Cycling to Nagahama

Transcript

Today I went cycling in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, where I live. I rode from my home in Ritto to Nagahama and back: 115 kilometers. A one-day ride of 100 kilometers is called a metric century. Serious long-distance cyclists and, of course, road racers, can do a metric century easily, but for a 58-year-old casual weekend cyclist like me, it's not bad. My touring bike worked perfectly, and nothing hurts. I'm satisfied.

This morning I met some young road racers near Hikone. We played "hare and tortoise" for a while. I was the tortoise, of course. They rode together in several single-file groups. When cyclists ride very close together in groups or four or more, they can go really fast. Several times they flew past me like I was standing still. When they stopped to rest and gather their groups, I passed them. That happened several times.

I had a brief chat with several of them, and they said they were training. They looked like very serious racers. They rode with great speed and skill, and most of them rode very expensive racing bikes. I felt honored to share the road with those young riders and enjoy the beauty of their bikes, their strong muscular bodies, and their skillful, high-speed teamwork.

The ride home from Nagahama was easy and fast. I had a good tailwind, so I didn't have to work very hard. By three o'clock in the afternoon I was back home, cleaning my bike and oiling its chain for my next ride. Today was a very good day.