The Kamikaze - a Tailwind along the Sea of Japan

I don't have any photos of the low point of my ride. That was around 4AM in pitch dark and pouring heavy rain, when my rear tire flatted. 

On this ride I was running new Schwalbe Pro One 700x30 tubeless tires, with sealant, but wherever the leak was that night, the sealant did not work -- air quickly left the tire again when I tried to pump it back up. I added some IRC "Respawn" foam sealant ... and the tire still did not reseal. Eventually, completely soaked and digging around in my bag for the needed tools, I managed to take off the rear wheel, remove the tire, remove the valve for the tubeless setup, insert a tube, re-inflate the tire and get the wheel back on the recumbent (which is somehow much more difficult than on my road bikes). But it took quite awhile, and I lost a pair of bone induction earphones somewhere in the dark by the side of the road. 

The rain continued hard and I was in extreme exhaustion/panic mode until I reached my very basic hotel around 630AM, over an hour later than I had planned.  I was soaked. I was worried that my iphone might suffer water damage (indeed, I needed to "override" a caution warning to allow it to recharge when moisture was detected in the charger area). Everything I had was wet. I paid an extra 1000 yen at the front desk for an 11AM rather than 10AM checkout, on Sunday morning, warmed in the bath, and slept a few hours. 

When I left my hotel room at 11AM, the rain had stopped. I  cleaned the bike ... especially cleaning and re-lubing the chain.  I did not ride away until nearly 11:45, and stopped for a ramen lunch after around 8 kms of my ride. So it was a slow start to the day, but at least a real reset.

My weather app showed that I would have a nice tailwind for the next segment -- a "kamikaze" or god wind to push me forward.  And it proved accurate. The ride to Murakami was nothing special, but as soon as I came out onto the coastline north of Murakami just before 4PM, I could feel a very strong tailwind and see the beauty of this coastline in late afternoon. The next stretch -- overnight to Akita City -- was one of the best of the entire ride, especially the late afternoon-sunset period. I was on Route 345 along the coast, while Route 7, the "main road" up the Sea of Japan coast, takes an more internal path. There was relatively little up and down, there were spectacular rocks jutting up out of the coastline ... that the road went right through via tunnel. 

A rest area just north of Murakami

Looking south from just north of Murakami

There seemed to be dozens of little coves with rocks and small islands offshore

Magical light before sunset

A lighthouse visible on a line of rocks offshore.

Moonlight, 11PMish.

I rode all night, along the Niigata, Yamagata, and southern Akita coastline. I stopped a few times at convenience stores, had a late night meal at Gusto in Sakata, and napped in a few bus stops further along. The total was 258 kms from my Niigata hotel to a stop in Akita City. With the wind at my back, I never had difficulty and never thought about quitting.  And by the time I got to Akita City, I was around 80% of the way through the ride. Now it was just a matter of willing myself over the last few segments.

The Kamikaze