Chapter Two Is Offically Over!

Two days before C2C started, Day 1 of my school's annual two-day Culture Festival took place. The festival included a calligraphy exhibit. When I went to that exhibit to check out the art, one piece in particular caught my eye.

It was a piece that was based on the Chinese character meaning "step" or "pace."

Even though my Japanese isn't all that great, I was able to understand the message that went along with the character.

Roughly translated, it reads as follows:

"If you take things one step at a time, you will undoubtedly be able to accomplish something big."

Wow, what a perfect prelude to C2C, eh?

Indeed, when people ask me how the heck Jody and I biked the length of Japan in only 13 days, one thing that I stress to them is that we took things one day at a time. I know that sounds a bit corny, but trust me, it works!

There were three more pieces of art associated with this ride, so it's time to share those, too.

First up, we have this cool poster, if you will, that Jody created before C2C started.

Granted, during the ride we didn't see Fuji and we didn't see any cherry blossoms (since those are only around in the spring).

Nevertheless, the poster is really cool, for at least two reasons:

For one, Jody and I certainly did "Bike Japan."

For two, the poster gives you, for the first time, an accurate look at the complete route that we took.

Awesome work, Jody!

Next up is this cool Xmas ornament.

Some of you might think it's less impressive than Jody's art, but keep in mind that it's one of a kind. Better yet, yours truly made it (at an English camp I worked at in October).

Jody is now the proud owner of this masterpiece, since I sent it to him to commemorate our ride.


Finally, we have this beautiful calligraphy that Minami, a student at my school, made. (She made two, so that both Jody and I could have one.)

The three characters down the middle mean "bicycle" and the two on the side mean, as you may know, "Japan."

How cool is that!?

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The only thing left to do now is say "Thank You!"

Thanks to Teun for inspiring me to follow in his bicycle shadow and imagine doing this ride in the first place.

Thanks to Mike for lending us "Mike's Mighty Megalight" once again.

Thanks to Yasuhiro for hooking me up with a bike box for Jody's return flight to L.A.

Thanks to Guy and Kumiko for all their fantastic support.

Thanks to all the Couchsurfers who let us stay with them along the way.

Thanks to Mir for hosting us for a night in Ikuno.

Thanks to the guys at Nakayama Bicycle Pro Shop for fixing my spoke.

Thanks to Mr. "Eastgate" for throwing a post-ride party for us.

Thanks to Minami for the awesome calligraphy commemorating the ride.

Thanks to everyone else we met on the way.

Thanks to everyone who followed this blog in any way, shape, or form.

And, last but not least, thanks to Jody for pulling me to the finish of yet another epic ride.

Stayed tuned for A2A (or D2D?) later in 2012!

I'm Yama and I'm out!