I too, will miss your ride reports and great pictures! Rusty
On Friday, July 22, 2022 at 10:22:40 PM UTC-4 John Rinker wrote: > Thank you, Steven, very kind of you to say so. > > John > On Friday, July 22, 2022 at 3:16:40 PM UTC-7 Steven Sweedler wrote: > >> John, I’ve enjoyed your trip reports and your pictures, Thanks, Steve >> >> On Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 12:02 AM John Rinker <jwri...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Sadly my time in Japan has come to an end. A brief stay filled with >>> beautiful rides to spectacular places. >>> >>> One final ride: Shikoku. An island of steep mountains, thick forests and >>> clear rivers. Also, the Henro- a 1200 km pilgrimage to visit 88 temples. >>> Walking, prayer and incense. >>> >>> First, the Shimanami Kaido. Six islands, seven bridges to cross the Seto >>> Inland Sea. A world-class bicycle path and tales of old-world pirates. >>> >>> On Shikoku, alone in the mountains, swerving to avoid 30cm iridescent >>> blue earthworms. Hydrangeas exploding on the slopes and by the sea. >>> >>> In a remote blacksmith's forge, I learned about traditional Japanese >>> steel (tamahagane), sword making and polishing, and made a kiritsuke knife. >>> All on a day when all the rain in Japan dropped on our tin roof. >>> >>> In the following days the rivers were full but clear, and my days were >>> spent climbing and swimming in some of the clearest water I've seen. The >>> mountains were cool but the air was thick; not all the water was in the >>> rivers. >>> >>> Japan is well-known for its tunnels and one 5.5 km tunnel running at a >>> 5% slope had me whizzing under Mt. Kanpuzan at 60km/h without a single car >>> in sight. >>> >>> The mountains gave way to coastline and a few hours later I was back on >>> the Shimanami in sweltering heat as I made my way slowly towards the cool, >>> high-speed Shinkansen that would bring me home to my bags packed and ready >>> for my trip home to BC. >>> >>> Japan is a dream. Get there! >>> >>> [image: IMG_0128.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_0097.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_0082.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_8850.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_8933.jpeg] >>> [image: IMG_8950.jpeg] >>> >>> GaiaGPS tracks and photos >>> <https://www.gaiagps.com/public/7xV9qd5vGXF0ueueJufXO3f9> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e55830c4-604e-4d1f-97e3-b0a767408278n%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e55830c4-604e-4d1f-97e3-b0a767408278n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Steven Sweedler >> Plymouth, New Hampshire >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/9ba12ea1-a1e0-40d3-abb5-8d2353c76cf6n%40googlegroups.com.
