First ride and Matsumae cherry blossoms

The first time I have ever ridden on public roads... the first time I've been in sole charge of a motorised vehicle, even. Well, aside from getting the bike home from the dealer, but hey. The Matsumae blossoms were pretty, but even better was the seaside view while riding, which I can't reproduce here unfortunately.

Some observations:

Nobody takes any notice of road signs.

Everybody exceeds the speed limit by a minimum of 20km/h all the time.

Cars almost invariably travel in tightly bunched packs, perhaps due to some kind of flocking behaviour or mutually assured destruction pact.

Sitting down at 60km/h is a lot colder than cycling at 20km/h.

My spine needs fixing or replacing, preferably with some kind of titanium alloy.

1000 yen (5 quid) gets me a long way.

Riding is fun! More of that, thanks.

Fukushima lady's sumo

Last year took place in the village gym, but this year we had a much better location in the grounds of a shrine since it didn't rain, though it was bloody cold at times. Twelve foreign contestants and a lively audience to cheer everyone on, including a bunch of grannies who had brought a 3ft diameter drum and weren't shy of pounding it. Everyone did well, either competing in the 'A' block and inevitably losing to the three experienced champions pictured here or getting high ranks in the 'B' block. Angela even came first in the 'B' block and received the heap of goodies on the left. Hope she found some way to transport it all back home!

'89 Yamaha Virago

Yay, bike! It's an '89 Yamaha Virago with only 1500km on the clock and in very good condition for its age. I rode it home today, and it has a good throaty feel to it and a relaxed seating position very different from the bikes I'm used to. It'll take some getting used to the lack of any visible gear indicator, fuel gauge or other idiot lights, but all that should make it a more entertaining ride in the long run!

Next step, touring round Hokkaido...

Licensed!

The culmination of a month of payments (expensive) lectures (dull) and riding (fun!).

I can now legally get myself killed riding a bike on Japanese roads; the first time in my life I've ever been licensed to drive something with a dirty, smelly combustion engine. Should be fun... All my protective gear is ready to wear, and the bike ready to collect from 10am Thursday.

I should probably write something about the beautiful cherry blossoms and weather, holiday coincidence this year but hey, it's beautiful every year.