I finally managed to find someone with a 3-speed bike who is kind (or naive) enough to let me loose on the thing and then didn’t use it for ages.
This was because of a lack of time, or rather excuses. With the Xtracycle I can ‘go shopping’, ‘pick the boys up’, ‘run errands’ or ‘deliver a letter’, but I can’t pretend I’m carrying a weeks shopping in a handlebar basket. Then last night Beautiful Wife mentioned that we have a little more than a week before we fly home, so this morning I decided stuffit, I was going for an early ride.
I followed the river to the sea. And back again. I used back roads because on major roads cyclists are expected to use the pavement which makes life unnecessarily difficult. Back roads are usually narrow and never straight which slows cars down. And they’re more interesting.
I got lost stuck the wrong side of the river a couple of times, but I saw some interesting stuff like cormorants and herons, which considering that the rivers are encased in concrete and lined by boat yards is quite surprising. I was shadowed by a pretty big bird of prey as well, which I couldn’t identify, and flushed a stork. I also disturbed a flock of what looked like brown herons in the undergrowth when I was well out of the town.
In addition to recent discoveries, I also learned that apparently, stop signs are considered advisory, and when three cars meet on a four way junction, the one with the most aggressive driver goes first. Even if there’s a bike in front of them.
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August 25, 2011 at 9:57 am
Tony
Stork flushing? Illegal surely
and previous post of cultural similarities, car drivers intent on knocking you off, thereby scoring 175 points, how do you know its not the same driver everytime? 
August 27, 2011 at 10:36 am
Andy in Germany
@Tony. I didn’t think of that. Don’t tell anyone okay?
And regarding cars hitting me, come to think of it, they all had a three pointed star on the fromt. Wait a minute…
And only 175 points. I hope I’m harder to hit than that…
August 25, 2011 at 12:41 pm
Zweiradler
I thought of the Japanese as very polite people who are bowing all the time. It seems that people from different cultures suddenly become very similar when you put them into metal cages with four wheels.
Nico
August 27, 2011 at 10:38 am
Andy in Germany
Funny isn’t it? there’s something about these things that changes people. Isn’t that one mark of addiction?
But the idea that Japanese are somehow super-polite is not entirely accurate. They are less vocal than Germans when they don’t like something, but I don’t think that’s the same thing.