Okay for the last week or so I have been getting hammered at work. I’m doing lots of writing but it is not about Mountain Biking. Such is the nature of “work” sometimes. I have managed to get out and find some new stuff and experience some more of the culture of Sasebo. Here is a quick recap of the last week or so of my off-time in Sasebo.
There is plenty of terrian to play with here….finding the goods is tricky, but it is “coming along”. Sometimes coming along means clearing old trails yourself.
When doing just that on one of the trails, I flipped over a rock and to my surprise this guy was there. I’m a good 3 miles and 1,000 feet above sea level so I have no idea how “Mr Crabs” got up here. I’m wondering if this guy has some “Finding Nemo” like story to tell. One thing is for certain, he was quite a curmudgeon and was trying to get rid of me. Thumbs up for full-fingered riding gloves!
I wonder how old Mr. Crabs would fair against this guy? Lucky for Mr. Crabs this is a Japanese Rat Snake.
The food chain in action. It is family dinner time at Charlotte’s house.
I found a really old timber road up to the summit of Mt Syoukann. So far this is the longest bit of climbable dirt I have found that did not include some hike-a-bike.
A real bonus was a pretty cool singletrack going down the other side of the Mt Syoukann that combined with the old road makes for a nice bit of riding.
Mount Eboshi is becoming a regular stomping ground for me but I’m still finding bits of trails here and there to add to the riding inventory.
Mt Kaku is a bit bigger and west of Mt Eboshi. It was a bit of work to get over to it and the final half a kilometer was a bit of beater hike-a-bike. A snack and a little basking in the sun were well earned when I got to the summit.
This trail coming off of Mt Kaku was a real treat. This is a fairly new trail that shows some modern trail science applied to its design and construction.
You don’t have to get out on the trails to see cool stuff. The city has lots of interesting stuff to see. These Japanese carp are pretty fish and are plentiful in main river through town.
I came across some folks praticing a “Dragon Dance”. It is some pretty intricate stuff they do. There are 10 people working the dragon, conductor as well as about half a dozen kids playing various drums, gongs and bells to put it all together.
I watched them practice for about a half hour in the small park/court yard before strolling back to the hotel.
The sun is up and I have a day off….It is time to ride.
I didn’t know the Japanese named their fish after poop, that is hilarious! “look at all the crap in the river” Those Japanese, real jokers. Those are some beautiful pictures of the area, I appreciate what you do, keep up the good work.
Man that was funny. For those that did not catch that I mispelled “Carp” as “Crap”. I have since corrected it. That is what I get for Typing Under the Influence. 🙂