On the road – again

There's something about the first day of a bike trip – it's never as easy as one would hope for. It's like as if the road is testing the resolve of the traveler. Our first set back came only one hour into riding when Maki had a flat tire. Not a big deal, one might think. And ordinarily it wouldn't be one, either. But see here's the catch – Maki was riding a 26" and we only had 28" spare tubes. So we repair the inner tube, right? Wrong! As it turns out the owner of the bike had for one reason or another crammed a 28" inner tube into the 26" wheel. Making it a less than ideal combination, which invariably leads to puncture. So while we roll down the hill into the next small town, Maki walks her bike following us. Then we have a stroke of luck – a construction worker offer to take Maki and the bike in his truck and ride her to the closest bike shop. Good? Yes. And no. Turns out 26" inner tubes are really hard to come by in Japan. After two stops, Maki decides to take the train to the next town and agrees to meet us at the ferry port of Wakayama where we are heading. We do not know at this point if we'll meet her again on this trip.