Hokkaido Touring Day 28: Suddenly it's over.

English | 日本語

I went to bed last night just after midnight, but woke up at 5:30 as usual. It wasn't that comfortable, but I did get some sleep. Today I tried the free morning set from the Kaikatsu Club. The Free version is a bit small in quantity, so I added 100 jpy to get a double size. After the meal, clean up and replenish the drinks and pack. Since it was raining, I put on rain gear and left.

I met a high school student rinding a city bike in the rain. He was riding around from Ibaraki to Hokkaido with a backpack on back and strapped to a 3-speed city bike tied his luggage. He said now he was on their way back. He doesn't have a tent, just a sleeping bag, and he is traveling in the field. He said he's going to ride today without sleeping, and he's going home by tomorrow. He was young and full of energy. I wouldn't be able to keep going if I were to do that.

The peaches sold at the roadside station on the way were super tasty. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't know Fukushima Prefecture was a peach-producing region. It's called "Kenjyou peaches". I was faster than the high-school boy from earlier, but since I was taking a break here, I met him again. I gave him the rest of the peaches and cheered him on.

A little past noon, after 100km, I think about today's destination and decided to stay in a health resort for the first time.

I guess I have about 30km to go. Suddenly the pedals locked up and I couldn't turn them. I can't turn it forward or backward. Did something bite the wheel? I stopped the bike and examined the rear wheel in a hurry. Then I found that the chain was biting into the rear pulley. When I looked closer, I saw that the pulley teeth were missing! In an instant, I knew why.

When I flew the bike to Hokkaido, I bent the rear derailleur hanger when I arrived at the Chitose airport, but I had to use force to fix it. But in reality, the hanger was still a bit bent slightly. I managed to cheat my way to this point, but the bent hanger seemed to keep putting a load on the rear pulley and chain at an angle. As a result, the rain kept scraping the aluminum pulley to the stainless steel chain until there was no longer any place for it to catch... The chain has been reconnected several times, but it still falls between the pulley and the cage, so it seems to be impossible to make it ride, although it can be pushed if the pulley is not replaced.

Using Google Maps to find a nearby bike shop and station. The station is about 1km away, so I can push my bike to get there. Unfortunately, there is no bike shop, and if I go to Koriyama station from here, I may find a bike shop. I also checked the time and cost of taking a conventional train from here to home, and it took about 6 hours! It was going to cost about 3,500 jpy to get home. Now what to do....

It's still going to rain for a while and I don't know if I'll be able to get parts for it. If I can't fix it, it will probably cost me a lot of money to stay. My family in Tokyo will be home tomorrow, and I have some other things I want to fix the bike.
I decided to end this trip here.
Then I pushed my bike to the station, packed and got on the train.

It took me about six hours to get to Machida station from Koriyama to Machida on the conventional line, but most of the time I was able to sit down, so I didn't get so tired. But it was strange feeling to say that I was in Sendai this morning, but I was already home at night. I was so tired, so I took a bath at home for the first time in a long time and slept soundly. I'm a little disappointed, but there's always another chance. I'm more interested in fixing the things I found out on this trip, and I can't wait honestly to go back for the next trip.

(Fin)

---

仙台から二本松 100km