One of the sad things about being here in Japan is that some really good friends go back home. One of those people who I thought would be here for longer than me was Ethan who I have known since my days at N*va, and have been on many snowboarding and theme park excursions with.
I was therefore shocked a few months ago when he said he was leaving to join the US Army but one thing I did get out of his departure was a new road bike……but not for free though. Having said I’d buy it off him a few months ago, I was looking forward to using it to go to three of my nearby schools but then I got transferred from two of those!
On top of that it has also been raining heavily quite a lot recently so that I haven’t been able to use the bike much beyond a few little trips to the supermarket or wherever which it has to be said is nice.
For years I have become increasingly irritated by Japanese cyclists with their squeaky breaks and rude ringing of bells (rude to me but normal over here) as they pedal up and down the paths thinking they own them. Riding on the roads just isn’t so common here as people think its dangerous but it ain’t half quicker than using the pavements.
What is more of a problem for me is finding somewhere to park the thing. I certainly don’t want to pay to leave it in a proper parking lot and leaving it anywhere near the station usually results in a ticket being put on it and with that comes the possibility of having it taken away which then costs a few thousand yen to get back. Finding a quite backstreet just away from the station can be a taxing task at times and even though it’s a safe country I still prefer to actually lock the bike to something rather than just putting it round the frame and wheel.
Tokyo Fox (東京狐) 
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