LONG ROAD TO OITA WITH UENO-KUN

I woke up and ate breakfast with Takeru before heading out. He cooked me some rice and miso soup. We walked up to his hive box and we had some of the honey from there he had kept. We said farewell and I proceeded to head towards Saiki, or so I planned. On the way I saw another touring cyclist and we started talking about our trips. He had followed a similar route with me and we happened to be heading towards Oita so we rode together to keep each other company. I originally wanted to go to Saiki, but Ueno-kun was going to Oita. I gathered up some will power and said I would go with him there knowing that it would be the longest ride I've done yet.

The route was mostly up and down through mountain passes...it was cold and not very fun. Ueno-kun was just finishing up his masters in engineering and getting ready to head to Tokyo next month to start his first real job. Like everyone else I have met on this trip, he turned out to be a great person. I've been real lucky to meet all these great people, so appreciative of their company. The ride would've been pretty miserable without him. We pushed each other to keep going, even though I felt like he was holding up for me a lot! On the way we found a train stop named Naomi so I stopped and took a picture of it...my mom's name is Naomi. He got a flat several miles later so he had to change his inner tube.

We stopped to eat in the afternoon at a little village...there really wasn't much around throughout the mountains. It was nice to escape the cold and eat in the warmth of a restaurant. The lady was friendly and nice. I had spaghetti and Ueno-kun had curry rice. We both drank banana juice too. We continued towards Oita in the cold...there were several scary tunnels with no cycling lane...it made me feel uneasy. As we came out of the mountains, the route took us along a wide river all the way into town.

Once in town, we stopped to get his brakes fixed. By this time it was raining and miserable outside. He called and got me a room in town so I was set up for the night. We went looking for a good izakaya but it was full...it's okay we found an even better one nearby. The lady there was nice and the guy next to us was cool too...we talked about our adventure and how we met and became buddies. He bought us ohagi as a treat. The food was good, chicken tempura seems to be a thing here.

After we ate we went to an onsen the lady told us we should check out nearby. It was like heaven jumping in the hot tub after a tough ride like today. Afterwards we both stopped at a conbini and then he led me to the hotel I would be staying at. We had the hotel clerk take a picture of us...it took him several tries. He was getting yelled at earlier by someone on the phone. I told Ueno-kun to come visit me anytime in L.A. and we exchanged good byes.