May 28, 2023
Kyoto to Hikone
After a day off we rode out of Kyoto in a quiet Sunday morning. I am assuming that TDA tries to plan it this way when we leave large cities. Sundays have far less early morning traffic in most places. There were few other riders out and about with the exception on one little girl on a bike with 20 inch wheels and a backpack almost as big as she was. We came up on her at a traffic light and when it turned green, she took off trying her best to give it all she had to stay in front of us. I remarked that we were being dropped by a six year old and that maybe we should try to draft behind her. None of would dare to pass her and when she turned off onto a side street she was all smiles.
It took an hour or so to clear Kyoto and the satellite towns that make up its metropolitioan area but when we did we found ourselves riding around Lake Biwako, the largest freshwater lake in Japan and estimated at a geological age of around four million years and is a breeding ground for freshwater species such as trout and hosts an important pearl culture industry. It also provides drinking water and farm irrigation to fifteen million people. Aside from that, it is a recreation paradise for folks anxious to leave the crowded cities. Circling the lake is the Biwa-Ichi bike route, a 180 kilometer cycling route mostly on dedicated bicycle /walking paths that is popular with locals as well as with us.
On this day there was some sort of community cleanup campaign in progress as we encountered hundreds of civic minded volunteers doing a deep clean on every scrap of litter. The walked in two, threes and even higher powers with heads down and talking in their dedicated search for every last bit of anything that might remotely be considered trash. It did not matter if a hundred or so ahead had already passed over the same territory, each new group searched with fresh dedication hoping to score some overlooked cigarette but or bottle cap ring. The cover the pathways, grasslands and even along the shoreline. They sometime strayed into traffic when a particularly tempting score of litter beckoned. It was an impressive sight and a tedious one to negotiate on a bicycle. Even riding along with the highway traffic was no protection from this trash devouring force. I applauded their efforts but wished that they looked up from time to time or at least sailed a true course rather than tacking from suspected liter bit to bit.
Even with this hoard of the civic minded there was still plenty of time to take my time and enjoy the nearly level ride, smooth (and litter free) pathway and soak up the scenery. It was like a picnic on two wheels with a nice lakeside lunch provided by the great staff of TDA. An easy start for our push to Tokyo.
