Today I rode from Niihama to Marugame. It was 72 km again. My knee hurt a bit this morning, but I started riding slowly and gradually built up momentum. I feel like I've picked up a few tricks for touring by now, so I'll write them below.

Tips:

Momentum comes in waves. If you force it you'll tire yourself out, and if you miss the wave it goes to waste. The key is to start riding in the morning and wait for the wave. Sometimes it doesn't come all day. On the Shimanami Kaidō, for example, even though I pushed for a whole day (about 11 hours), I only managed 72 km, because the wave never came. Take a break when you're not feeling the momentum. It's good to do this regularly. Eat a protein bar and an onigiri in the morning. Or an energy jelly and a protein bar. Timeboxing: set a short-term goal and don't stop until you reach it. Decide on a reward for when you get there too. For example, if I ride 15 km to a certain 7-Eleven, I can have an onigiri or a sweet bun. Eat two meals a day for energy. Don't forget that where there's an uphill, there's a downhill too.

Everyone is probably thinking, "why is he doing such a ridiculous tour?" When my motivation is low, I end up thinking the same thing. Even so, I have lots of reasons, and I wanted to write them down for times like that.

Why I'm doing this tour:

To broaden my horizons To learn about Japan and the world To experience different ways of living To understand Japanese culture To become mentally stronger To train my body To improve my Japanese To meet all kinds of people To see beautiful scenery To eat delicious food To prove to myself that I can do things I thought I couldn't To pick up all sorts of skills (survival and so on) To test whether Japanese at my level can get me by across the whole country To make memories I'll never forget To show my gratitude to my family To experience the wonderful country that is Japan

I also met a man called Takashi-san in a shop. He's from Ehime, but he moved to Marugame for work. After chatting for a bit, we took a photo together.

Ever since entering Shikoku I've been following the western road, so it's mostly flat and I can see the sea and the mountains at the same time. My legs hurt, so I want to avoid mountain roads as much as possible. I wanted to go to Kōchi and Matsuyama too, but that would have meant climbing big mountains and taking a detour of dozens of kilometres, so it wouldn't have been wise.

I'll also write the distances so far below:

Day 1: 32 km, Fukuoka to the campsite Day 2: 57 km, the campsite to Kitakyushu Day 3: 93 km, Kitakyushu to Yamaguchi Day 4: 54 km, Yamaguchi to Shūnan Day 5: 90 km, Shūnan to Hiroshima Day 6: rest day in Hiroshima Day 7: 73 km, Hiroshima to Mihara Day 8: 72 km, Mihara to Ōshima Day 9: 73 km, Ōshima to Niihama Day 10: 75 km, Niihama to Marugame Total: 619 km Average: 61.9 km