Narita to Nürnberg

It seems to make a big difference to a long haul flight when you get a decent seat. Fussy as I am, I like to have a window seat. This is not to look out as it is too high to see anything most of the time. Rather, it helps me create my own little cocoon. I don't expect extroverts to understand that, but they probably will have lost interest by now and not read this far.

On the first leg to Narita I had a great window seat with heaps of space to the bulkhead in front of me - I couldn't actually reach it with my feet. And no one in the seat next to me. And similarly from Narita to Frankfurt I had a window seat with an empty space next to me. It was slightly more cramped, but I could still hide in my little world, do some work, have a nap, and catch a few movies. And that way the flight is over before you know it.

The little sojourn in Narita was kept really low key in order to fight off my cold. I tried Sushi Go Round - it's quite a craze in Japan where the sushi travels around the restaurant on a kind of conveyor belt, and you pick off what you want. Or you can use the touch pad at your table to send a fresh order to the chef. None of this messy human interaction stuff. It was great sitting there eating real sushi, not the New Zealand version, tasting some fine beer, and listening to crackly Beatles instrumentals coming over the sound system.

The little rest seems to have worked, and while I don't quite have that spring back in my step, I'm almost feeling normal again. And I have three whole days before race day - things are looking up.

Anyway today was quite a long day. Up at 5.30am to get out of the hotel, and catch the shuttle to the airport. I was first in line, just to make sure I got my window seat, as seat booking wasn't available online for this leg. Lufthansa had said they would charge me EU200 for my bike, but they did not. I hope the same happens on the way back.  Then I had to catch the train, which was a bit of a mission with my bike. At some point I had to negotiate about 6 floors worth of escalator as there was no lift to be seen. Trolleys at the airport need to be obtained via a small deposit. And finding the places to pick up or leave said trolley wasn't straightforward. My bike bag only has wheels on one end, and while not heavy it is rather ungainly, especially as I have another big bag to deal with as well, plus a small backpack. But I'm getting quite skilled at it.

Then getting on the train was a mission as well. The conductor merely told me my bags were too big, but did not suggest what I should or should not do about it. I don't suppose his English skills were up to it. Fortunately, as usually happens when traveling to races, you cross paths with other kindred spirits, immediately obvious mainly by their bike bike, but generally with that gaunt, hungry look, and if they are men their legs are shaved. So there was a couple, with bike bags in tow, and who spoke neither English nor German, but we exchanged nods and helped each other pull our bikes on to the train. I spent the first hour standing against the door in the carriage entrance. But eventually found a seat where I wrote most of this update.

So finally I arrived in Nürnberg (or Nuremberg as those English insist on calling it), and then had to negotiate another train station. Somehow leaving is usually easier. It was only a short walk to my flat, but I decided to catch a taxi and not fight with the bag for too long. After all it was after midnight Japanese time, and I had been awake for about 20 hours on a diet of not much sleep the last 5 days.

It's warm and sunny, and I'm definitely looking forward to making the short train trip to Roth tomorrow to register and suss out the scene. If you are a long distance triathlete, a visit to Roth has to be kind of a special journey. And this blog is supposed to be about special journeys.

Challenge Roth: the journey begins somewhat shakily

In the course of my life I've lined up for more than 30 endurance races that are of ironman-distance magnitude, but not necessarily swim-bike-run triathlons. These races take up my focus for much of each year. They are my "big thing", and over the years I have invested thousands of hours and dollars, and given up a lot to feed my magnificent obsession. And since I was a kid I've always been prone to being sick, specifically to the common cold. Typically I get 3-4 colds a year and they last around 3 weeks. It's not the virus part of a cold that hammers me - I usually seem to deal with that in a few days - but the secondary bacterial infection sets in, and takes forever to clear. So I've always wondered how I never got sick immediately before a big race, it just seemed that it had to happen at some stage. Because getting sick at the wrong time could result in a rather big loss of all the cost and hard work that has gone into the preparing for the event. Last year before I lined up for Challenge Cairns I was sick for 3 weeks but I shook it with a week to go, so I didn't count that.

But I wonder no more. On Friday, 9 days before Challenge Roth, with the trip still to negotiate I was struck down with a rather bad cold. To be fair both Cairns and Roth are the only times I've trained for an ironman-distance race through winter. But I still think I picked up this bug at dance class on Thursday night. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone. But I wanted to - being away means missing class for 3 weeks, and I didn't want to make it 4 weeks. At class there is a lot of "hand changing" with a lot of people, and hands are a great way to transmit colds. I do my best not to touch my face (but it feels so good, or something). And in case anyone hadn't noticed I'm kinda hooked-on-Ceroc right now.

On Sunday before my flight feeling very sorry for myself, I presented at the local weekend clinic at the doctors. Fortunately I got someone who understood my situation. He said I should have presented sooner, but I am so used to the "take something to ease the symptoms until they go away" and I hate having to face all those sick people in the waiting room. The good doctor decided not to take any chances and loaded me up with my favorite antibiotic and a pile of anti-inflammatories.

So after a few restless nights I boarded the first main leg of my journey from Auckland to Narita on Monday morning. We were delayed an hour while they searched the terminal for a passenger's drugs, medical I presume, and then because they didn't find them, they had to find the respective luggage and remove it from the hold. But it wasn't me, I kept my drugs next to my passport.

I don't yet know if I am going to race, but I'll spend most of the next 24 hours in my hotel room in Narita, before heading for Frankfurt, and hope that by then the antibiotics have kicked in. At least I feel that if I can shake the virus, I wont have to deal with any bacterial infection. I'm feeling much better this morning that I did last night. Ibuprofen seems to be a better decongestant than those you can buy these days - most have been removed from OTC sale because of mis-use in making illegal drugs.

Whether I race or not, this is disappointing. While I am definitely not in the form of my life, my training has gone reasonably well, I'm racing on the fastest course in the world, and for the first time in 3 years I'm not carrying an injury. It would have been a good time to get a personal best, and hopefully something that doesn't start with 13. Nevertheless, whatever happens it's been a very big week - with more than just the thought of the race on my mind.

Sayonara Japan

Wednesday, 7th September, 2011. By now I was nearly dead on my feet, so after a good nights sleep and a leisurely breakfast, I had an hour or so to explore the Ginza shopping area near the hotel. I had this idea of "Ginza bargain" in my head. Well, the street was full of the likes of Louis Vitton and Alfred Dunhill. It was great to visit the Apple store in Tokyo too. The product range continues to impress!

Eat your heart out Kirsty. This is the Apple Store in Ginza. Four floors of Apple. Yummy!

Good to see the King protea still rules

Self portrait

Then it was a bus ride out to the airport in good time. I had to fly JAL to Beijing as it was part of what Air New Zealand gave me when I booked. Concerned about my bike I had phoned Air New Zealand prior to my booking and was told JAL would charge me about $60 extra for the bike and a my premium card was not valid with that airline. I accepted this. However on trying to check my bike in the wanted to charge me $240. Naturally I was not happy, and trying to negotiate my way out of it didn't work. I was disappointed as I had worked really hard to ensure all the bits and pieces fitted together into an economical trip price. When I went to pay however, at a separate counter they said the charge had been changed to $160, and so I didn't feel so bad as it was only $100 more than I expected.

I had a shower, some fried potato wedges and a beer and felt better immediately. Once boarded, we sat on the tarmac for more than an hour before we finally got underway.

Beijing awaits me, and I am a little apprehensive. No tour guide to take me through crowded subways, or pick up the cash falling from my pockets, but hey, let's see how it goes.

Tokyo

On the Tuesday we visited the Imperial Palace, the electronics distict, and one of the market style areas, and managed to fit in a visit to a temple as well. I was fairy trigger happy with my camera, shooting from the hip at times.

The electronics shops are amazing. From tiny stores with a floor area of about 1 by 2m selling only one type of component through to multi-floor computer shops, it seemed you could buy just about any gadget or electronic part here. A couple of years ago I built my own computer, which still runs like a dream. But I had to order almost all the parts over the internet and it took several weeks to sort it all out. Right here I could get everything I want all in one go. A geek's dream shop really! I bought a remote control for the camera, so no more timer countdowns for the Christmas family shot.

Tokyo is impressively big, of course. But the the buildings themselves don't stand out as very big or impressive compared to other large cities in the world. However the sheer number and sprawl of buildings made a very strong impression. I enjoy looking for patterns in city scapes, so following on some earlier practise in Auckland I put together a rather hasty collection of photos I call "Patterns in Tokyo".

In one of the parks in Tokyo.

The temple I visited.

Traditional Japanese architecture - a Pagoda

The crowded market alleys.

The large gardens at the Imperial Palace are mostly just lawn with sculptured pine trees. Only the gardener is allowed on the lawn.

I succumbed to the call for western food and enjoyed a MacDonalds burger. That night it was Spanish tappas for dinner, followed by a trip up a 50-odd story building to a pub with a view at the top. This was very impressive. I was even more impressed to find the cost of two beers at NZ$80 when the bill came. I missed the bit about the "house charge". The view however was totally worth it.

Kyoko and I presiding over the Tokyo city-scape at a super expensive bar. It was worth it.

Lake Kawaguchi

I hoped the morning would bring some clarity, but it was not to be.

The view from my room. There is an old Japanese legend that says only the righteous can see the mountain. It's great don't you think?

Nevertheless we hired some mountain bikes to ride around the lake. I enjoyed the little trip, but was a bit disappointed to see what was, until very recently a lovely resort town that had fallen into a state of disrepair. There was this fantastic paved walkway all the way around the lake but it was very overgrown with weeds.

Me, by the lake.

And the gorgeous Kyoko.

There were some amazing little places along the way, where they say good things can happen.

At one stage our path ran out. But you can see the kind of disrepair the town is in.

The confers in the background were called "Gold Crest" in South Africa. I could not grow enough of them for sale. Unfortunately I have not found them in New Zealand yet. The Japanese appreciate good things!

By the afternoon the roads were open again, so the bus trip back to Tokyo was a better option than the train. This time it to the luxurious Park Royal in Shiodome. Connections in the travel industry are obviously useful. By this time my feet were really starting to hurt. I had decided to travel in my Five Finger shoes, but despite their comfort, the pressure of my 17kg backpack was beginning to weigh on me.

By this time I was starting to tuck into the Japanese food, and enjoying it. Still I tried to make sure everything I was eating was cooked, and not too spicy. A dinner at an izakaya type of restaurant. This was also a great experience.

Tokyo - day one

[This, and the next few posts are somewhat delayed, but I am trying to catch up now. Many social networking, blogging and photo sites are banned in China. It's taken a while to get around this. Not that I did it on my own, there is a whole industry around it - one just has to work out how it works, and you play a cat and mouse game picking the right private network servers.]

As soon as I had checked into the hotel in Narita I hit the hotel pool, a decent 18m lane pool, for a few laps. Not too many of course as I was tired. I then headed up to the top of the Crown Plaza to enjoy some Japanese beer and cuisine.

I had a bad sleep, but I suppose that was to be expected. I was up early to sort my bags. I had already checked my bike and a few extra things at the airport luggage store but suddenly realised I still had way too much stuff for a few days in Japan. So I headed back to the airport and checked a second bag in, and waited for my rendezvous with Kyoko. She is a professional travel guide and takes groups around Japan and the world. This time she was just taking me. I got to know her on Facebook about four years ago, and so finally we got to meet.

We boarded a train bound for Tokyo, which is about an hour from Narita. Our plan was to take a bus from there to Lake Kawaguchi at the base of Mt Fuji. However a typhoon had dumped copious amounts of rain on parts of the country and this meant the roads were closed. We had to wait for information about the road closures so we headed for a nearby shopping area.

My first foray into a Tokyo shopping area while waiting to find out what was happening with the buses. There was a cacophony of sellers trying to outdo each other with megaphones. The photo doesn't capture the noise!

On the way back to the station there was more noise. Some 'right-wingers' where proclaiming something about Nippon being the preferred name for Japan.

It soon became clear that the roads to the mountain were closed for the day. However there was the option of a train. So somewhat delayed and facing a slightly longer trip we got back on the train. It was a good way to see the countryside. I had hoped for the same in the UK, but there the trains tend to ride inside banks and hedgerows not affording much of a view. In stark contrast this train went straight through the villages. For the most part the houses were 3 - 5 metres from the train, but at times the buildings were less than two metres and the occasional bay window or lean-to almost touched the carriages. Certainly the garden bushes did at times.

I was fascinated how all the houses I saw were built on the level, and each property was terraced so there was never any slope. I soon realised though, that this land once just consisted of rice paddies and they of course have to be level. Now much of the land was covered by houses, but any empty piece of land was used to grow rice, or vegetables, no matter how small. I don't think I saw a single lawn on the whole trip. The houses are small, and they take up most of each property, with just a narrow strip of scrubby weeds between houses.

This area had a larger than usual section under rice. You can see the effect of the recent heavy rainfall.

A typical vegetable patch

Soon we reached the tourist village at Lake Kawaguchi (no motorcycles or shoes to be seen however) at the base of Mt Fuji. The mountain was shrouded in cloud, so I would have to wait for a good view.

A delightful evening out at a local barbeque style restaurant followed. Hot pots in the centre of each table allowed diners to 'braai' their own meat and veggies. Great food, beer and company! A great experience.

Flight footnote

[These next few posts are somewhat delayed - once I got to China I was no longer allowed access to a number of websites including Blogger/Blogspot and Picasa Web for the photos. It has taken a while to circumvent the "Great Firewall of China". Now that I have done so, I have some catching up to do.]

I had a good flight, and I am now comfortable ensconced in my hotel in Narita. Getting a window seat is key for me, as I can cocoon myself against the wall, with my neck pillow, and head phones. I watched three movies, built a website (sorry it's been so slow LW), and wrote a blog post.

I joined Koru club just before I left as my Gold membership had expired. Not quite as good and pretty expensive, but by the time I've costed in the free meals, airport internet and reduced baggage charges it is half paid for. The rest of the cost can be put against pure convenience, quicker check-in, and priority service all around. And if my flights are ever delayed the sanctity of the lounge will be well worth it. You also get priority re-booking. And my year's subscription should see me through to my dream trip through Europe next year. But let's get through this one first, aye.

I like flying Air New Zealand too. No dramas with the bike (never again Malaysia Airlines). And the food was superb. I mean really, really good.

First impressions of Japan are amazing. I previously wrote in this blog that "London is intoxicating". Well, I have to say that Japan is sublime. I might just stay here, everyone is so polite. I wish people the world over would treat strangers with such respect. And then there is Sapporo beer. Somewhat stronger than the the old EnZed brown. Not to mention heated toilet seats, and rather sensible electronically managed toilet sanitation techniques. I have rarely felt happier.

On my way back from Cairns I had promised myself that this trip would be my last for a while. But like all good trips, they seem to be addictive. Hi, my name is Jack, and I am on the road again.

Rules about keeping a travel blog

The first rule about keeping a travel blog is not to get behind. Once you are behind, it seems to become too big a job, and you end up not doing anything. The second rule is to not get to hung up about typos and grammatical correctness. It just takes too long. The reader must take what they get, or nothing at all.

And the first blog of the trip is usually the longest and the hardest, because you have to set the scene. After that you can just hurl some snippets into the web-form, and away you go. So this is an attempt to get a head start on the blog. I know it will never get written once I am back in Palmerston North, so it has to be done enroute.

So right now, I am sitting on a plane between Auckland and Narita. Yep, I'm headed for the largest city in the world. Actually, I am enroute to Beijing to compete in a triathlon, but somehow the race seems incidental. I'm having a little adventure, and so far, so good!

I qualified for the World Age Group Triathlon Championships for the sprint distance in February at Kinloch, and then for the standard distance in Wellington a week after Ironman New Zealand. I chose the standard distance. I had high hopes of getting really fit over the winter and presenting myself in top condition in Beijing. After my fitness debacle in Edinburgh last year, I had promised I would only come back to this level when I was ready. However, it works like this, first you qualify to represent New Zealand, and shortly after that you are required to acknowledge your participation with Tri NZ. And therein is the start of a slippery slope. You need to pay a licence fee, and then a race entry fee, and then you need to book your flights early to get a good price, and then of course your accommodation, visa, pay for your immunisations, and so it goes. And all this happens in the 3 to 6 months before the race. By the time you realise your training has gone awry, its too late to get yourself into decent condition, and you are pretty much financially committed.

In early June, after a month of work distractions and the flu I found myself at Challenge Cairns, for my third ironman-distance event of the year. I'd had a great run over the previous six months, but I took it pretty easy and I walked most of the run leg. Despite that however, my knee flared up, in a repeat of what happened after the 2009 Challenge Wanaka. That time I could not run for eight months, but despite a number of specialists, x-rays and and MRI, it remained undiagnosed. It's peculiar as apart from these two times I have never even had a twinge.

This time it has not been nearly as bad and I have managed to get about 6-10km running in a week. Yes, I know not material for preparing for the speed event of your life. But hey, that's just the way it goes. And a little training always goes a long way.

So in some respects the race has become almost secondary. I'm on a trip. I booked everything myself after not finding joy with the TriNZ travel agent who couldn't meet any of my flight requirements and tried to sell me an accommodation package costing over $1000 more than what I could book at the same hotel myself, way more than double. There was also a team flight, but it leaves at night meaning I would be awake for a day, spend a night on a plane, suffer a rather inconvenient transit stop, and arrive in Beijing totally exhausted with less than a week to recover. No way Hosea, I fly gentleman's hours. I leave in the morning and arrive at my stop over in the afternoon, and then I go to bed. A few days later I repeat for the second part of the trip, and I arrive as fresh as a daisy. Almost. Well that's the plan anyway.

So I decided to stop over in Tokyo for 4 days. I can adjust to the timezone, and acclimatise to the heat with a lower risk of TD (work it out). Besides, Japan presents itself with a special and unique opportunity. So, I look forward to the next four days with enormous anticipation.