Lake Biwa Bicycle Adventure
April 18, 2025
Episode Notes
Good morning, sir.
Good morning. How you doing?
I'm doing great. I got my cup of coffee. Life is great.
I got my cup of tea.
Same thing. Got my cup of tea.
Hey, tell me what's up. What's new?
Uh, I had an adventure last weekend. Um, I rode what's called Biwa. I rode once around Lake Biwa.
You rode around Lake?
I rode around Lake Biwa.
You mean like on a bicycle? on a bic. Yeah, on a bicycle.
Well, tell me about it. How was it?
Uh, it was an adventure. It's actually my second time doing it.
Okay.
Um, the first time I did it completely unprepared, all by myself, right in the the peak of COVID when we needed to stay away from people.
Right. Right.
Uh, so yeah, I just I I decided the night before I was going to try and I I went around um clockwise around the lake.
Okay.
And I took two days and I stayed one night. I camped out that time.
But as I
I was really confused that that first time like 5 years ago because they they told me there were marks that would tell me where to go. There's like a course you're supposed to follow and I couldn't find it anywhere.
Okay. Okay.
I couldn't I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it. And I didn't have a smartphone. This is before I had a smartphone. So like got I and And uh and I realized I realized a few hours in I was going the wrong direction.
What do you mean?
The course is designed to go counterclockwise, but I was going clockwise. So I I was on the wrong side of the road to see all the markers.
Oh my god, that's terrible.
So I I Nobody was going the same direction as me. I was waving at guys going the other. Hey, how you doing? Going the other way. And they're all looking at me like I was a little funny.
Hey, wait a minute. Tell me now. On their side, did they have a nice wide path for bikes and yours was crazy on the sidewalk?
Yes, that's right.
Yeah, that I'm sorry to hear that.
Oh, so when you get into like little little countryside towns and stuff, you don't know where to turn,
right?
So, I had I had to look back to see the sign and say, "Oh, I was supposed to turn back there." Like, I have to look back and across the turn back. So anyway, this time I did it the correct way that you're I mean you can do it any way you want, but it's set up to be done counterclockwise, which means you're on the lake side of the road always.
Oh, okay. I understand.
And looking across traffic at the lake. Um and yes, a a a large majority of the of the ride is bike specific paths, so it's totally safe. It's smooth. It's it's nice. Um Yes.
But yeah, this time was an adventure because the first day we went and I was with a friend, but uh
it rained.
Oh, and it it it in the morning when we left, we waited till the rain stopped in the morning. So, we waited till about 9:00. We left at 9:00. From 9 till noon, it was pretty nice. It was it was
cold and cloudy and gray, but it was nice. Around noon, it started raining a little bit. A little bit. And then uh around by by 2:00 it was a downpour.
Oh, really?
Torrential downpour and and strong wind and it was just nuts. And around 3:30 we stopped because there were literally no pedestrians, no bicycles, no no cars on the road. It was just a torrential downpour.
Wow.
And and we the first few hours we were avoiding puddles, but then we were just going straight through them because the whole road was was a river. Um, so yeah, we uh we stopped and we we stopped in a rest area. We were dripping. We had to dry ourselves off before we could even touch our phones or do anything,
right?
Had a hot cup of tea and my friend said, "Let's let's find a different hotel cuz the one we booked was another 30k from where we were."
You were staying in hotels. Nice.
Yeah, it was just one night. So, we found a different hotel uh that was close to where we were. We booked it, called the original hotel, Well, the guy and I've stayed there before. He's really nice. He said, "I understand. I was expecting this call." Um, you know, he he was um but the second day was just gorgeous. Blue skies and absolutely just the most incredible day of bike riding of my life.
Wow.
And you know where we are and probably where you are, the cherry blossoms are done.
Right. Right.
But we were 90k north of where I live and the cherry blossom in peak season and we uh we rode along a very famous road that's 4 kilometers of cherry trees all along the lakeside.
Right. Right.
Like 800 or a thousand cherry trees all the way along the the lakeside. And yeah, just spectacular. Absolutely spectacular. So uh so that was last weekend and I'm telling you I'm still tired.
Yes. Yes. But it was
I'm glad to hear that.
It was an adventure and it was great.
Yes. I You've got me psyched now. I'm going to go to Canada for the summer and I want to get in good shape so I'm not tired like like that story.
Well, let's let's talk about Canada next time.
That sounds good. I've got to get back to work here.
All right. See you later.
Bye bye.
Bye.
There go.
Chat
🚴
Lake Biwa Bicycle Adventure
1 source
The source is a transcript of a conversation between two people who are discussing an adventure one of them had recently. Specifically, the speaker recounts cycling around Lake Biwa in Japan. They describe a previous attempt several years ago where they went the wrong direction and experienced difficulties finding markers. This time, they cycled the recommended counter-clockwise route which is more scenic and has dedicated bike paths. They detail the challenging first day due to torrential rain and strong winds, which led them to find alternative accommodation. The speaker contrasts this with the gorgeous second day which featured blue skies and riding alongside beautiful cherry blossoms.
Start typing…
1 source
Studio
Audio Overview
Deep Dive conversation
Two hosts (English only)
Notes
Saved notes will appear here
Save a chat message to create a new note or click Add note above.
Good morning. How you doing?
I'm doing great. I got my cup of coffee. Life is great.
I got my cup of tea.
Same thing. Got my cup of tea.
Hey, tell me what's up. What's new?
Uh, I had an adventure last weekend. Um, I rode what's called Biwa. I rode once around Lake Biwa.
You rode around Lake?
I rode around Lake Biwa.
You mean like on a bicycle? on a bic. Yeah, on a bicycle.
Well, tell me about it. How was it?
Uh, it was an adventure. It's actually my second time doing it.
Okay.
Um, the first time I did it completely unprepared, all by myself, right in the the peak of COVID when we needed to stay away from people.
Right. Right.
Uh, so yeah, I just I I decided the night before I was going to try and I I went around um clockwise around the lake.
Okay.
And I took two days and I stayed one night. I camped out that time.
But as I
I was really confused that that first time like 5 years ago because they they told me there were marks that would tell me where to go. There's like a course you're supposed to follow and I couldn't find it anywhere.
Okay. Okay.
I couldn't I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it. I couldn't find it. And I didn't have a smartphone. This is before I had a smartphone. So like got I and And uh and I realized I realized a few hours in I was going the wrong direction.
What do you mean?
The course is designed to go counterclockwise, but I was going clockwise. So I I was on the wrong side of the road to see all the markers.
Oh my god, that's terrible.
So I I Nobody was going the same direction as me. I was waving at guys going the other. Hey, how you doing? Going the other way. And they're all looking at me like I was a little funny.
Hey, wait a minute. Tell me now. On their side, did they have a nice wide path for bikes and yours was crazy on the sidewalk?
Yes, that's right.
Yeah, that I'm sorry to hear that.
Oh, so when you get into like little little countryside towns and stuff, you don't know where to turn,
right?
So, I had I had to look back to see the sign and say, "Oh, I was supposed to turn back there." Like, I have to look back and across the turn back. So anyway, this time I did it the correct way that you're I mean you can do it any way you want, but it's set up to be done counterclockwise, which means you're on the lake side of the road always.
Oh, okay. I understand.
And looking across traffic at the lake. Um and yes, a a a large majority of the of the ride is bike specific paths, so it's totally safe. It's smooth. It's it's nice. Um Yes.
But yeah, this time was an adventure because the first day we went and I was with a friend, but uh
it rained.
Oh, and it it it in the morning when we left, we waited till the rain stopped in the morning. So, we waited till about 9:00. We left at 9:00. From 9 till noon, it was pretty nice. It was it was
cold and cloudy and gray, but it was nice. Around noon, it started raining a little bit. A little bit. And then uh around by by 2:00 it was a downpour.
Oh, really?
Torrential downpour and and strong wind and it was just nuts. And around 3:30 we stopped because there were literally no pedestrians, no bicycles, no no cars on the road. It was just a torrential downpour.
Wow.
And and we the first few hours we were avoiding puddles, but then we were just going straight through them because the whole road was was a river. Um, so yeah, we uh we stopped and we we stopped in a rest area. We were dripping. We had to dry ourselves off before we could even touch our phones or do anything,
right?
Had a hot cup of tea and my friend said, "Let's let's find a different hotel cuz the one we booked was another 30k from where we were."
You were staying in hotels. Nice.
Yeah, it was just one night. So, we found a different hotel uh that was close to where we were. We booked it, called the original hotel, Well, the guy and I've stayed there before. He's really nice. He said, "I understand. I was expecting this call." Um, you know, he he was um but the second day was just gorgeous. Blue skies and absolutely just the most incredible day of bike riding of my life.
Wow.
And you know where we are and probably where you are, the cherry blossoms are done.
Right. Right.
But we were 90k north of where I live and the cherry blossom in peak season and we uh we rode along a very famous road that's 4 kilometers of cherry trees all along the lakeside.
Right. Right.
Like 800 or a thousand cherry trees all the way along the the lakeside. And yeah, just spectacular. Absolutely spectacular. So uh so that was last weekend and I'm telling you I'm still tired.
Yes. Yes. But it was
I'm glad to hear that.
It was an adventure and it was great.
Yes. I You've got me psyched now. I'm going to go to Canada for the summer and I want to get in good shape so I'm not tired like like that story.
Well, let's let's talk about Canada next time.
That sounds good. I've got to get back to work here.
All right. See you later.
Bye bye.
Bye.
There go.
Chat
🚴
Lake Biwa Bicycle Adventure
1 source
The source is a transcript of a conversation between two people who are discussing an adventure one of them had recently. Specifically, the speaker recounts cycling around Lake Biwa in Japan. They describe a previous attempt several years ago where they went the wrong direction and experienced difficulties finding markers. This time, they cycled the recommended counter-clockwise route which is more scenic and has dedicated bike paths. They detail the challenging first day due to torrential rain and strong winds, which led them to find alternative accommodation. The speaker contrasts this with the gorgeous second day which featured blue skies and riding alongside beautiful cherry blossoms.
Start typing…
1 source
Studio
Audio Overview
Deep Dive conversation
Two hosts (English only)
Notes
Saved notes will appear here
Save a chat message to create a new note or click Add note above.