The original plan was to ride about halfway to Nagasaki, camp somewhere on the side of the road or sleep in a rest stop, then ride into Nagasaki tomorrow. No matter which way we went down to Nagasaki there were no camp sites on the way, so we had no exact final destination. In the end, we rode 113km all the way into Nagasaki.

Each time we have time away from the bike I write about how nice it is to take a break from riding and also how we are excited to be back on the road. Yesterday was a short break, only one day, after a much longer break in Korea and Fukuoka. We hadn’t really wanted to break, hoping to get back in the groove of riding a bit. It’s a bit stop and start right now because we are pausing in so many cities. But in the end, spending the day with Corey and Ophelia re-energized me to ride in a way none of the other breaks had. Spending the day talking about our experiences riding in Japan gave me new inspiration to ride this morning. When we set out I felt revitalized, excited again about this bike trip, and I was ready to ride.

The first 30km went by quickly, a gently winding road following a river with green hills on either side. Rather then stopping for lunch, we broke every hour or two for an onigiri, another onigiri, an amazing soft cream topped with blueberry sauce, and finally some soy joys. Just before the biggest climb of the ride (about 50km in) we saw a sign for Nagasaki 60km away. Both feeling great despite the distance we had already traveled, we were of one mind – go for it.

The next part of the ride was a steady climb, winding up a mountain that overlooked the bay. The view was beautiful and the climb long but not steep, we took it no problem with soft-serve cream as our reward at the end.

About 30km outside of the city, with 80km under my belt, I felt my energy waning. I told Christophe I wasn’t sure I could make it all the way into the city, I was tired. He traded ipods with me, setting me up with Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons” on audio book. Not the best written work of fiction out there, but enough to take my mind off of my tired muscles and allow me to ride the rest of the way into the city. It is amazing what a small distraction can allow you to complete. I guess it is often not my tired muscles that make me stop for the day, but my tired mind.

We were going to try to save some cash by spending the night at an internet cafe, but after some searching we gave up and headed to a Toyoko Inn. Always a safe bet.