Biwa Coup D’etat by Bicycle

This past weekend a group of us rugged language instructors set out on a 100-mile cycle trip around the largest lake in Japan, the abominable Lake Biwa. Just picture Lake Michigan. Now size it down tremendously and slap a bike path around it.... There you go.


We embarked from my locale, Nagahama, at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, and from there we pedaled half the trip (about 50 miles) to a quirky traveler's inn, right on the lake, in a town called Omi Maiko. The downstairs lobby of the inn was some kind of folk cafe and was littered with Dylan and Tom Waits CDs and a slew of weathered acoustic guitars that anyone could pick up and play. (When we arrived that evening they were hosting an open mike, and many locals were there drinking beer and singing familiar folk tunes. So nice. Oh, and I befriended a stout little beagle who was tied up outside.)

At that point, most of us were pretty roughed up from sitting on a bike seat for almost 8 hours straight, so we headed straight to the noodle shop and then onward to a nearby onsen (bath house). The baths were so hot I could only bear to soak in them for 10 or 15 minutes, but it definitely eased my sore-bum woes.

To our delight, we discovered a 7/11 on the way back to the inn, where we stopped to buy ice cream and wine (but none of that weird Japanese "red wine" that's really just grape juice mixed with rubbing alcohol). The evening ended perfectly, drinking and eating on the beach with my newfound friends, and then afterward getting one of the best night's sleep of my life.

Most of us were up around 6 the next morning, and although the previous day had been sunny and practically cloudless, Sunday was looking pretty bleak. The sky was completely shrouded by grey clouds, allowing the sun to rise unnoticed.

We didn't get back on the road until 9, just as the rain started to fall. And even now (Monday morning) the rain hasn't ceased falling. So we cranked the rest of the way home cold and wet (my periwinkle-blue rain poncho worked for no longer than an hour), plowing our sluggish way into Nagahama by 4:30. That second day was so grueling that any of the more detailed memories I might have retained were probably lost (with a slew of my brain cells) during last night’s marathon bath.

Today I'm plagued by a pretty wretched cold, but I didn't fall into the lake or get hit by a truck - so I'm grateful for that. I just have to get through two more classes, then I'm home free.