I’m back in the road after 3 days at home and I’m full of all the same feelings I had 24 days ago when I left for the first time. Trepidation and doubts about whether I can do it, fears of loneliness and being eaten by bears, and without the same level of excitement I has first time around.
My loneliness was put on hold for a while as I was sharing the road with my friend – and considerably better cyclist – Karl.
Karl knows the roads around Lake Biwa like I now know the back of his bike. I followed him along some lovely quiet roads and did my best to keep up. He kindly shared his wisdom about being on the road, where to camp and how to avoid saddle sores. I listened carefully and drank lots of water as we sped along. (I forgot to get a picture with Karl!! – sorry Karl, thanks for the ride!)
The campsite, Woody Pal (yes, you heard right), was deserted except a group of guys sat around a BBQ. After walking past a couple of time without receiving an invitation to join them I just decided to claim the company I was craving.
Hi, this is very forward of me but there’s no one else around, so do you mind if I sit with you?

They looked at each other awkwardly and didn’t say anything… So I sat down anyway.
I ate my tinned fruit and they ate their meat. They talked amongst themselves and so did I. After about 45 minutes of laughing at their jokes and watching them eat I decided to call it off and went back to my tent.