The institute looks so far away while I am cycling to it. I’ve got accustomed to it though.

The buildings are on the hill

The river and mountains

It was the fourth day. I was still cycling to the institute, but changed the route to avoid a busy road. The other reason is wind. I noticed that the wind blows against me always, when I get in to and out of the institute. I guess, the air blows down from the mountain to the plateau in the morning and blows up from the sea to the plateau in the afternoon. Ridiculous! Anyway, I changed my route to avoid the wind, but it did not make much difference unfortunately. It however turned out a pleasant journey as cherry blossoms were all fully blooming.

cherry blossoms along a canal, near my home

trees lined up along the road with a sign

green is green, and pink is pink

wheat

few traffic

the river with a slight hint of cherry blossoms

green is green

irresistible

the best season for cycling

a cup of tea was served open air

Well, I tried it again today. I was a bit tired. No wonder I was tired because I never drove an bicycle for such a long distance for a while. The institute is 13km away from home. The last 2km is a steep slow, discouraging me quite a bit, but I managed to climb up the hill.

I set my camera to take an image every minute automatically

The steep slope is the hardest to beat

The first day for me to go to the institute on my bicycle. A bit tensed, but mostly okay. I felt cars moving rather fast. The wind blowed to push me back. The steep slope was hard to beat, but I could somehow continue pedaling all through to the institute. Tired but felt great.

flowers are everywhere

a yellow carpet

I bought a bicycle with an intention to commute the institute on it. I was not sure how fit I was to pedal on that to go far, something as far as 13 km. (It is the distance between my home and the institute.) I slowly drove it to south. It was a bit uncomfortable that you had to avoid traffic and had to wait at signals, but soon I learnt to get on it. The ride was pleasant. Few walked on the path and I could easily go through the road. Sunshine was lovely. Gentle breeze was refreshing. It is nice that you can stop anywhere to take a picture. I drove 20km or so for one hour and half to the meeting point with my wife.

We headed south after I had stored it into the car. (It can be stored in the boot once the wheels were removed.) A small village was our destination and we walked streets appreciating cherry blossom.

It was a bit windy but was pleasant to ride on the bicycle

I went through the road without being bothered by others

I reached the first destination

The village was in festive mood (in Daisyo-ji)

The boat was floating with an oarsman singing a traditional folksong

lovely

We had a cup of tea and were served with a cute biscuit.