole house inside that pack, and probably did. I waved to him, and hours later he passed by me in a 4x4 van, and gave me a thumbs up. I saw him again a short time later walking off down a random jungle road, hope he found a place to stay.
I powered up with another canned coffee from a fending machine half buried in ivy after passing the lighthouse on the cliffs of insanity and burst down the mountain at high speed. Now, trusting oneself is a must, but when you’re riding an untested mode of transportation its always tricky, especially on a rental bike, but as this was Japan, and I knew the bike rental place was top notch, I trusted the bike as much as myself, and it showed.
Seven hours and 30 minutes later I had ridden a complete circle around the island and then some, extending my ride another 2 hours because I still had 50% battery left and wanted to push it to the extreme, setting the power to level 5 for the first time. But before making that final push I went to a local market and bought some Natto and rice, there were so foreigners there and one of them asked me about natto, if it tasted good.
“Well, I like it, I think everyone should try, but it’s an acquired taste. Very good for you!” The money came up and saw what we were discussing.
“Ohh no... I’m not down for that!”
“You have to, it’s part of the experience.” I said and walked off as the husband looked it over and put it down under threat of his wife’s glare.
All told I rode 170 Km or 105 miles, far and away the longest ride of my life. I returned the bike, forgot the lock in the yurt, and the owner and I returned it later after going shopping again together. I thought to myself, now what? I certainly don’t want to get back on a bike, my bodies practically ruined after that ride. So... Well, it was only after choosing my next destination that fate would once again decide for me, and this time in the most unexpected way, making a seriously religious encounter inevitable...