The hills this morning were brutal, but they fired me up. As I climbed, I shouted "sa!" and pushed on.

I wanted to cover a long distance today, so even when I spotted shrines I kept riding. Even so, I saw some really cool street art, and there was no way I wasn't stopping. I figured that with art this cool, there had to be cool people there too. And I was right. It was a toy shop, run by two brothers. The youngest, Ryōji-san, makes music as an artist, and the eldest draws the covers and so on. Together they're making seriously cool stuff. When Ryōji-san played me his music, I was blown away. He's really good, and it's right up my street too. He also recommended lots of Japanese underground artists, and we talked about music. While we chatted, he treated me to an iced coffee and orange cake. After talking for a bit, we went up to the roof to see the view of Lake Biwa.

Apparently the street art on the building was painted by Hitch from Soulflex. I talked about street art in Bristol and showed him photos I'd taken. Ryōji-san is really cool and his music is amazing, so everyone, look up Carefreeman and have a listen. Whenever I see people like Ryōji-san working so passionately at what they love, I think it's really cool and it gives me energy. It motivates me to work hard at my own passions too.

I also went to a bakery that Ryōji-san recommended, and the bread was really delicious.

At half past two I phoned the campsite. They said I could stay, but they also told me reception closes at five. I had 30 km left to cover by five. Even so, I somehow made it with an hour to spare. I was on good form today.

I went to a convenience store and read the latest Baki in one go, standing in the aisle. I felt bad about it, but I got completely absorbed.

It felt more rural than the other places I've stayed. I had time to spare, so I rode slowly to a restaurant while taking in the scenery.

For just 1,000 yen I had a pork yakiniku set meal that's only available in this area. It was ridiculously good! It felt like I'd found treasure. I may never be back, but I'll never forget it. I love you, pork yakiniku set meal 🐷.

By the way, I'm always seeing elderly people out farming. Their backs are always bent at ninety degrees, and it looks really painful. Still, I suppose they can't just not do it, so it can't be helped. It always makes me feel sorry.